According to a recent report by The New York Times, former President Donald Trump’s advisors were concerned about the possibility of Tucker Carlson, the recently ousted Fox News host, supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential race. Carlson’s coverage of DeSantis, which was highly favorable, gave the Florida governor more airtime, and praised his policies, which worried Trump’s team.
DeSantis has been a frequent guest on Carlson’s show, where he discusses his decisions on border control, education, and his dispute with Disney. Moreover, in March, DeSantis aligned himself with Carlson’s views on the war in Ukraine, criticizing the White House for supporting Kyiv with weapons shipments. DeSantis is expected to run for president in 2024, although he has not yet declared his candidacy.
However, Trump and Carlson have reportedly been in close communication over the last six weeks, with their relationship now closer than ever before. According to The Times, the two have been texting and speaking more frequently, which has put Trump’s team at ease. Additionally, Carlson’s apparent disagreement with DeSantis calling Putin a “war criminal” has also reassured Trump’s team.
Although Carlson was previously a strong supporter of Trump, private text messages that were revealed in a lawsuit earlier this year showed that he had some issues with the former president. Carlson reportedly wrote, “I hate him passionately” in one of the texts. Despite this, Trump still appeared on Carlson’s show for an hour-long interview on April 12, and the two reportedly reconciled after the texts were made public.
Recently, Carlson’s unexpected departure from Fox News has raised eyebrows. The network announced that it had “agreed to part ways” with Carlson but did not give a reason for his departure. Carlson had been hosting the show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on weeknights at 8 p.m., where he frequently touted conspiracy theories like the false claims of 2020 election fraud.
During his last show on Friday, Carlson seemed unaware that he would be leaving the network just days later. In the final moments of the segment, he was seen eating pizza with his guest Tyler Morrell, a delivery man who had tripped a fleeing suspect. Carlson told viewers, “That’s it for us for the week; we’ll be back,” in between bites. According to The Wall Street Journal and The Times, Carlson only found out about his departure from Fox News 10 minutes before the network’s announcement.
As of now, representatives for Carlson, Trump, and DeSantis have not responded to requests for comments on this matter sent by Insider outside of regular business hours.
