In the summer of 2018, as Congress was investigating a sexual assault allegation made against Brett Kavanaugh, which he denied, Tucker Carlson defended the then Supreme Court nominee by suggesting his accuser was “part of the problem” and describing the claims made against Kavanaugh as part of “the left’s war on old white men.” Over the past two weeks, however, the Fox News star has launched his own war against old white men. Carlson––fresh off his on-air humiliation of a groveling Ted Cruz, who he called a liar to his face in response to the Texas senator characterizing the January 6 riot as “a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol”––has now placed Kavanaugh squarely in his sights.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court knocked down Joe Biden’s employer vaccine-or-testing mandate for large employers in a 6–3 decision. But in a second case focused on health care workers, Kavanaugh and John Roberts sided with the liberal justices in a 5–4 decision. While reacting to this news, Carlson made a note of this departure from popular GOP sentiment, saying the mandate was defeated “with no help from Brett Kavanaugh,” who he damned as a “cringing little liberal.” He went on to say that the decision helped “millions of Americans waiting to get fired from their jobs because they won’t obey this arbitrary command from the president.”

A number of other conservatives joined Carlson in this conservative-on-conservative violence. “It was disappointing to see Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh join the Court’s liberals to uphold a mandate that targets health care workers,” tweeted Rep. Matt Gaetz. “America’s businesses should forget these mandates faster than Joe Biden forgets his daily schedule.” Florida governor Ron DeSantis said the pair of justices lacked “backbone,” while Donald Trump Jr.—whose father, of course, appointed Kavanaugh—chimed in: “The left broke Kavanaugh. That was always their intention and it worked. They turned him into a Roberts.” And former Trump aide Steve Cortes noted that “America First patriots and Pres Trump rallied fiercely to Brett Kavanaugh at his crucible moment, and he’s been a disappointment ever since.”

Despite the recent outpouring of criticism from the right, Kavanaugh’s has recently sided with the conservative majority on issues like abortion, voting rights, and now against the vaccine mandate for large employers. Still, three Republican House candidates also dove into the fray––perhaps in an attempt to build up their conservative bona fides. “​​Brett Kavanaugh has just tested positive for the RINO Virus,” tweeted ​​Lavern Spicer, a Florida GOP candidate running for Congress. Errol Webber, a GOP House candidate running in California, tweeted that Kavanaugh and Roberts should never be called “conservatives,” while Omar Navarro, a Los Angeles Republican who has made losing to Rep. Maxine Watters a tradition, wrote that “traitor and loser” Kavanaugh should have been left “to the streets" for Democrats to “eat him alive.”

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