Tucker Carlson for president? Ex Trump aides predict 2024 run for Fox anchor as show shatters rating records
Tucker Carlson could make a successful run for president in 2024, according to some former Trump campaign and administration officials. Conservative circles have been considering the idea that the 51-year-old Fox News star could pivot his overly successful journalistic career into a political victory — just like former real estate mogul Donald Trump did in 2016 as a political outsider.
As reported by Politico, a number of conservative strategists and pundits believe Carlson would be an obvious frontrunner in the Republican primary after having amassed a sizeable media following. "He’s a talented communicator with a massive platform," Luke Thompson, a Republican strategist who worked for Jeb Bush’s super PAC in 2016, told the outlet. "I think if he runs he’d be formidable."
Some notable Republicans have already voiced their approval of Carlson joining the race in the next four years. "Tucker Carlson should one day run for President of the United States. He would win," wrote Ryan Fournier, founder of Students for Trump.
Fox News show 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' was recently revealed to be the highest-rated program in all of cable news history, with an average total audience of a whopping 4.3 million tuning in nightly. A massive audience also flocks to Fox's YouTube channel to watch his most-viewed segments. Carlson, with his outspoken brand of journalism, has managed to be both the president's biggest supporter, as well as his greatest critic when if appears to digress from his America First ideology. In doing so, Tucker has cemented his position among conservative viewers who have, for long, rebuked mainstream media for their apparent liberal bias.
Former Trump aide Sam Nunberg told Politico, however, that he's skeptical Carlson would ever run as "he’s so disgusted with politicians." Nonetheless, quite a few political strategists are convinced of his political aspirations and sense the makings of a Trump speech in his recent TV monologues.
"No one can dismiss this and say it’s completely implausible," Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative National Review, admitted. "There is at the very least a significant faction within the Republican Party that [Carlson] has a huge stake in and arguably leadership over. If he has political ambitions, he has an opening. He has a following and a taste for controversy. He’s smart, quick on his feet, and personable."
"Political experience matters less than it once did," Lowry added.
Earlier this week, Carlson suggested there was a major divide within the Republican party and warned viewers of "vultures [who] wait just off stage to swoop in and claim the GOP for themselves once Donald Trump is gone."
"The moment Trump leaves, they will attack him. They’ll tell you that 'Republicans lost power because they were mean and intolerant just like Donald Trump. It’s a lie," he declared.
Carlson also openly condemned the Black Lives Matter movement after reports of violent protesters tearing down historical statues and monuments. "This may be a lot of things, this moment we are living through. But it is definitely not about Black lives, and remember that when they come for you," he said in a controversial June 8 monologue.