When Donald Trump made his triumphant return to the spotlight on Monday night after surviving an assassination attempt just days earlier, the first person to greet him in the VIP box at the Republican National Convention (RNC) was Tucker Carlson.

The former president offered Carlson a firm handshake and put his left arm on the former television host’s shoulder. Carlson nodded, leaned in and smiled. It wasn’t a bad place to be for a guy who 15 months ago received his pink slip from Fox News, losing the biggest platform in conservative media.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson welcomes Donald Trump onstage at the RNC.Credit: Bloomberg

“I guess they thought at Fox they would limit his reach” by cancelling his show, said Roger Stone, the longtime Trump adviser and self-described “great friend” of Carlson, as he cleaved through a gaggle of reporters on the convention grounds. “If anything, they have boosted his reach and his influence 20 times.”

Carlson is having a moment at the RNC. He’s being followed by a documentary crew. He’s expected to give a prime-time speech before the festivities come to an end on Thursday. And to top that off, he gets to celebrate the fact that his friend and fellow nationalistic conservative, Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), got the nod to be Trump’s running mate – an outcome Carlson had been lobbying for........

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