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A top political strategist on Tuesday said Tucker Carlson could be a viable candidate for the Republican Party in 2024 and would present a credible challenge to the current frontrunner, former President Donald Trump.
Rick Wilson, who is a former member of the GOP, theorized on Twitter that Carlson's popularity and resources would make him a danger to Trump if he decided he wanted to run for the White House. Carlson has not given any indication of such political ambitions.
On Monday, Fox News Media announced that Carlson was leaving Fox News, where he had hosted Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016. The show was a massive hit for the cable network and broke viewership rating records, and many of his fans have since posted on social media about their displeasure over his departure.
Wilson's talk of a Carlson campaign isn't so far-fetched, according to others involved in politics.
When asked about the host running for president, Republican strategist John Feehery told Newsweek that "[I]f Tucker decided to run for president, he would be an immediate threat to Trump and to the rest of field."
Wilson has done work for former President George H.W. Bush and Republican Senate campaigns, but he left the GOP due to his opposition to Trump. In 2019, he co-founded the Lincoln Project, a political action committee with the main objective to thwart Trump's political career.
According to Wilson, Carlson may seek the White House as his next career move partially due to possible restrictions in his contract with Fox.
He wrote on Twitter that while Carlson supporters are "wishcasting" that the host will soon land on a new streaming channel, "Fox probably has a pretty stiff noncompete in his contract, so I wouldn't count on the Tucker Carlson White Power Hour on the Blaze or Daily Wire any time soon."
"Which leads us to a fascinating prospect...What if he runs? He's rich enough. He'd instantly have an online fundraising juggernaut second only to Trump, and perhaps surpassing him," Wilson said. "He's polarizing, terrible, and utterly amoral...in short, better than Ron DeSantis for the base."
He continued, "I'd argue he's the only Republican who presents a material danger to Donald Trump in a primary. Celebrity, money, mental acuity, cynicism, pro-Putin isolationism, and an overt love of authoritarianism are a pretty strong secret sauce for the MAGA base."
1/ A few quick thoughts about Tucker.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 25, 2023
First, and most deliciously, is the seething, furious meltdown on the right, alt-right, and loon-right. On the right, Tucker's wealth, origins, and prep-school presentation always helped launder the uglier stuff and dumb-down complex...
While Carlson has been a staunch defender of the former president publicly, he recently made headlines when legal documents released as part of a defamation lawsuit against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems revealed that he said in private text messages from 2021 that he "passionately" hated Donald Trump.
Wilson contended that "celebrity" is what got Trump elected to the White House and could "certainly do the same for Tucker."
"And spare me your 'That could never happen. Even Trump's GOP would never vote for a former TV host pushing white replacement theory.' That's PRECISELY who they'd vote for," he wrote.
Feehery highlighted to Newsweek some advantages he saw Carlson would have over Trump.
"He would absolutely destroy Trump in a debate. Because of his ability to frame issues and communicate effectively, by putting complex issues into a simple narrative, he would also easily beat the other contenders," Feehery said.
"As a political neophyte, he would also claim the mantle as an insurgent outsider. He could also raise small donor donations at a level far higher than any other contender, even Trump. He would be very formidable."
Jay Townsend, a Republican political consultant who has worked on four presidential campaigns and a number of congressional races, told Newsweek that a showdown between Trump and Carlson would be cheered on by those who oppose Trump.
"Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans would love the spectacle of Carlson running against Trump, myself included. And certainly, Carlson would have enormous appeal to the KKK wing of the MAGA Party," Townshend said.
"But well to remember that Mr. Carlson's only talent is reading hate words off a teleprompter. Trump doesn't need a teleprompter to do that," he added.
Newsweek reached out to Wilson and representatives of Trump via email for comment.
About the writer
Jon Jackson is a News Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more