You may never hear me say this again, but thank you, Tucker Carlson, for taking a stand for common sense and doing your best to avert a disastrous war with Iran.
On Tuesday night, Carlson hosted retired U.S. Army colonel Doug Macgregor to send a not-so-subtle message to the Fan in Chief: Attacking Iran would be disastrous for a re-election effort.
The next day, we learned via The Daily Beast that Carlson has been directly advising Trump not to strike against Iran:
A source familiar with the conversations told The Daily Beast that, in recent weeks, the Fox News host has privately advised Trump against taking military action against Iran. And a senior administration official said that during the president’s recent conversations with the Fox primetime host, Carlson has bashed the more “hawkish members” of his administration.
While some Fox News hosts have argued that a conflict with Iran would be justified, Carlson has consistently criticized U.S. military intervention abroad, particularly in the Middle East. In recent weeks, he has questioned whether war with Iran would be “in anyone’s interest.” Last month, he publicly chided Bolton, saying he was intentionally escalating tensions, and that a potential conflict would “be like Christmas, Thanksgiving, his birthday wrapped into one.”
For what it’s worth, I’ve never thought Carlson was much of a Trump fan. Yes, I think the white nationalism is genuine, but I suspect he doesn’t spend as much time obsessing over it as you might guess from watching the Tucker Carlson Tonight show. My theory is that it's a way of appealing to Trump fans without having to praise Trump policies. If you watch Carlson, you may have noticed he doesn’t talk that much about Trump or his policies.
But, apparently, Trump has missed that and is a big fan of Carlson’s.
“Trump thinks Tucker is one of the sharpest minds on television—[Trump has said], ‘So smart, a thinking man’s show,’” one knowledgeable source told The Daily Beast in August.
OK, whatever. There’s too much riding on the outcome to spend time looking this particular gift horse in the mouth.
Ditto for the fact that it makes me horribly queasy that any cable news host would be secretly advising a president on foreign policy or military strategy. And no, it doesn't make Carlson's White Power Hour any less despicable.
But here’s the thing that matters most to me: It would have been easier for Carlson to keep his mouth shut about Iran and go along with the Fox News war fever. But he stood up for what's right. He even devoted a large chunk of his show to it last night, (which I'll talk about in my next post). For that, I am deeply grateful.
(Carlson image via screen grab)
It’s credible Tucker – and a lot of Fox News talent – privately don’t widely agree with Trump but in an era of MAGA sycophancy they’ll all play along. Personally, I haven’t seen a lot of separation between Trump and Tucker but I don’t follow him all that closely.
I’m currently watching Cavuto on Fox News put a pretty face on Trump’s Iraq “flip-flop”. Suddenly, a “flip-flop” is a good thing as his guest gushes about Trump’s “unpredictability”.
By the way, I switched from MSNBC to see how Fox News is covering the Democratic candidates who are live in South Carolina. Not one peep.
Oh, they are covering something live: Trump. He’s lying his tariffs have no effect with other countries eating the costs. Why do I call it a lie? I just had a friend do a home addition and before she could pick out the floor covering her local flooring company raised all prices by 20% citing the tariffs.