“There’s a lot to be said for being fearless, and he is, while Republican politicians, as a breed, are not.”
(Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review)
In case you have been too busy worrying about the year from hell—2020—and how to survive it, the chattering class has begun to speculate about who the Republicans could put up in 2024 and Politico is reporting that a good bet is Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
If that were to come to pass, it means that Donald Trump was not an aberration, but truly did wrest control of the old (timid!) Republican Party (the one most of us are sick of!).
Here is Politico today:
Tucker Carlson 2024? The GOP is buzzing
Tucker Carlson’s audience is booming — and so is chatter that the popular Fox News host will parlay his TV perch into a run for president in 2024.
Republican strategists, conservative commentators, and former Trump campaign and administration officials are buzzing about Carlson as the next-generation leader of Donald Trump’s movement — with many believing he would be an immediate frontrunner in a Republican primary.
“He’s a talented communicator with a massive platform. I think if he runs he’d be formidable,” said Luke Thompson, a Republican strategist who worked for Jeb Bush’s super PAC in 2016.
While practically every Republican eyeing a 2024 presidential run is professing loyalty to Trump the person, Carlson has become perhaps the highest-profile proponent of “Trumpism” — a blend of anti-immigrant nationalism, economic populism and America First isolationism that he articulates unapologetically and with some snark. At the same time, he’s shown a rare willingness among Republicans to bluntly criticize Trump when he believes the president is straying from that ideology.
[….]
“Tucker Carlson Tonight” is currently the most watched cable news program in history, according to the second quarter ratings released this week. And on Fox News’ YouTube channel, Carlson’s segments from the past quarter have drawn well over 60 million views and are among the most popular videos in the eight years since the network began posting on the platform.
His popularity with the base would instigate a debate over the future of the party — essentially whether Trump was an aberration or a party-realigning disrupter — a fight that will be all the fiercer if Trump loses in November.
“Let me put it this way: If Biden wins and Tucker decided to run, he’d be the nominee,” said Sam Nunberg, a former top political aide to Trump who knows Carlson. But Nunberg said he doesn’t believe Carlson will run because “he’s so disgusted with politicians.”
Sounds like a good reason to run!
There is more, continue reading here.
Because I don’t have a category for good guys here at ‘Frauds and Crooks,‘ I’ve filed this in my ‘activism’ category.