Tucker Carlson took the stage at the Republican National Convention to thunderous applause, and gave a heartfelt speech about Donald Trump (the man) which also included some great philosophical nuggets and a few lines that are sure to set liberal tongues wagging.
Carlson's become important enough in Trump's world that the New York Times has written about him twice this week - once about his alleged influence on Trump's choice of JD Vance as his running mate, and then a bit of a puff piece on Carlson "roaring into Milwaukee" as a key Trump ally:
But behind the scenes over the past year, Mr. Carlson has become more deeply allied with Mr. Trump than at any point in his long relationship with the former president, a man for whom the broadcaster once expressed deep ambivalence.
Mr. Carlson lobbied Mr. Trump to select Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, who had been a frequent guest on his Fox show, as his running mate, and he helped broker a meeting in Milwaukee between Mr. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate.
There's another project Carlson's been working on, according to the Times:
He and a longtime producer of his shows, Justin Wells, recently visited Mar-a-Lago to pitch Mr. Trump on a fly-on-the-wall docuseries about his campaign. Mr. Trump granted access, and the series is set to be released on Mr. Carlson’s streaming platform before the election; Mr. Wells and a cameraman were filming several feet away from the former president in Pennsylvania on Saturday when he was shot by a would-be assassin.
During his RNC appearance Carlson quickly spoke of the event on everyone's mind and how Trump's character and mettle were immediately evident.
Like Trump's friend Steve Witkoff, who spoke earlier in the night, Carlson spoke to Trump Saturday evening after the former president dodged an assassin's bullet:
I think it changed him. I reached out to Trump within hours of it, that night, and what he said to me that night – he said not a single word about himself. He said only how amazed he was and proud he was of the crowd, which didn’t run.
Of course they didn't run. His courage gave them heart. A leader’s courage gives courage to his people.
For a man who's allegedly divisive and selfish (according to Democrats and the legacy media), Trump's actions since the assassination attempt have been anything but, Carlson said:
He turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to inflame the nation after he was shot...This is the most responsible, unifying behavior of a leader that I’ve ever seen.
Carlson then turned his sights on The Swamp, Washington DC, and gave VP nominee JD Vance props as "one of the few politicians in Washington, DC who’s close to his own wife" and the person in Washington DC whose policy views are the closest to those of Trump's voters. Carlson noted that The Swamp's response to the fentanyl crisis shows the level of care they have for everyday Americans - and that's none. Trump, however, "actually cares," Carlson said:
It’s [politicians ignoring the fentanyl crisis] too insulting. It’s a middle finger in the face of every American. It’s a very clear statement which is unmistakable, and that is, we don’t care about you. And Donald Trump…
Everything else about Trump aside, he actually cares. A father’s job, his duty, is to his family. As president, it’s to his country. He seems to be the only one who thinks that.
A few years ago Carlson's family was targeted by Antifa at a time they knew Carlson wouldn't be home. His wife hid in a pantry as the thugs attempted to break down their front door, and was understandably terrified. The next morning, Trump called Carlson's wife to see how she was doing and offered support, saying he'd come guard their house (which is totally believable). Then Trump said something we should all remember during these times:
You know, there’s a lot of hate out there. But there’s also a lot of love.
Carlson ended his remarks by saying that over the past week, "I think even people who don’t believe in God are starting to think, maybe there’s something to this," that there might have been divine intervention in Trump's last-second turn of the head, and that while he doesn't claim to be "with God" or "on God's side," though he tries hard to be, that "God is among us right now, and I think that’s enough."