Tucker Carlson proves his influence will reach far beyond 2024
Elizabeth Stauffer
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The news that Tucker Carlson, Fox News’s highest-rated prime-time host, had abruptly left the network sent shockwaves throughout the media world in late April. Conservative anti-Trumpers and legacy media stars alike were quick to hop aboard the schadenfreude train.
The ladies of ABC’s The View were, of course, delirious over the development. The left-leaning New Republic likewise found the news “hilarious” and wrote, “It turns out the Fox News host wasn’t nearly as bulletproof as he thought he was.”
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It was likely then (and even more apparent now) that those who were so quick to write the obituary on Carlson’s career would wind up with egg on their faces. The reality is that Carlson is here to stay. And his pivotal interviews with six Republican presidential candidates at the Family Leadership Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday and his keynote address at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday night proved it.
Politico accurately described the interviews as “Tucker stress tests.” The article indicated that “several [candidates] were subjected to a combative stress test conducted by the ousted Fox News anchor whose 9 million-strong Twitter following demonstrates his continued sway over the GOP.”
Indeed, Carlson’s interviews with former Vice President Mike Pence and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson may have been extinction-level events for their campaigns. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) didn’t fare much better.
Carlson, whose disapproval of the U.S. backing of Ukraine in its war with Russia is well known, portrayed Pence as being far more interested in saving Ukraine than on the plethora of problems that America currently faces.
“You are distressed that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks,” he told Pence. “Every city in the United States has become much worse over the past three years. Drive around. There’s not one city that’s gotten better in the United States, and it’s visible.“
“Our economy has degraded, the suicide rate has jumped, public filth and disorder and crime have exponentially increased, and yet, your concern is that the Ukrainians, a country most people can’t find out a map, who’ve received tens of billions of U.S. tax dollars don’t have enough tanks. I think it’s a fair question to ask, like, where’s the concern for the United States in that?” Carlson asked.
Pence replied, “It’s not my concern. Tucker, I’ve heard that routine from you before, but that’s not my concern.”
The former vice president went on to explain that he wasn’t concerned about doing both at the same time. “We can do both,” he insisted.
But it was too late. The damage had been done.
In his keynote speech at the Turning Point conference the following night, Carlson boasted about his brutal takedown of Pence. The crowd roared.
Hutchinson, who never had any chance of winning the nomination, also got absolutely clobbered by Carlson over his veto of a 2021 Arkansas bill that would have banned hormone treatments, puberty blockers, and surgery for minors. (The Arkansas state legislature voted to override Hutchinson’s veto.)
Carlson tangled with Scott over several topics. The first was President Joe Biden’s executive order last week approving the mobilization of reserve troops in Europe. Scott said, “America’s national vital interest is degrading the Russian military,” a remark that exposed him as a hawk.
Next, Scott dodged a question on whether or not he would deport the millions of people who have entered the United States illegally on Biden’s watch. In his analysis of Scott’s performance, the Washington Examiner’s Byron York wrote: “He repeatedly avoided the question … Scott’s nonanswer suggested that no, he would not deport those millions of border crossers. Why not just say it?”
Carlson raised the problem of the fentanyl flowing over the border that is killing nearly 100,000 Americans annually. He said: “[T]he total body count from Russia on the United States is right around zero. I don’t know anyone who’s been killed by Russia. I know people personally who have been killed by Mexico. The government of Mexico allows fentanyl to be made in its country and to come over our border. … The Mexican government is party to the murder of hundreds of thousands of Americans, so why is Mexico less of a threat than Russia?”
Scott explained that the legislation he has sponsored “freezes the assets of the Mexican cartels … and hopefully eliminates the flows of fentanyl.” That’s a starting point, yes, but a serious strategy for addressing the disaster at our southern border? Not even close.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley fared better in their interviews than the others. But Carlson’s ability to influence voters’ perception of the candidates was clear.
Although Carlson has released commentary on Twitter since his departure from Fox, his interviews in Iowa represented his formal return to the national stage. And he did not disappoint. He showed the world that the talent that catapulted him to the top at Fox is easily transferable to a different forum. In fact, free from the constraints that had bound him at Fox, he is even bolder than before. Much to his critics’ chagrin, he will not be silenced. Instead, he will play an outsize role in the GOP primary and beyond.
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Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, the Western Journal, and AFNN and is a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, and Bongino.com. Her articles have appeared on many sites, including RealClearPolitics, MSN, and the Federalist. Follow Elizabeth on Twitter or LinkedIn.