Tucker Carlson, the conservative media giant, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand former member of Congress, said they had formally broken with the Republican Party.
The split expands the two conservative luminaries’ feud with President Trump into a broader repudiation of the party they once helped shape. Although both said they would not support Democrats, their break from the G.O.P. could exacerbate party turmoil that threatens to suppress enthusiasm, and participation, in the fall midterms.
“I have been a consistent defender for 35 years of the Republican Party,” Mr. Carlson said during a guest appearance on the “Can’t Be Censored” podcast that aired Thursday. “If I’m out, then I think a lot of other people are out.”
Ms. Greene followed up with a social media post saying much the same.
“Tucker is not the only one who is done supporting the Republican Party,” she said Monday on X. “There is A LOT of us that are absolutely fed up and will not support a party that betrays its voters and country.”
Mr. Carlson, a former Fox News host, and Ms. Greene, a former congresswoman from Georgia, have been outspoken critics of Mr. Trump’s second term, most notably over the war with Iran and their view that he is neglecting such domestic issues as inflation at a time when prices continue to rise faster than wages.
Their evolution, from fixtures inside of Trump’s orbit to unvarnished critics, reflects growing discord within the G.O.P. at a critical moment, as the president’s low approval ratings test the party’s ability to retain control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.
Kush Desai, a spokesman for the White House, said in a statement that “oil and gas prices — and thus overall inflation — will rapidly drop as soon as the Iran situation is resolved.”
Mr. Carlson and Ms. Greene have embraced their new roles as disillusioned critics. Mr. Carlson, long an opponent of foreign interventions, said his break with the party had been driven by an abandonment of “America first” principles. He has blamed Israel for pushing the White House into the war with Iran — a focus that, along with his interview of the white nationalist influencer Nick Fuentes, has drawn accusations of antisemitism, which he has denied.
“It’s not enough to say, Well, I changed my mind — or like, Oh, this is bad, I’m out,” Mr. Carlson said in an episode of his podcast released in April. “It’s a moment to wrestle with our own consciences,” he continued, “and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people.”
Ms. Greene resigned from Congress in January after a series of ruptures with the president.
“If I am cast aside by MAGA Inc and replaced by Neocons, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Military Industrial War Complex, foreign leaders, and the elite donor class that can’t even relate to real Americans,” Ms. Greene said in a statement announcing her departure, “then many common Americans have been cast aside and replaced as well.”
Mr. Trump earlier this month dismissed an inflation report that showed prices climbing thanks in part to oil and gas costs that had soared as a result of the war in Iran. He promised that any hit to the U.S. economy would reverse quickly once the war ended, though economists are less confident.
“No, I love it, the numbers were great,” the president told reporters. “I love the inflation.”
Ms. Greene has suggested that she would support Mr. Carlson if he ran for president.
On the “Can’t Be Censored” podcast last week with Travis Dhanraj and Karman Wong, Mr. Carlson said he had “zero interest in running for president” and that he remained a fan of his longtime friend Vice President JD Vance, who is in an “impossible situation.” He criticized the Republican Party’s signature rallying cry, “Make America Great Again,” even while admitting it had been the foundation of a coalition he helped sustain over the last decade through his commentary on Fox News and more recently on his own network.
“I never understood it,” he said of MAGA. “It was imprecise by design.”
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