Fox News host Tucker Carlson lavished praise Monday night on President Donald Trump’s Independence Day speech at Mount Rushmore, claiming it was “probably the single best speech” the president has ever given.
The Fox News star’s love of the dark and divisive speech might not come as much of a surprise, considering that the president’s address is rooted in Carlson’s most recent monologues.
Carlson, who has suddenly seen his name bandied about as a possible 2024 GOP presidential candidate amid his inflammatory commentary about the Black Lives Matter “mob,” recently cautioned the president that he might lose his bid for re-election unless he begins rounding up protesters and charging them as terrorists.
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Following the president’s speech, which featured warnings that “angry mobs” are tearing down “our most sacred memorials” and bringing about a “left-wing cultural revolution,” Carlson appeared much more optimistic about Trump’s electoral chances.
“It was a road map for his re-election message, but more than that, it was a road map for the country itself. Equality, decency, pride in our nation. Those were the themes,” Carlson proclaimed.
Noting that the president “spoke eloquently about the BLM riots,” Carlson applauded him for showing that the left “cannot control” him, saying Trump is at “his most dangerous to his enemies” when he is “telling the truth.”
From there, the conservative cable news star broke down much of the president’s speech while contrasting it with what he sees as the message being delivered by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and liberals.
As Axios’ Jonathan Swan reported earlier, one reason Carlson may have been so smitten with the president’s culture war address is that it came directly from his own program.
“Trump—or rather his speechwriter Stephen Miller—framed the president's opposition to the Black Lives Matter protest movement using the same imagery Carlson has been laying out night after night on Fox,” Swan wrote, highlighting several passages from Trump’s speech that essentially matched portions of Carlson’s monologues.
Carlson has personally advised the president on several policy issues, including the coronavirus pandemic and military conflict with Iran. Indeed, in recent days, Trump has reportedly griped to associates that he shouldn’t have listened to senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, following Carlson’s criticism of Kushner’s advice to Trump.
