Tucker Is Itching to Host His Own GOP Debate — Starring Trump: Report
The Republican presidential primary debates aren’t likely to play out in a neat and orderly fashion.
The New York Times reported earlier this week that Donald Trump, as of now the overwhelming favorite to secure the nomination, is probably going to skip one or both of the first two debates. The Washington Post added on Thursday that Tucker Carlson is thinking about getting into the debate game now that he’s no longer with Fox News, and that he’s been discussing plans to do so with the former president.
The Post, citing sources familiar with Carlson’s thinking, reports that the former host wants to have “a prominent voice in the 2024 election cycle,” and that he wants to moderate his own GOP primary debate that isn’t beholden to the Republican National Committee. He’s reportedly discussed the idea with Trump, who has long been bashing Fox for failing to push the lie that the 2020 election was stolen with as much gusto as he would like.
Fox will host the first GOP debate in Milwaukee this August.
Carlson was ousted from his 8 p.m. perch in Fox’s primetime lineup last week. The reason is still unclear, although it’s been reported it has something to do with a lawsuit one of his former producers, Abby Grossberg, filed against network alleging rampant sexism within Carlson’s staff. Grossberg told MSNBC last week that she made nearly 100 recordings, and that Carlson made her life “a living hell.”
It’s also been reported that Fox’s board was alarmed by a racist text message Carlson sent, which had been redacted from a legal filing. The Times published the text — in which Carlson wrote that a group of people beating up an Antifa protester is “not how white men fight,” while also fantasizing about the protester’s brutal death — earlier this week. The Fox board allegedly got wind of the message the day before Dominion Voting System’s defamation case against the network was set to go to trial. The board reportedly told network executives it was commissioning an investigation of Carlson’s behavior.
Carlson had, of course, been spewing unvarnished racism to million of Americans tuning into his show for years, so it’s a little dubious that one text would have led the network to cut ties with its biggest money-maker. Regardless, the Post‘s report makes clear that Carlson isn’t going anywhere. Fox is paying out the rest of his contract, which extends through 2024, but the host is reportedly so eager to get back in the game that he’s willing to forfeit the payout so he can be freed up to pursue other ventures, which could include a podcast, documentaries, and hosting live events — including a presidential debate.