“I think you have to trust the Qataris.”
Steven Witkoff, the Trump administration’s official envoy who had past business ties to Qatar, sat down with Tucker Carlson, the former FOX News talking head turned Qatari apologist who had recently featured Qatar’s leader, to talk about how wonderful Qatar is.
“Sheikh Mohammed… is a good man,” Witkoff gushed.
“He certainly is,” Tucker Carlson agreed.
“He’s a special guy. He really is,” Witkoff said.
“In the case of the Qataris, they’re criticized for not being well motivated. It’s preposterous. They are well motivated. They’re good, decent people. What they want is a mediation that’s effective, that gets to a peace goal. And why? Because they’re a small nation and they want to be acknowledged as a peacemaker.” Witkoff said of a country that serves as a state sponsor of every Islamic terrorist group from the Taliban to Hamas, and which harbored the mastermind of 9/11.
Tucker complained that Witkoff was being attacked for working for Qatar by the “news media and social media.” The truth is that the news media praises Witkoff, he’s being condemned on social media.
Witkoff replied by defending Qatar. “I’ve had a couple of experiences where first I was attacked as being pro Qatari sympathizer. By the way, Qatar is a mediator here. They’re not a party to the conflict, they’re a mediator. So I am—how could I not collaborate with the mediator? And if I’m not collaborating with the mediator, I’m bound to be ineffective. It’s not even possible that I could do the job. I had to know everything that they knew. So that means collaboration.”
Qatar is not a mediator. It’s a state sponsor of Hamas and other Islamic terrorist groups. By collaborating with Qatar, Witkoff is by definition collaborating with Hamas.
Witkoff praised Biden envoy Brett McGurk. According to Witkoff, McGurk told him, “this is where I want to get to, Steve.”
And that’s what led to the first disastrous deal with Hamas.
Tucker Carlson then lied that this approach of appeasing Islamic terrorists was “so different from the posture that the last couple of generations of diplomats have taken, which is like, here’s what we want. Shut up and do it. And I just don’t think, leaving aside moral considerations, I don’t think it’s been very effective.”
In reality, trying to win over terrorists is exactly what Bush, Obama and Biden did.
And it never worked.
Tucker knows it. He’s talked about it back when he wasn’t acting like an employee for the Gulf Muslim oil states.
Tucker Carlson then lied that Qatar are “often accused, almost universally accused in the US Media of being agents of Iran.” In fact the media bends over backward and promotes anything that Qatar and its Al Jazeera media outlet say. There’s virtually no criticism of Qatar in the media here. Tucker knows it. He’s propagandizing for Qatar to his conservative audience by making it seem like it’s at odds with the media.
In reality, the media is in Qatar’s pocket.
“They’re a Muslim nation. In the past, they’ve had some views that are a little bit more radical,” Witkoff claimed. “From an Islamist standpoint than they are today, but it’s moderated quite a bit. There’s no doubt that they’re an ally of the United States. There’s no doubt about that.”
Tucker agreed with Witkoff at every turn about how wonderfully moderate Qatar is.
Witkoff told Tucker that he had never spoken to Hamas, but “I think you have to trust the Qataris. If I didn’t trust the Qataris, then that would be really problematic, not meeting with Hamas.”
After the Qatari propaganda, Witkoff and Tucker turned to Hamas.
Witkoff then made an argument for the UN’s 15-20 year reconstruction plan for Gaza.
“What’s acceptable to us is they need to demilitarize. Then maybe they could stay there a little bit. Be involved politically. But they can’t be involved militarily. We can’t have a terrorist organization running Gaza because that won’t be acceptable to Israel,” Witkoff said.
So from a starting point of expelling Hamas and Gazans, we’re now down to Hamas getting to be “politically involved” in running Gaza as long as it goes through some show of disarming.
“You know, what we heard in the beginning of this conflict is Hamas is ideological. They’re prepared to die for a whole variety of reasons,” Witkoff told Tucker. “I don’t think that they are as ideologically locked in. They’re not ideologically intractable. I don’t. I never believe that.”
The contention that Hamas is not really ideological and is willing to make a deal was a feature of both the Bush and Obama administrations.
“Smart. Smart. That is total. That is smart. But it’s. How hard was it to come to that conclusion?” Tucker cheered.
The rest of the conversation essentially had Tucker Carlson channeling the Saudi line, claiming that “looming over all of these countries and their remarkable success both economically and socially, there’s like great countries, in my opinion is the conflict in Gaza. And not just Gaza, but the idea that, wow, this could all blow up tomorrow because we don’t know what the Israeli plan is.”
During the conversation, Tucker repeatedly demonstrated that he knew nothing about the region except whatever the Saudis and whoever else in the Gulf oil states was feeding him, leading him to say at one point that, Turkey’s “Erdogan is seen by some in his country as a tool of Israel.” In reality, Erdogan recently threatened war against Israel and praised Hamas.
