Tucker, Ted Cruz Debate Israel-Iran Conflict, U.S. Foreign Policy

Issue #296 | Because he's awesome

I think I have used the word ‘heated’ in the past three issues of the newsletter.

It’s a solid adjective to describe a passionate debate, which is what we are smack in the middle of right now between pro-war MAGA and anti-war MAGA.

Top of the bill for the hubbub is a who’s who of conservative/Republican/MAGA pundits, politicians and media stars. Oh, Trump, too. Let’s not forget the biggest name of them all.

There is a larger MAGA world divide over how involved the U.S. should be in Israel's attacks on Iran. And Tucker is playing a lead role in this political-media drama. I say drama, but in no way am I trying to lessen the seriousness of what Tucker, Trump, Bannon, Cruz, et al. are debating.

Our man Tucker continued his visit to Capitol Hill Tuesday for an interview with Sen. Ted Cruz.

It was ….. heated.

Via The Hill:

The two got into a fiery exchange over the senator’s support for President Trump and his posturing toward Israel in its escalating conflict with Iran.

Tucker grills Cruz on details about Iran and its demographic makeup. When Cruz does not know the answers Carlson is seeking, the host blasts the senator for failing to know the details of “the country you seek to topple.”

“How many people live in Iran, by the way?” Carlson asked.

“I don’t know the population,” Cruz responded.

“At all?”

“No, I don’t know the population,” Cruz said.

“You don’t know the population in the country you seek to topple?” Carlson retorted.

When Cruz asked Carlson the same question back, the journalist responded quickly: “92 million,” adding, “How could you not know that?”

I’m not the biggest fan of ‘gotcha’ questions, so I feel for Cruz, who had to withstand a barrage of questions from Tucker about Iran. I can’t even calculate the dinner tip without iPhone help, so I’m not great being put on the spot. Reagrdless, the clip certainly served its purpose because it got everyone riled up.

Well… The full interview is here. It’s very good. It asks a lot of serious questions and allows Tucker and Cruz to dig into many interesting topics.

There’s plenty of back-and-forth jousting.

Senator Cruz defended his positions on foreign policy, war, etc., but also kicked a few questions back to his interviewer, opening the way for Tucker to elaborate on hot topics like Russia, Putin, war, Trump, Ukraine, etc.

It was fiesty.

If anything, Cruz’s questioning allowed Tucker to speak to the many, negative things said about him following his trip to Russia, his trip to a grocery store in Russia, his views on U.S. foreign policy and more.

I just ran through the episode. Will need to watch again to catch the fine details.

But I’ll say this before you watch: Tucker doesn’t come away from this sizzling interview any less ‘awesome,’ in my opinion. People still might disagree with him as it relates to the U.S. strategy in the Israel/Iran conflict, but he made his case quite well, in the sense there’s nothing crazy or kooky about his opinions on the matter, or somehow that it’s wrong he even bring up questions for discussion.

Tucker made his points, explained his reasoning on a variety of topics, calmly refuted disparaging remarks, and did it looking and sounding confident in his freedom to ask questions, regardless of those who don’t want to engage in a healthy dialogue about the most serious topics.

Cruz engaged, which I appreciate. More conversation of ideas, not less.

In the end….

“I just want more emphasis on what’s happening inside the country, that’s it,” Tucker said, just moments before the interview reached its conclusion.

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Thanks, and have a great day!

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