Current Events > GOP donors tossing around the idea of Tucker Carlson running for president

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Antifar
07/02/20 7:00:47 PM
#1:


https://www.businessinsider.com/tucker-carlsons-2024-presidential-campaign-seen-in-monologues-ratings-surge-2020-7
It's the new, more serious Carlson, freed of the bow tie and smarm, who has captured the eyes of Manhattan donors, Insider has learned. And now conservatives across the country ahem are saying that maybe the Fox News megastar ought to be running for president himself in 2024 once Trump is out of the picture.

They have a point.

Look across the field of openly ambitious politicians and it's littered with people in search of "moments." The 2016 campaign amounted to a perpetual stream of them, from Trump's early-morning phone calls to his favorite TV pundits, to his late-night rallies and constant tweeting. California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris created her own moment in 2017 by grilling then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. More recently, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, someone widely viewed as a likely 2024 GOP candidate, grabbed the ultimate moment on the right when his op-ed calling for military action against rioters and other "miscreants" led to the resignation of The New York Times' opinion-page editor.

Every "moment" has one thing in common: grabbing the attention of cable news shows. But Carlson doesn't need to create any moments. He is the moment, live at 8 p.m. day in and day out.

"What we are seeing now is Tucker at his absolute best," said Jon Schweppe, a policy director for the conservative group American Principles Project and diehard Carlson fan. "He used to employ the typical prime-time cable-news tactics mocking left-wing politicians for their gaffes or journalists for their bias. That was entertainment, and he was good at it.

"But something changed with Tucker when the country began to suffer after COVID-19 hit," Schweppe said. "His show is no longer entertainment. These are sermons. He's taking a moment when the GOP is lacking vision or any sort of moral clarity and he's providing it. Naturally, his following is growing. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. I hope the president is watching."

Carlson declined several requests for interviews for this story, and a Fox News spokeswoman declined to comment for this story.

Tucker 2024 is itself a media creation. He's a guy who has made his name in journalism, writing print and saying things on television, the son of the Ronald Reagan-appointed director of the Voice of America and longtime friend of the one and only Roger Stone, the GOP provocateur and felon who probably had more to do with nudging Trump's political ambitions into reality than anyone else.

Anyone watching Carlson now can see he's clearly using his platform speaking to millions of people to seize his conservative Howard Beale "mad as hell" moment. What's remarkable is that it is happening as the Trump White House he once championed looks to be in its own 2020 death spiral and the nation writhes in an economic free fall spurred by a pandemic.

Whether Carlson himself has his own White House ambitions, he isn't saying. Last July he did joke he would be "insane" to run for president, but then posited that, if he did, a possible winning platform for a Republican would be talking about a social issue, like the challenges of raising kids in the current US economic climate.

Predictably, the idea of a pundit president has the pundits pontificating.

Last fall, New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo suggested a Carlson presidency was not only possible but would be infinitely more effective than Trump's tumultuous term [Antifar's note: effective at what?]. Writing about a hypothetical future that has Carlson as the country's chief executive, Manjoo envisions a nightmare scenario "where Trump was a chaotic, undisciplined narcissist, the Carlson who wins in 2024 is a canny political strategist who makes good on Trump's forgotten promise to embrace anti-corporate economic policies."

From the far right, longtime activist Michelle Malkin relishes the concept. "I wish Tucker Carlson were president!" she tweeted last June. Over on Facebook, the "Draft Tucker Carlson for President 2024" page regularly posts highlights from Carlson's show, including his early warnings from January about the coronavirus.

Even The Washington Post has gotten in on the action. Its early 2024 GOP rankings, published two weeks after Insider did its own version, had Carlson registering in the "also receiving votes" category, like the smattering of college-football hopefuls who haven't quite cracked the AP preseason top 25 but still merit mentions as national championship contenders.

That chatter, plus Carlson's regularly televised performances, have piqued the interest of GOP strategists and the party's moneyed class. His decision to formally cut ties with The Daily Caller, the conservative news outlet he started a decade ago, struck operatives interviewed for this story as another sign he could be positioning himself for a run. A small group of New York donors also began talking at the start of June about running him for president in 2024, according to one source familiar with the discussions.
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Carlson's big gamble, Carusone said, is betting there will be a white backlash in America against the Black Lives Matter protests. That could reinvigorate a white nationalist populist base for him in 2024 similar to what carried Trump through the wide-open field of Republicans at the start of the 2016 contests.

