Babylon Bee 'threatens' Megyn Kelly with pager after hosting Carlson
4 Min Read
Right-wing pro-Israeli satire outlet the Babylon Bee makes a public 'threat' against journalist Megyn Kelly after she hosted conservative commentator Tucker Carlson.
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Megyn Kelly looks on before the start of the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, January 14, 2025 (AP)
The Babylon Bee, a satire pro-Israeli, conservative media outlet, made an inappropriate joke that was deemed a "threat" about American Fox News journalist Megyn Kelly, saying she "[got] rid of [her] old pager just to be safe", which not only threatens a civilian but also pokes fun at the victims of the terrorist attack carried out by the Israeli occupation in Lebanon in September of last year.
Later on, The Babylon Bee removed the post in question.
The threat comes after Kelly hosted conservative American media personality Tucker Carlson, who has been growing more critical of the Israeli regime and the US ties to it, which has been garnering him heaps of backlash, especially from Zionist groups and media outlets such as The Babylon Bee.
The backlash over the Bee’s pager-bomb joke has intensified a widening rift inside the American right, a fracture sharpened by Tucker Carlson’s interview with right-wing figure Nick Fuentes. What began as a flare-up has hardened into a full-blown MAGA civil war, with factions trading accusations of extremism and betrayal.
Despite still being publicly supportive of the Israeli occupation, Megyn Kelly has defended Carlson and Candace Owens, another right-wing figure who became very critical of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, as both face mounting criticism from the pro-Israeli lobby for shedding light on the Gaza genocide and criticizing the US military's spending and its role in enabling said genocide, which they expressed goes against its interests.
Kelly has pushed back against calls to distance herself from them, arguing that disagreements within the right should not overshadow what she views as larger political battles.
She has also defended her own recent commentary on the Israeli war on Gaza, saying she rejects attempts to portray her as antisemitic. Kelly later hosted Carlson on her program, during which he dismissed criticism surrounding the Fuentes interview.
The joke was previously made about British commentator Mehdi Hasan, who was accused by conservative Ryan James Girdusky of having ties to Hezbollah and told him he "hope[s] his beeper doesn't go off."
Girdusky was banned off CNN following this comment, but was later hosted by Kelly on her show. They brought up the comment that was made about Hasan and laughed about it. However, Kelly later seemed offended by The Babylon Bee piece, which poked fun at the exact same situation that she seemed to find amusing earlier.
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Megyn Kelly's X post about the Babylon Bee story.
GOP rift over 'Israel' erupts
A long-smoldering debate over US support for "Israel" burst into public view after Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts defended Tucker Carlson, arguing that "Christians can critique the state of Israel without being antisemitic."
According to Responsible Statescraft, the remarks made amid criticism of Carlson’s interview with avowed "white nationalist" Nick Fuentes ignited a fierce split within the Republican coalition between traditional pro-Israeli hawks and a rising restraint-oriented faction.
Roberts’s intervention, which included denouncing many of Fuentes’s views while urging debate over them, has prompted high-profile responses from figures such as Senator Ted Cruz and other conservative institutions seeking to discipline Heritage and marginalize Carlson. At the same time, MAGA and America-First voices have rallied behind Roberts and Carlson, framing the dispute as a necessary reassessment of US foreign commitments.
The rupture reflects deeper currents in Republican foreign policy. A struggle between a neoconservative tradition that views support for "Israel" as central to US interests and a resurgent paleoconservative/restraint movement skeptical of extensive foreign entanglements has emerged.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has insisted that supporting "Israel" is “innately tied to America's fundamental interests,” while polling cited in the report shows substantial base appetite for paying less attention to problems overseas and growing youth skepticism toward "Israel".
