OP: 'An unmistakable lesson of the last few years is that platform matters a lot where broad, national attention is concerned,' writes bonniekristian. 'Consider the two most useful [comparisons]: Bill O’Reilly and former President Donald Trump.'
from public life since being fired from Fox News under allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017. In fairness, O’Reilly is 20 years Carlson’s senior, and his broadcast career probably would have wound down sooner than later regardless. Yet it clearly didn’t die a natural death; being pushed out of Fox News made the difference. He’s not ruined, but neither is he relevant.
Then there’s Trump, who’s demonstrated that you can be literally the most-discussed man on the planet and still fade from view if you lose your primary platform for communicating with the public. If Trump can thus diminish without Twitter, Carlson can likewise diminish without Fox News. He knows that, and it’s impossible to imagine he hasn’t considered the possibility of following Trump’s footsteps back into the spotlight with a GOP campaign for president. Carlson’s ally and fellow commentator Rod Dreher has already recognized how this ouster must have changed his calculations about getting into politics proper—and he thrills at the prospect of Carlson as a new means to push aside Trump while retaining key parts of his policy agenda.
“Nobody can question [Carlson’s] MAGA credentials, and his anti-establishment populism. But he’s also not dumb about MAGA, either,” Dreherpublished shortly after the Fox News story broke. “Could he take down Trump? I think he could. I think he understands Trump very well—his strengths and his weaknesses. And he’s very quick on his feet, Tucker is, in a way [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis is not. And he has charisma to burn.
I’m not sure Dreher’s vision of a Carlson-DeSantis ticket is realistic—but only because I’m not sure DeSantis, a sitting governor, would consent to play second fiddle to a show-less show host, even one so uniquely well-positioned for 2024. The core idea of a Carlson campaign as a viable threat to Trump’s continued hold on the Republican Party, though, is difficult to dispute.invited Carlson to join the race, and maybe he will.
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