Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson is vowing to help launch a new political party after publicly breaking with President Trump and the Republican establishment over the Iran war.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Columbia Journalism Review, Carlson declared, Im going to help build a third party, adding, There should be a good-faith effort to figure out what benefits the country, according to the New York Post. The former Fox News host framed his move as a response to what he sees as a bipartisan consensus in Washington that ignores the interests of ordinary Americans in favor of foreign entanglements and financial elites.
Carlson argued that on the two issues he considers most vital to the nations future war and finance Democrats and Republicans are in lockstep solidarity with each other. Thats not a democracy, he said. Thats a one-party state posing as a democracy, and it needs to be broken, and theres going to be a third party, and Im going to do everything I can to bring that about.
His comments build on remarks he made last month on the Cant Be Censored podcast, where he said there is no chance he would support the GOP going forward because of the Iran conflict. Carlson, who has long described himself as a loyal Republican, now contends that the Trump administration betrayed the US by going to war with Iran in response to pressure from Israel.
At this point how could I or any American voter support a political party thats not loyal to the United States, that puts the interests of a foreign country above those of its own citizens? he said. Its not possible to vote for people like that. For Carlson, this alleged subordination of American priorities to foreign demands represents a fundamental breach of trust with voters who expected an America First agenda.
The veteran pundit suggested that any new party he helps build would be unapologetically focused on the welfare of American citizens above all else. I mean, if you make sixty thousand dollars a year, youre degraded. Your life expectancy has gone down, and the promise of your childrens lives is likely gone. No one seems to care. Its not even a factor, he told CJR. What about Hamas? I officially dont care about Hamas.
The US government should have, as its first priority, the welfare of its own people. In Carlsons telling, the political class obsesses over distant conflicts while working families at home face declining prospects and a fraying social fabric.
Despite his push for a new political vehicle, Carlson cautioned that his followers should not expect to see his name on a ballot. I dont want to be a candidate, he said, joking that in an earlier interview he was very tempted to say I am running on the pro-patriarchy ticket just to make sure I gain no new fans.
President Trump has responded sharply to Carlsons break, dismissing the commentator in personal terms. He was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and hes never been the same, Trump wrote on Truth Social in April, calling Carlson a nut job and a hand flailing fool, before adding, Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist!
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