Practically speaking, Carlson has to keep threading the needle for at least four more months. Openly running for president now would look terrible and taint his image as a fearless nationalist outsider, Carusone said. But the idea becomes much more acceptable after the 2020 election results are in and the world knows whether Trump and his unique brand of presidential governing is going to be around for four more years.

Carlson himself has not seriously broached the topic, according to several sources. There are practical reasons for that. Even thinking about it aloud could derail his cable stardom a second time. Fox News has famously spiked talent for working with Trump, not to mention after its paid pundits launched bids for president or even considered bids, including when Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich considered their own 2012 White House runs.


From yesterday:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/400-current-events/78817102/941529339
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Dark_SilverX
07/02/20 7:01:09 PM
#2:


xD

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Poop2
07/02/20 7:01:20 PM
#3:


what a shit political party when Cucker White Nationalist is your candidate

xD

shit tier political paryt
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CADE FOSTER
07/02/20 7:01:35 PM
#4:


A dude more racist than Trump yay disband the gop
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DarkRoast
07/02/20 7:01:48 PM
#5:


Tucker is 95% obnoxious hack and about 5% weirdly sensible rationalist. I just wish he could figure out how to flip the two numbers. Also I'm pretty sure he's racist, so that's a problem. Not for the GOP, though.


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ohiostate124
07/02/20 7:02:36 PM
#6:


Based on his viewership numbers, maybe not the worst idea. There has definitely been worse suggestions for candidates.
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Antifar
07/02/20 7:02:38 PM
#7:


DarkRoast posted...
rationalist.


N and R aren't particularly close on the keyboard.
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divot1338
07/02/20 7:03:13 PM
#8:


Theres another guy named Tucker Carlson? What a coincidence!

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Poop2
07/02/20 7:03:48 PM
#9:


@ohiostate124 posted...
Based on his viewership numbers, maybe not the worst idea. There has definitely been worse suggestions for candidates.

trump. thats the only the worse
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DarkRoast
07/02/20 7:04:14 PM
#10:


Antifar posted...
N and R aren't particularly close on the keyboard.

I c wut u did there

Except he's more than 5% nationalist

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#11
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CADE FOSTER
07/02/20 7:05:17 PM
#12:


Captain_Qwark posted...
Doesn't he make like 40 million a year being a reality tv news host

Why go down to making 300k

Cuz he can steal from America like Trump is doing
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ScazarMeltex
07/02/20 7:05:20 PM
#13:


Trump gonna start shit tweeting about Tucker Carlson now.

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Guide
07/02/20 7:05:21 PM
#14:


Good, let him run. He'll be easy to smack down once we have four years of some civilized governing.

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Politics
07/02/20 7:05:34 PM
#15:


I could see this happening, sadly.

The GOP realized their best bet is to be a nationalist party. It works in terms of winning elections.

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DarkRoast
07/02/20 7:10:10 PM
#16:


Tucker has Bill Maher syndrome where they're basically just insanely idiotic but once in a rare blue moon they say something 100% completely the opposite of what you'd expect from them, and for a brief moment you almost think they've had some kind of epiphany but then they go right back to being idiots.

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Guide
07/02/20 7:11:18 PM
#17:


DarkRoast posted...
Tucker has Bill Maher syndrome where they're basically just insanely idiotic but once in a rare blue moon they say something 100% completely the opposite of what you'd expect from them, and for a brief moment you almost think they've had some kind of epiphany but then they go right back to being idiots.

Biller Maher Syndrome fucking lmao. That's exactly what it is.

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DarkRoast
07/02/20 7:11:45 PM
#18:


Not very many people have a "shit, I was a huge moron" face turn like Glenn Beck, sadly

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wackyteen
07/02/20 7:14:35 PM
#19:


Are we witnessing the beginning of the death throes of the Republican Party?

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#20
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Antifar
07/02/20 7:17:18 PM
#21:


DarkRoast posted...
Not very many people have a "shit, I was a huge moron" face turn like Glenn Beck, sadly

About that
https://www.mediamatters.org/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-calls-george-soros-dark-lord
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DarkRoast
07/02/20 7:18:40 PM
#22:


wackyteen posted...
Are we witnessing the beginning of the death throes of the Republican Party?

I think the old guard shat out anti-science, nationalist rhetoric for so long that they didn't realize those people now have the keys to the car, and drove it off a cliff.

I don't think they can bring the party back after the post-Reaganites took over. Romney was the last opportunity for the old guard.