Tucker claimed “that the conflict in Gaza, which is of course streamed in everyone’s iPhone, a lot of people killed in Gaza, a lot of kids. And that’s inflaming the populations of some of these countries again, specifically Egypt and Jordan.”
Tucker complained to Witkoff that the ‘two-state solution’ has become controversial.
Witkoff said that “the Israelis going in is in some respects unfortunate and in some respects falls into the “had to be” bucket. It kind of had to be. Hamas was not responding. And their responses were unreasonable.”
Then Witkoff recycled most of the Bush/Obama calls for “real elections in Gaza”.
That’s how Hamas took over Gaza in the first place.
One of Tucker’s parting remarks to Witkoff was, “I hope for our sake you wind up in Tehran.”
BeccaR says
Witkoff is absolutely the wrong man for the job.
Glen R. Cook says
I fully 110% AGREE! The man has no idea, concept or understanding of what HUDNA is!
MJ Raichyk, PhD says
There was no excuse for his ignorance requiring collaboration.
We have AI to deal with situations like that.
Has anyone tried one or other AI for evaluating such things?
Grok’s pretty impressive in evaluating alternative medical situations when posed from the patient’s point of view.
Specify the point of view … not a bureaucrat view… ttyl
somehistory says
I’m sorry, Mr. Greenfield but I cannot read the entire article you have so patiently written, with all of the pertinent facts.
It’s making me much too angry and I can do nothing about it. Lies, lies and more lies in support of demonic evil.
I pray that the Almighty God of the Bible will soon send His Son to make things right and send the “liars and those disgusting in their filth” to that “lake prepared” long ago for satan” the devil and his demon angels”.
How any human can sit and lie as these two have done, is so reprehensible.
Billy says
Dumb Witkoff fails to understand Islam and its discrimination, deceit, terrorism, and violence as taught in Islam’s Quran(Quran 7:99; 8:30; 9:5,29,111 and more). Muslims are terrorists for Allah.
Islam, a Terrorist-Criminal Enterprise, and its predatory Muslims continually fund, promote, and practice ideological subversion, propaganda, bigotry, discrimination, deceit, supremacy, segregation, hatred, violence, and terrorism as taught in Islamic Law and in Islam’s Quran, and Muslim actions should be legally challenged with a multi-faceted force of Western Laws like Muslims wield against Americans and Westerners(Quran 9:5,29; 49:15; 60:4 and more).
Like a Foreign Terrorist Organization(FTO) designated by the USA Secretary of State, Islam is a MUSLIM TERRORIST ORGANIZATION(MTO) fighting against Non-Muslims and NOT A PEACEFUL religion under Western Law because Islam funds, teaches, and promotes a Terrorist Criminal Organization with Muslims as Terrorists for Allah(Quran 9:5,29; 49:15 and more). Under Islam and Islamic Law, Muslims have the legal right to terrorize Non-Muslims because neglecting this DIVINE DUTY is a Crime against Allah; Jihad means warfare against Non-Muslims to ESTABLISH ISLAM’S RELIGION(Quran 3:151; 9:29; Muslim Law Manual: “Reliance of the Traveller”, o9.0 and more).
More specifically, Islam, a terroristic-destructive way of life, is a Muslim Terrorist Ideology and Murderous, Criminal Enterprise of intolerance, continuous war, discrimination, segregation, supremacy, genocide, polygamy, propaganda, deceit, hatred, incitement, sedition, rape, terrorism, and violence against all Non-Muslims as taught in the Quran(Quran 2:216; 4:65,89,95; 5:14,64; 8:12,39,74; 9:5,21,29,36, 41,49,73,88,111,123; 21:92; 49:15; 60:4 and more).
John Herlihy says
👍🏻🎯🎯💪🏻 200%!!! ✝️🇺🇸
somehistory says
I did read the final sentence. Yes, the goon who supports terror, should end up in tehran….just as there is incoming from Israel.
Wellington says
America, even under Trump, still doesn’t get it about Islam and this is a major problem to put it mildly.
WTF!
Cynthia says
They are both clueless, as bad as the Democrats it seems. Islam will fake negotiate to stall and convince the enemy with soft voices and a knife ready for your back,
This is absolutely an ideological religious imperative, with no concern for their people. Hamas is happy to have cannon fodder for the fake news to cry about. The more dead, the more sympathy and positive propaganda.
The Mayor says
Carlson isn`t clueless. He just hates Israel, and, most Jews..
