The horseshoe effect—also known as horseshoe theory—in Western politics describes how the far left and far right, while appearing ideologically opposed, often end up resembling each other in practice. Instead of a straight political line (left → center → right), the spectrum bends like a horseshoe, with the two extremes curving toward one another.

Increasingly, figures like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly—particularly when promoting conspiracy-driven narratives about Israel—echo rhetoric that closely mirrors that of the far left.

But this phenomenon is far from new.