Conservative Media Figure Tucker Carlson Endorses Former President Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump has earned an endorsement from Tucker Carlson, a conservative media figure who previously expressed his dislike for the former president. In an interview on Roseanne Barr's podcast, Carlson stated that he became an active Trump supporter after the raid on Mar-a-Lago last summer, stating that it was an action he could not tolerate. He also mentioned that he would vote for Trump, and if Trump were to be convicted, he would donate the maximum amount and lead protests in support of the former president.
Carlson further revealed that he has always agreed with Trump's policies, even if it meant losing friends over it.
Although Carlson and Trump appeared to have a friendly relationship during Trump's presidency, text messages that were exposed during Dominion Voting Systems' defamation lawsuit against Fox News revealed a different side. In a text message sent on January 4, 2021, Carlson expressed his eagerness to ignore Trump most nights, stating that he couldn't handle much more of it and that he hated Trump passionately.
Dominion sued Fox News and its parent company over false statements about the integrity of the 2020 election and Dominion's voting machines that were made by several of Fox News' most notable personalities, including Carlson. The company alleged Fox defamed it by broadcasting unfounded allegations that Dominion had rigged the election against Trump.
The lawsuit was settled in April and cost Fox News a hefty $787.5 million. Carlson was removed from the network's lineup just days after the case was settled.
Carlson has also been accused by both Democratic and some Republican lawmakers of downplaying the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when members of the public, some of whom were intent on stopping the count of electoral votes in order to keep Trump in power, stormed the U.S. Capitol.
Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, has qualified for every Republican debate so far this primary season, but has opted out of participating in any of them. Ahead of the first debate, he decided to pre-record an interview with Carlson instead, which was posted to X, the website formerly known as Twitter, just minutes before the debate aired on Fox News.
According to Carlson, though his distaste for Trump had been made public at the time, it was the former president who approached him for the interview.
"Whatever you think of Trump," said Carlson in August, "he is, as of tonight, the indisputable, far-and-away frontrunner in the Republican race."
