Trump and Tucker Show

Trump and Tucker Show Was Perfect Counterprogramming to Fox News' GOP Debate; Garners Huge Audience Victoria Taft (Aug 24, 2023) "The 46-minute conversation amassed more than 172 million views so far, with about 75 million views coming in just the first 20 minutes..." Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson won the GOP debate on Wednesday night. The former president chose to dip out of the first GOP primary and, in an attempt to suck the oxygen from the news cycle, teamed up with the deposed Fox News host to dish up some sweet revenge. Oh, did they! (Screengrab image) Trump chose to opt out of the Milwaukee debate featuring the likes of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, tech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott. According to the RealClearPolitics average, Trump is up by 41.1% over his fellow Republicans nationally, which, at this point, is a meaningless number. However, for PR purposes, it is very eye-catching. His RCP lead in Iowa, a meaningful number even at this early stage, is still a whopping 26%. Trump opted not to engage with a large group of opponents who would have spent their time attacking him. That wouldn't help him, obviously. Everything Trump says now is being recorded and filed, and will be used against him in multiple courts of law. The interview was reportedly conducted two days ago at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and timed to air on X, formerly known as Twitter, for exactly five minutes before the GOP debate began. During the lead-up to the debate, Carlson's camp released a Trump sizzle reel, suggesting the two would discuss whether Trump fears for his life, political vitriol, election cheating, and even whether Trump thought sex pervert Jeffrey Epstein killed himself. Fox News sidelined cable news' number one talent in late April, after the inexplicable court settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. The network tried to suffocate Carlson's remaining influence at the network by removing the people who worked on his show. Now, according to Tucker Carlson biographer Chadwick Moore, whose book "Tucker" I'll be reviewing in the coming days for PJ Media, Tucker is treated as Voldemort at Fox News. He is the man who shall not be named (although I note that Brit Hume was able to mention Carlson before the debate). But here's the dumber part: Fox News employees are ordered not to use any news generated by their still-on-the-payroll colleague. Worse, Carlson has scooped his old network multiple times, including the Devon Archer interview and now scoring a sit-down with Trump on the night before he turns himself in in Fulton County, Georgia, where he's been charged with leading a conspiracy to win an election. Trump told Carlson that cable news is way down in the ratings and said, "Fox is way down...and the good-old days are long ago. I will say this, it could come back but .... We'll get better ratings on this crazy forum you're using than—probably—the debate, the competition (Fox News)." The most impactful moments of the 46-minute interview were when Trump was given free rein to talk about Joe Biden. Trump said, "I think [Biden's] the most corrupt president we've ever had. And he also has the distinction of being the most incompetent." He also said that he believes Biden is "compromised because China knows so much about him. They know where the money comes from. They know where it is, who paid it—they probably paid it." He mentioned the University of Pennsylvania Biden Center receiving Chinese money. "He is in many ways the Manchurian candidate," Trump said. "He is the Manchurian candidate and he's afraid to tell Russia to get out of Cuba. He's afraid to tell China to get out of Cuba." Biden's failing health and the prospect of Kamala Harris being the nominee prompted Trump to say, "Her moments are almost as bad as his." On Biden, he said, "You watch him and it looks like he's walking on toothpicks–he's so stiff.