Red and Green image of Iran

Andrea Austria / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Right-wing media are bitterly divided over potential war with Iran

Newsmax host Carl Higbie said Trump should “bomb people back to the Stone Age,” while Nick Fuentes described a war with Iran as “a complete betrayal of what this entire movement is about”

Written by Gideon Taaffe, Torri Lonergan, Alex Guiden & Noah Dowe

Published

Update (2/27/26): This piece has been updated to include additional examples.

The Trump administration has amassed military forces near Iran, causing tension in right-wing media over the possibility of another war in the Middle East. While some have voiced a full-throated defense of the use of military intimidation to pursue regime change in Iran, others have said a war with Iran would be a “betrayal” to the MAGA movement.

  • Trump has amassed military forces near Iran this year after striking the country in 2025 — a move that drew some right-wing media resistance

    • Amid the Trump administration’s attempts to get Iran to agree to cease all nuclear programs and hand over any enriched uranium, the U.S. military is deploying more assets to Iran’s borders. President Donald Trump warned, “It's proven to be, over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran, and we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen.” [Al Jazeera, 1/29/26; NPR, 2/20/26]
    • Trump has repeatedly stoked tensions with Iran, striking them directly and threatening further military action. Trump attacked Iran in 2025, striking three nuclear facilities. Trump also threatened “strong” military action earlier this year in reaction to the crackdown on anti-regime protests. [NPR, 6/21/25, 1/12/26]
    • Ahead of Trump’s 2025 strikes on Iran, right-wing media debated the issue, with some drawing lines in the sand. The anti-intervention side attacked the others, largely at Fox News, as “warmongers” and cited past Middle East wars as reasons not to engage with Iran militarily. The pro-intervention side dismissed critics, calling them “unhinged” and saying they’re trying to co-opt the MAGA movement. [Media Matters, 6/18/26]

  • Some in right-wing media have encouraged military action against Iran, with one even calling for Trump to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”

