Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson described President Donald Trump as “enslaved” in an interview published Wednesday, while also arguing that the United States needs a viable third political party. Speaking with the Columbia Journalism Review, Carlson was asked whether he had spoken with Trump since the beginning of the Iran war, which he has strongly opposed. “I’m not interested in talking to him. I feel sorry for him,” Carlson said. “He’s not a man in charge of his own life at this point. I feel sorry for anybody who’s enslaved, including him.” His remarks appeared to reference Trump’s decision to enter a conflict with Iran, with Carlson suggesting the president had been influenced heavily by Israel.
Carlson says he’ll help build a third party
Carlson has repeatedly claimed that Israel played the central role in pushing U.S. military action against Iran. As early as March 2, he said, “This is Israel’s war. This is not the United States’s war.” In the same Columbia Journalism Review interview, Carlson also argued that America’s two-party structure no longer offers real democratic choice, calling it “a one-party state posing as a democracy.” He said he intends to support the creation of a new political movement, declaring, “I’m going to help build a third party,” and adding that “the US government should have, as its first priority, the welfare of its own people.” No third-party presidential candidate has made a major national breakthrough since Ross Perot’s 1992 run, when he won nearly 20 percent of the popular vote.
Perot, however, failed to win any state in the Electoral College and finished well behind incumbent President George H.W. Bush and the eventual winner, Bill Clinton. Carlson’s latest comments follow his remarks two weeks earlier on the Can’t Be Censored podcast, where he said he was “out” of the Republican Party. He also used the word “enslaved” to describe Trump during that appearance. Carlson had previously backed Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign and praised him as a “wonderful person” during the Republican National Convention.
Carlson walks back Trump endorsement
Carlson’s view of the president has shifted sharply since then. In April, he apologized to his audience for what he called “misleading people” by endorsing Trump, saying he believed that support had been a mistake. The White House referred the Daily Mail to a lengthy April post on Truth Social in which Trump attacked several right-wing figures, including Carlson, over their criticism of him. “They have one thing in common,” Trump wrote. “Low IQs.” He also called the commentators “LOSERS” and said they “always will be.” The Tucker Carlson Network did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
