The Trump White House is lashing out at some of its most reliable allies as a bitter civil war erupts on the right over the administration’s controversial Iran agreement.
Conservative commentator Batya Ungar-Sargon became the latest target Friday after she blasted the deal as an “utter humiliation” for the US and accused Vice President JD Vance of unfairly attacking Israel while defending Tehran.
Within hours the official White House rapid-response account on X unloaded on the conservative pundit in a pair of scathing posts.
“The only humiliation here is Batya desperately begging for an additional brain cell because her failing TV show is even more irrelevant than the likes of Kaitlan Collins and Fake Tapper,” the account, Rapid Response 47, wrote.
Collins, CNN’s chief White House correspondent and the host of a primetime show, has been a frequent target of Trump, as has Jake Tapper, the host of the network’s daily political wrap-up show “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
The White House-linked account also mocked conservative writer David Reaboi, dismissing him as a “complete nobody” whose “dim-witted ravings” nobody wanted to read.
The post was a response to Reaboi accusing Vance of suffering from “brainrot” that made him “morph into a more articulate Theo Von” — a reference to the popular podcaster who has been critical of Israel.
The attacks stood out because both Ungar-Sargon and Reaboi have spent years operating within the broader Trump-aligned political ecosystem.
Ungar-Sargon, a former Newsweek opinion editor and current NewsNation host who describes herself as a “MAGA leftist,” has become one of Trump’s most visible media defenders in recent years.
She argued in a widely discussed 2024 essay that Trump was the “inheritor” of the American Jewish and labor tradition and has frequently championed his populist economic agenda.
Reaboi, a national-security commentator, has long been associated with the America First movement and conservative media circles.
Though he backed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during part of the 2024 Republican primary, he has remained a prominent voice on the populist right.
“It’s become increasingly alarming — but unfortunately now expected — that the Vice President and his team rage pretty much exclusively at right-wing Jews,” Reaboi, who was not a part of the “Never Trump” movement of disaffected GOP supporters, told The Post on Friday.
“Maybe they should all spend less time in social media echo chambers and listening to maniacs like Theo Von, Tucker Carlson and others, because clearly the retardation is rubbing off.”
The Post has sought comment from Ungar-Sargon.
Ungar-Sargon unloaded on the administration during a television appearance on NewsNation this week, saying she would support a deal that benefited America even if it came at Israel’s expense.
Instead, she argued, the agreement represented a strategic surrender despite overwhelming American military leverage.
“If this was a great deal for America and a bad deal for Israel, I would champion it because I see myself as an America First American,” she said.
“The problem is it’s an absolutely disastrous deal that has brought us to our knees weeks before our two hundred and fiftieth birthday.”
She reserved some of her sharpest criticism for Vance, accusing him of blaming Israel while Iran celebrated.
“It is disgusting,” she said.
“It is the complete Tucker Carlsonification of the Vice President of the United States, and it is utterly deplorable.”
Reaboi has likewise criticized the administration’s handling of the agreement and its messaging surrounding the deal.
The backlash is hardly limited to media personalities.
The administration has found itself under fire from a who’s who of hawkish conservatives, pro-Israel activists and Republican officials who fear the agreement resembles the type of Iran accommodation Republicans spent years condemning under former President Barack Obama.
Among those voicing concerns have been Mark Levin, former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Ted Cruz.
Rather than simply defend the agreement on the merits, the White House and its allies have increasingly taken aim at the critics themselves.
Vance has dismissed some opponents as people who want the conflict to continue indefinitely. Trump has reportedly referred to critics as “fools.”
The Post has sought comment from the White House.
