Evening Edition: MAGA and the Debate Over US Intervention with Iran
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I'm Janice Dean. I'm Jason Chaffetz. I'm Harris Faulkner. And this is the Fox News Rundown. Friday, June 20th, 2025. I'm Eben Brown. How involved should the U.S. be in the Iran-Israel conflict? President Trump's supporters appear to be split on that.

Or are they? He agrees with the isolationists. He does not believe in regime change and he does not believe in boots on the ground and he is not going to start a war. But he agrees with the neoconservatives that we should be assisting our ally Israel in defending ourselves from a foe in the Middle East. This is the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition. ♪

Thank you.

to deploying the latest AI technology. This is a new era of American innovation. Find out more at g.co slash American innovation. President Trump has loudly communicated that while Israel conducts its operation against Iran's nuclear facilities, he will give it some time before deciding to have the U.S. military join in on Israel's behalf. Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations between

that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future. I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks." That's a quote directly from the president for all of you today. The president's press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, reading his statement to reporters earlier this week. And that has signaled to some of the loudest of the president's supporters that President Trump would neither be fully committed to intervening, but also not fully committed to not intervening.

And that's causing discontent throughout the entire spectrum of the president's supporters who all claim the title of MAGA or America First. But is it just a lot of hot air or hot takes across social media? So if you follow the mainstream media, the split in MAGA over Iran has been one of the most prevalent stories over the last week.

And I confess I am a huge skeptic that this split really exists. Batya Ungar Sargon is a journalist with columns at the Free Press and who is also a regular face and voice on Fox News. What did happen was a number of very pro-Trump influencers on social media split from the president, right?

over the idea that we should be supporting Israel in defending ourselves from Iran achieving a nuclear weapon. There were also a number of neoconservative supporters of Trump

who acted like the president was listening to them, but he also was not listening to them. And so to me, this narrative is hugely overblown. You had a split in the influencer world

between the isolationist anti-Israel influencers and the neoconservative regime change influencers, both of whom were acting like they represented the real America First MAGA base, when the truth is that the real America First MAGA base is represented by the president who was listening to neither camp.

The president is very pro-Israel and very America first, meaning he agrees with the isolationists. He does not believe in regime change and he does not believe in boots on the ground and he is not going to start a war. But he agrees with the neoconservatives that we should be assisting our ally Israel in defending ourselves from a foe in the Middle East. So he constantly

carved out this middle lane that was pro-Israel but America first, in which neither side of this alleged debate was getting what he wanted. But the plot twist was that the vast majority of Americans, not just of Republicans, not just of MAGA voters, but of Americans were getting

Exactly what they wanted, because that position that the president eked out, though it may be hard to find influencers who think that or media elites or political elites.

That is where 80% of Americans are at. They believe that under no conditions should Iran be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon. They want the person in charge of American foreign policy to exhaust every peaceful means before going to an escalation. And they want that escalation to be taken in a very minimal way, if at all.

while taking under consideration all of the potential fallout. And that is exactly what the president has done. Yeah, I think it kind of goes to show how the influencers on social media within the MAGA movement might not have been as influential as they thought they were. That has been revealed, hasn't it?

Indeed, indeed. And so you had people like Charlie Kirk, who very quickly found his way out of the isolationist group and into the president's camp. You had people like Tucker Carlson, who very quickly called the president to apologize for coming out against him, right? So you even had people who were in that isolationist camp, who very quickly sort of found their way back

into the fold because they understood that the president really understands the beating heart, again, not just of his base, but of this country. And meanwhile, the people in the neoconservative group are also not getting their way, despite the fact that they may

act like they are, the president is not going to oversee regime change. If he does agree to use bunker busters in Fordow, it will be at the end of another attempt at bringing Iran to the table to negotiate. This is a president who is very proud of his record in the first administration of not going to war.

And he takes the lives of our service members and our troops very, very seriously. So I think that, you know, the influencer world likes to claim its influence. But what we're seeing right now is that nobody tells President Trump what to do. Batia Ungar Sargon is our guest. We're discussing President Trump's decision to wait a couple of weeks before deciding whether or not

to assist Israel in dismantling Iran's nuclear facilities. On the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition, please like and subscribe. We'll have more straight ahead.

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Yes, the term brings up some very bad memories for Americans. Two attempts of regime change absolutely failed. We're talking Afghanistan and Iraq. And it cost us people. It cost us blood. It cost us treasure. But and then the other opposite end of that is hands off completely isolationism. But there's that's a large chasm. I mean, there's there is an in between here. You could weaken the regime and allow.

Iranian people to take the next step if they want to do that. Is that theory getting more airplay now? I think certainly it is. You know, the president believes deeply in sovereignty. America first is a principle of sovereignty, and he respects the sovereignty of the Iranian people, just like he respects Israel's sovereignty in pursuing its interests.

The conversations with Israel, with Netanyahu and the president over the last 60 days, over whether Israel would pursue this or not. In the beginning, the president was not so keen on this idea. He wanted those 60 days to pursue a potential peaceful negotiation with Iran.

But he respected Israel's right to pursue what is in its interest. And by the way, Naftali Bennett put this very well recently. Iran is an existential threat to Israel. It is a strategic threat to the United States.

Those are not the same level of threat. So when we make decisions about our level involvement, it's going to be different than their decisions. And you have heard both President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, uh,

equally reaffirm each country's right and indeed moral duty to do what is right for them. The president likes strong allies who bring something to the table to make America stronger, safer, and more prosperous. And I think that's really what we're seeing here. But you're absolutely right. And it's so amazing to see how someone like Ted Cruz is

who is a neocon regime change person, even now saying, well, we're not looking for regime change, right? You know, so even the neoconservative position has moderated so significantly under the auspices of President Trump's America First agenda.

There's one other aspect to all of this that I think needs to be addressed, and that is a lot of the people who are saying America shouldn't go to war with Iran have also put this other caveat. I'm not going to die for Israel.

or I'm not going to die for the Jews. That's an undercurrent in this, I think, that there is this profession of an idea that when America does go to war, it's for the benefit of Israel with American, meaning Christian, people dying for a Jewish state. It's conspiratorial. It's part of the fabric of anti-Semitism, I think.

We're seeing that in this, aren't we? You know, no doubt there are people out there who are saying that from that point of view. It is also the case that the Israelis would like us to join them in this effort.

We will join or not join based on the president's assessment of how much that is in America's interests. Nobody's going to die for Israel. The Israelis never, ever want American boots on the ground. They are very zealous of their right and duty to defend themselves.

And it's funny because you often see the people making that claim. You know, it's not people who are like in the military. You know, it's not people who are it's people who are, you know, tweeting from their mother's basement or what have you. But, you know, the the fact is anti-Semitism is rising in the elites of the left and the right. But I think the vast majority of Americans vote.

feel keenly that Iran is a threat to us and our interests and also are very protective of their Jewish neighbors and are very pro-Israel. So, you know, if you want to know how the American people feel about something,

And again, not just Republicans. You couldn't do better than looking at where President Trump is on an issue. And he is clearly very pro-Israel while also always putting American interests first. All right. Batya Ungar Sargon, you are a columnist of the Free Press. You appear on Fox News all the time. Thank you so much for being with us here at the Fox News Rundown Evening Edition.

Thank you so much for having me. God bless you, all of your listeners, and really God bless Fox News. Many, many, many Jews are this week, as on other weeks, thanking themselves, thanking God that Fox News exists and that we can get good coverage of these issues. Thank you so much.

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