Could Tucker Carlson hijack the GOP — and take the White House? |
Could Tucker Carlson hijack the GOP — and take the White House?
Earlier this month, Tucker Carlson reached his highest perch yet on the prediction markets, climbing to 7 percent on Polymarket to win the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. By Wall Street standards, that figure is small. By the standards of a man with no campaign, no committee, and no party apparatus, one-in-14-odds are enormous.
Plenty of people will tell you the idea of President Carlson is preposterous, but many said the same thing about President Trump in 2015.
In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Carlson refused to rule out a presidential run, saying the chance to debate and dismantle Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — who has reportedly expressed presidential aspirations of his own — might be reason enough to jump in. If he goes through with it, don’t bet against him.
Begin with the political weather. Trump is drowning. His job approval rating now stands at 34 percent, the lowest mark of his second term. The share of Americans who say Trump “keeps his promises” has fallen to 38 percent, down from 51 percent in the weeks following his reelection in November 2024. Among Hispanic Trump voters, approval has dropped 27 points since early 2025. Even among Republicans, the share calling him a promise-keeper has slid by 14 points since the election. The base wants something different, and it doesn’t appear to want Trump or anyone in his immediate circle.
Some will read Carlson’s recent break with the White House as a tantrum. Perhaps they should read it as something far more strategic. He has positioned himself on the isolationist “America........