    • Newsmax host Carl Higbie voiced support for war with Iran, saying, “Sometimes you got to make pink mist, parking lots and bomb people back to the Stone Age, which in Iran's case, I'm actually completely fine with and even encourage it.” He continued, “I personally still think it's a good idea to turn Tehran into a thick, 6-foot-thick sheet of glass.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 2/19/26]
    • Fox News host Mark Levin repeatedly argued for Trump to take military action against Iran, saying “diplomacy as diplomacy” would fail because Iran’s “short-term goal is to avoid and delay regime change.” Levin continued, “I cannot think of any reason not to take this regime out. It won't be easy, but it is not China, it is not Russia, it is not even North Korea. They are weaker than they ever were. Now is the time.” Levin later said, “Two words: Get Khamenei.” [Media Matters, 2/19/26; Fox News, Life, Liberty, & Levin, 2/21/26]
    • Fox guest Brett Velicovich told Harris Faulkner that Iran must “fully dismantle the nuclear program or watch it get dismantled for them,” adding that if “they miscalculate again, the consequences from us are not going to be theoretical — they’re going to be visible from outer space.” [Fox News, The Faulkner Focus, 2/20/26]
    • On his radio show, Sean Hannity said, “Military action’s going to work, one way or another.” Hannity also commented, “The world is going to be better and safer. And it's not gonna be a forever war. It's going to be overwhelming military might and force, and then it's going to be up to the people of Iran. If they want a chance at freedom, they will have it, I believe, within the next few weeks.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 2/19/26, 2/19/26]
    • Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade claimed war with Iran is “inevitable” and said the U.S. would “lose credibility forever” if action is not taken to support Iranian protesters. Kilmeade added, “Do you want this president, who has clear and crisp focus on what he wants to execute with a very vulnerable Iran who is so unpopular, 90% of the population would overthrow them. They are unbelievably unpopular with the Iranian people. And we said we got their back. You can't have their back and have between seven and 30,000 people executed by the government and not have their back. We’ll lose credibility forever.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/18/26]
    • Right-wing podcaster Laura Loomer said, “I’m not against bombing Iran — I personally think we should be standing with the Iranian people,” but she also fearmongered about Iranians in the U.S. acting out in retaliation. Loomer: “I supported President Trump during Operation Midnight Hammer when he took out the Iranian nuclear facilities. And if the president decides to stage an attack on the ayatollah and kill the ayatollah, well, I'm going to support the president, right? We need to free Iran. That being said, because we have so many Muslims in our country now, you have a lot of Iranian proxies. And now we have to actually worry about these Iranian proxies activating themselves in a terror cell or as lone wolves to carry out retaliatory attacks against the United States as this conversation intensifies about whether or not the United States is going to be taking action against Iran.” [Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, 2/20/26]
    • Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox host Kayleigh McEnany that Trump would follow through with “pressure” on the Iranian government to “help” the Iranian people. Pompeo said, “He told the Iranian people who rose up, he said, help is on the way. I'm confident that he meant exactly what it was that he said.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 2/17/26]
    • Fox’s Brian Kilmeade endorsed military action against Iran: “I hope the president chooses to go at it.” He continued, “We have been looking at these headlines for 47 years, and we have an opportunity to end it. And this president likes to make history.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/27/26]
    • Fox News analyst Jack Keane dismissed caution due to past attempts at regime change, saying not to let ambiguity “distort what the opportunity is in front of you, here.” Keane: “When you conduct even an operation with a ground force, to conduct decisive operations to change the regime, as we did in Panama in '89, Haiti in '94, Afghanistan in ‘01 and Iraq in ‘03, there is always ambiguity in terms of what follows after that. And you can't let that distort what the opportunity is in front of you, here. And that's the reality of it.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/27/26]
    • On Fox & Friends, Heritage foundation senior fellow Eugene Kontorovich claimed Trump “has a chance to end a forever war, which is what the Islamic Republic is waging on America.” He continued, saying, “What we don't want is to have one of these Marvel movies where the main evil bad guy is exiled to some ice planet at the end only to return for the sequel.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/26/26]
    • Fox News’ Lawrence Jones dismissed criticisms of going to war with Iran, saying, “Many people have, Brian, asked for the president to make this case to the American people. … You don't need a full foreign policy document from the president of the United States on this, he made it very clear.” He continued: “I gave them a chance, I prefer to negotiate with them, but they haven’t said those words, we are going to stop building. He goes, I’ve destroyed the program before and I’m going to do it again if they don't say those words. So I think all indications based on their ideology, what they believe, you’ve got a cleric that’s running this, that they’re going to continue their program.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/25/26]
    • Right-wing host Dave Rubin mocked figures like Tucker Carlson opposed to strikes on Iran for “constantly blackpilling and doom-maxxing everybody.” Rubin argued, “They are the ones that are going to destroy the MAGA movement.” [YouTube, The Rubin Report, 2/24/26]

  • Others in right-wing media criticized Trump’s increased military presence near Iran and suggested war with Iran would be a “betrayal” to Trump’s movement