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Tucker is a moron. Erudite about Russia, but compensates for it w/ ignorance about the Middle East. He thinks that just b’cos he got a good reception at the Emirates, that all Arab countries are actually great. He however excludes from his list Saudi Arabia b’cos 9/11, although it can be argued that MbS is nothing like King Abdullah. And unlike his pal Mark Steyn, he refuses to draw a connection b/w islam and the rape gangs in Europe, including Britain
Also, where does he get off arguing that a war w/ Iran would be destructive? Yeah, it will, if we fight it stupidly like in Iraq and Afghanistan, thinking that we have to transform Persia in our own image. But if we just bombed their military and IRGC sites all over the country, and their main power centers, causing the regime to collapse, we can leave the Iranians to their own devices. It would be important, however, that they not be carved up by their neighbors – Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, but that can be done by reading those countries the riot act
On Witkoff, since the Qataris are his intermediaries, it would be stupidly undiplomatic for him to badmouth them. But his conflicts of interests can’t be overlooked. If the Qataris helped bail him out in NYC, then it is fair to ask how much of an “intermediary” he actually is?
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Also, Qatar is not an agent of Iran. Both Witkoff and Carlson missed the muslim brotherhood, which is the nucleus of jihad activity in the region. Qatar and Turkey both back the muslim brotherhood, Hamas is the Palestinian chapter of the muslim brotherhood, and that’s how they’re all connected. Iran is a, but not the primary sponsor of Hamas: Qatar and Turkey are
I wonder whether Tucker will suddenly become a fan of NATO if a direct conflict b/w Turkey and Israel breaks out?
Rabbi Menashe Bovit says
Witkoff is obviously part of the “Tucker Carlson” clique in Trump World. Trump is actually balancing a number of factions of the Right. That’s how he built MAGA. Tulsi Gabbard is another member of that clique. Recall that recently a man who is extremely antI-Israel with a long history of rants against Israel on Social Media almost became a DNI official until his venom was revealed on this site and others. It’s time to raise the volume on removing Witkoff.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
I respectfully disagree. There is nothing to suggest that Gabbard is anti-Israel. Yeah, she gets pilloried for her visit to Syria in 2017 and meeting Assad, and from there, it has been extrapolated that she’s on the same page as Syria and Iran. Yet the reason she visited Syria has been vindicated by HTS over the last few months. She was concerned that Christians were at the receiving end of the “rebels”, which were Jabhat al Nusra (one of the factions now constituting HTS) & other sunni factions backed by Qatar, Turkey and others. Events since December have borne her out
She’s on record as supporting Israel, particularly since October 7th 2 years ago. She’s attended the march for Israel at the national mall in November 2023, a month after the attacks, and most recently, redacted the offer of employment to Daniel Davis, who is exactly how you described Gabbard instead
While her usage of fictitious terms like “islamist” and “islamism” is lamentable, it’s closer than anyone else has dared come to recently. She has also condemned other jihadist entities like Pakistan and Bangladesh, and in case of the latter, she’s gone further than anyone in the Indian government, which is a small solace for Bangladesh Hindus
Essentially, she’s nothing like Tucker Carlson, or more seriously, Glenn Greenwald, who has been protesting the removal of Hamas demonstrators like Mahmoud Khalil from the country, trying to point out his attending some Jewish ceremonies that antisemitic Jews in his protests set up. We have enough real enemies, and shouldn’t focus on imaginary ones
James Lincoln says
Witkoff needs to be replaced by someone like John Guandolo – now.
And Tucker Carlson, though pretty darn sharp in some areas, “doesn’t know that he doesn’t know” about islam and the Middle East.
James Lincoln says
Witkoff needs to be replaced by someone like John Guandolo – now.
And Tucker Carlson, though pretty darn sharp in some areas, “doesn’t know that he doesn’t know” about islam and the Middle East.
OLD GUY says
Qatar supports Islam.
Islam supports the enslavement and killing of non-islamic followers.
Enough said.
Pray Hard says
Willful ignorance or willful evil or both.
Eva says
When Israel drops a bomb on qatar, I really think they should make sure this evil f**k is there.
Lady of the Lake says
Somebody is missing something here, and I don’t think it’s President Trump. It’s too odd to be a real ‘thing‘. Witkoff THINKS he’s doing a great job…but the White House administration is slyly leaving him there to act as some sort of a distraction or red herring. In my opinion the White House is plying Witkoff as a useful idiot. Getting real close to the enemy.
Kindal says
I used to listen and trust Tucker CARLSON but he has shown less support and more criticism of Israel. He is wavering on a lot of things lately. So I’m skeptical 🫤 he is a man who understands the Bible and Israel according to scripture.
ChuckyMartel says
More like Dimwitkoff.
Michael Peppe says
No intelligent Conservative should listen to a single word Tucker Carlson says. He’s obviously a blithering idiot when discussing Islam, Qatar, Hamas, the MB, Turkey or any terrorist group. I’m shocked that his brain has deteriorated so badly in such a short time. While Iran is the worst, most dangerous and evil nation in the world, its closest and most beloved ally Qatar is a close second, and we have no business negotiating anything whatsoever with either of them.