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CADE FOSTER
07/02/20 7:18:51 PM
#23:


Guide posted...
Good, let him run. He'll be easy to smack down once we have four years of some civilized governing.

Dont think Biden has 2 terms in him not at his advanced age sadly
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DarkRoast
07/02/20 7:21:26 PM
#24:


Antifar posted...
About that
https://www.mediamatters.org/glenn-beck/glenn-beck-calls-george-soros-dark-lord

I never said he wasn't a crazy conspiracy theorist.

For what it's worth, he opposed Trump even before Trump got elected, and has been consistent in his opposition. But he blames Trump on Beck's own rhetoric, which is admirable in its honestly and self awareness.

Beck was a libertarian on the radio before he got big in the mid 2000s. So it wouldn't surprise me if he has a baseline Alex Jones vibe.

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Antifar
07/02/20 7:23:06 PM
#25:


DarkRoast posted...
For what it's worth, he opposed Trump even before Trump got elected, and has been consistent in his opposition

No, he hasn't.

https://youtu.be/s9pLrLPBUeA
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TopKekBro
07/02/20 7:26:22 PM
#26:


So the GOP donors ARE white nationalists too, not just the party.

this country is doomed. Who will they choose next, David duke?
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Poop2
07/02/20 7:35:06 PM
#27:


TopKekBro posted...
So the GOP donors ARE white nationalists too, not just the party.

this country is doomed. Who will they choose next, David duke?

they tried to choose Duke in 92 xD
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TopKekBro
07/02/20 7:36:54 PM
#28:


Poop2 posted...
they tried to choose Duke in 92 xD

For real?
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Antifar
07/02/20 7:38:58 PM
#29:


David Duke received <1% of the vote in the 1992 Republican presidential primary, which party leadership tried to keep him out of. Bear in mind, HW was an incumbent at the time.
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TopKekBro
07/02/20 7:40:49 PM
#30:


Antifar posted...
David Duke received <1% of the vote in the 1992 Republican presidential primary, which party leadership tried to keep him out of. Bear in mind, HW was an incumbent at the time.

He would get at least 35% in this day and age
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hockeybub89
07/02/20 7:41:21 PM
#31:


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Bio1590
07/02/20 7:56:02 PM
#32:


You just had to speak this into existence didn't you
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Sariana21
07/02/20 8:16:01 PM
#33:


Max Boot should run for president.

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Antifar
07/02/20 8:36:55 PM
#34:


Sariana21 posted...
Max Boot should run for president.

I disagree
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monkmith
07/02/20 8:42:49 PM
#35:


smart. all the senile old people that mainline fox news would vote for him because he's the one face their demented brain remembers...

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UnfairRepresent
07/03/20 5:18:01 PM
#36:


Well if want to keep digging and elect someone worse than Trump then why not...
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Master_Bass
07/03/20 5:22:52 PM
#37:


Thanks, thinking about President Carlson made me throw up a bit. Yuck.

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Antifar
07/04/20 1:44:55 PM
#38:


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Tyranthraxus
07/04/20 1:47:59 PM
#39:


I hope Jon Stewart runs against him.

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#40
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Antifar
07/04/20 1:51:01 PM
#41:


RoadsterUFO posted...
Tucker would probably win. The only thing standing between the United States and Democratic Socialism happens to be ignorant Baby Boomers voting for Republican Fascism.



Socialism or barbarism, as they say
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ThyCorndog
07/04/20 1:52:55 PM
#42:


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HylianFox
07/04/20 1:55:18 PM
#43:


I can see this happening because Americans are idiots who didn't learn their lesson last time they elected a TV personality into office...

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#44
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HylianFox
07/04/20 1:57:53 PM
#45:


and it's not just Trump either

don't forget Ronald Reagan was an actor before being president

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Blue_School
07/04/20 2:00:55 PM
#46:


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#47
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divot1338
07/04/20 4:42:41 PM
#48:


HylianFox posted...
and it's not just Trump either

don't forget Ronald Reagan was an actor before being president
He was in movies where he pretended to be a cowboy with a monkey sidekick. The only acting Reagan ever did was in the White House.

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HydraSlayer82
07/04/20 6:33:01 PM
#49:


LOL paleocons

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PatrickMahomes
07/04/20 6:35:21 PM
#50:


Captain_Qwark posted...
Doesn't he make like 10 million a year being a reality tv news host

Why go down to making 300k
Why did don trump go from being able to retire 100 times over down to making 300k?

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