    • White nationalist podcaster Nick Fuentes said a war with Iran would be “Iraq II” and “a complete betrayal of what this entire movement is about” and that he wouldn’t support it in the midterms. He commented, “If you were there for the original MAGA America first, opposing the Iraq War was like one of the central planks.” Fuentes later added, “If we’re in a war with Iran, what’s even the proposition? Just forget it. I won’t vote for it. I won’t vote for it in the midterms, I’m not going to vote for the vice president and secretary of state that have given this to us.” [Rumble, America First with Nick Fuentes, 2/18/26] 
    • Podcaster and Trump loyalist Benny Johnson said he is “not in favor” of war with Iran. Johnson said, “Nobody's made the case that this is, like, America-first policy.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 2/21/26; Media Matters, 11/25/25]
    • Fox & Friends co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy pushed back on military buildup near Iran, saying, “The president needs to make a better case as to why this is in American interest.” She continued, “Explain to me why I should risk my military-aged boys potentially going into another war in the Middle East. I thought we were done with that.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/20/26]
    • Former Fox host Tucker Carlson complained, “There's not 10% of Trump voters who voted for Trump because they wanted regime change in Iran. In fact, they voted against that.” Appearing on Reality Check with Hadley Gamble, Carlson said, “What I am mad about is American policy makers allowing the agenda that Trump was elected on to be hijacked by a foreign country — any foreign country. It's too much.” [YouTube, Reality Check, 2/12/26]
    • Podcaster Tim Pool said, “I do not support the U.S. intervening in this capacity,” but he offered the caveat that he doesn’t think “this will be Iraq or Afghanistan 2.0 if we do go in.” Pool continued, “My deeper concerns are they have not justified to us — there's no justification as to why we should engage in a joint military strike to flatten the Iranian regime.” [YouTube, Timcast IRL, 2/19/26]
    • Newsmax host Michael Savage criticized a potential war with Iran, saying, “I disapprove. Thumbs down.” He continued, “A, I don't like gunboat diplomacy. B, I don't like nation building. C, I've seen this act before. D, it's Israel pushing him as sure as I'm sitting here, and I'm tired of it.” [Newsmax, Savage Nation, 2/22/26]
    • Flagrant host Andrew Schulz said, “I don't see any strategic benefit for the United States of America in engaging in a prolonged war with Iran. … It's crazy that they're not even trying to explain it.” Breaking Points host Saagar Enjeti agreed with Schulz, saying, “We're on the brink of bombing Iran for literally no reason.” [YouTube, Flagrant, 2/18/26]
    • Fox News anchor Bret Baier said Trump “hasn't really made the case if we are going to go into a big scale war inside Iran.” Fox News host Harold Ford Jr. agreed with Baier, saying, “I do think the president has to make this case. He has not made the case so far.” [Fox News, Special Report, 2/19/26]
    • Fox News contributor Ben Domenech pushed back on Trump’s justification for military buildup with Iran. Domenech said, “My concern for the administration … is that I'm not sure that the president has done the work — and his allies within the world and within this perspective on Iran have done the work — to convince the American people that this is something that is in their interest.” [Fox News, Special Report, 2/18/26]
    • Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly said, “Let’s hope not,” in response to a comment about bombing Iran. Her guest, journalist Ryan Grimm, commented, “Before this show's over we could be bombing Iran at the behest of Israel.” [Sirius XM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 2/18/26]
    • Kelly questioned, “What do we get out of it? … Why is President Trump considering this?” Referencing Trump’s 2025 strikes on Iran, Kelly added, “Here we are six months later saying we have to go back in to stop the nuclear program, the one that we just allegedly bombed and destroyed.” [SiriusXM, The Megyn Kelly Show, 2/26/26]
    • Podcaster Tim Dillon said a war with Iran is “not in our interest,” adding, “I don’t know what the plan is.” Dillon warned that “oil prices would spike and the global economy would suffer,” adding, “And, you know, we're gonna spend a lot of money to replace the Iranian regime with what? I mean, it's a country of 90 million people, and supposedly we're gonna put somebody in there who they all love. I don't know who it is. I don't know what the plan is.” [YouTube, The Tim Dillon Show, 2/21/26] 
    • White nationalist Stew Peters bemoaned that “the United States under AIPAC President Donald J. Trump is finally going to give Israel what they have been clamoring for.” Peters added, “Just about nobody who isn't either A: An Israeli dual citizen, or B: Getting paid, wants to see America fight this war. I dare you to go out and ask everybody that you know. … You will get a resounding no from every real American that you come into contact with.” [Rumble, The Stew Peters Show, 2/25/26; Media Matters, 3/13/23]
    • Fresh & Fit host Myron Gaines dismissed Trump’s State of the Union comments on Iran: “I can't believe he's still, like, using the nuke angle.” Gaines said it was “ludicrous” to say “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, especially Israel saying that when Israel has an unacknowledged nuclear program that's completely illegal. … I think that they've [Iran] been far more rational and measured in all of their responses and retaliation to Israeli and U.S. provocation, right? Make no mistake about it. Like, people forget that they bombed an embassy, they assassinated the top general. They've been destroying depots all over Iran.” [Rumble, Fresh & Fit, 2/24/26; The New York Times, 2/25/26]