ABC chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl joined Saturday’s Good Morning America to discuss any possible political fallout from President Trump’s decision to attack Iran. Despite polling showing Republicans broadly supportive of the idea before Saturday, Karl suggested there is “potential for significant blowback” from the MAGA base.
Karl reported how he had “heard from one of Trump's key supporters in his MAGA movement, Tucker Carlson. I had asked him this morning what he made, and several other prominent supporters of the president, what he made of this, and this is what Tucker Carlson told me of the president's decision to attack Iran.”
ABC's Jonathan Karl tries to suggest Trump's political coalition may break now that he's bombing Iran, "Keep in mind, Tucker Carlson is a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, spoke at his convention, was at the White House as recently as last week, and Tucker Carlson told me it… pic.twitter.com/ohvfLnyXmW
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) February 28, 2026
Trying to build up Carlson’s credentials, Karl continued, “Keep in mind, Tucker Carlson is a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, spoke at his convention, was at the White House as recently as last week, and Tucker Carlson told me it is 'absolutely disgusting and evil.' So, I think that there is the potential for significant blowback from some of the president's strongest supporters for what's just happened.”
Carlson’s Middle East beliefs are an outlier among Republicans. Israel joined the U.S. in launching combat operations against Iran and 70 percent of Republicans still hold more sympathy for Israel versus only 13 percent for the Palestinians. Carlson would be in the 13 percent. Carlson has also suggested Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be a stabilizing event for the Middle East.
Before the strikes, 57 percent of Republicans favored using the military to try to force regime change compared to only 18 percent opposed. Additionally, 71 percent of Republicans labeled Iran an enemy, while an additional 18 percent labeled Tehran “not friendly, but not enemies.”
That would suggest that even conservatives who are skeptical or opposed to the bombing are not feeling sorry for the regime and any concerns are purely practical and not the moral “absolutely disgusting and evil” indignation Karl cited Carlson as having.
Here is a transcript for the February 28 show:
ABC Good Morning America
2/28/2026
7:34 AM ET
JONATHAN KARL: Just moments ago I heard from one of Trump's key supporters in his MAGA movement, Tucker Carlson. I had asked him this morning what he made, and several other prominent supporters of the president, what he made of this, and this is what Tucker Carlson told me of the president's decision to attack Iran.
Keep in mind, Tucker Carlson is a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, spoke at his convention, was at the White House as recently as last week, and Tucker Carlson told me it is “absolutely disgusting and evil.” So, I think that there is the potential for significant blowback from some of the president's strongest supporters for what's just happened.
