Tucker Carlson Issues Warning to Trump

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks at the Turning Point Action Conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 15, 2023. Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

Former Fox News host and current X host Tucker Carlson warned former President Donald Trump about recent comments regarding whether former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley would serve in his administration.

The former South Carolina governor, who is significantly trailing behind President Trump in national polls, has been touted as a potential running mate if she drops out of the race. The speculation only increased after President Trump declined to rule out the possibility of accepting Ms. Haley as his vice president.

In recent comments, the former commander-in-chief responded to a question about his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, telling Newsmax to “never say never” about Ms. Haley being considered as a running mate. The former president said that she would not likely become vice president.

“I’ve always gotten along with Nikki,” Mr. Trump said in the clip. “We have some things in common and some things we don’t have in common, and some of those things are very important.”

Mr. Carlson, however, said that he would oppose a Trump-Haley ticket during a recent interview with YouTuber and podcaster Tim Pool.

“I would not only not vote for that ticket, I would advocate against it as strongly as I could,” Mr. Carlson said, according to reports.

“That’s just poison,” Mr. Carlson added. He then criticized Ms. Haley as “not left, but … neoliberal in the darkest, most … nihilistic way” and added that she “has no real popular support.”

“I mean, here’s someone who’s actively opposed to the interests of the country I grew up in, who endorsed the BLM (Black Lives Matter) riots,” Mr. Carlson also said, adding that she is “a creature of the oligarchs.”

“I just can’t imagine a world where that could happen,” he continued. “That would be so crazy. Anything could happen, of course, but picking Nikki Haley, who’s utterly treacherous and utterly dismissive of, like, the interest of Americans, yeah.”

Instead of Ms. Haley, the former Fox News star suggested Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to be a potential running mate. The reason why, he said, is because Mr. Ramaswamy has “gotten much more sincere.”

“I watch him with Nikki Haley, and I’m like, this is a guy who’s very offended by her views, like for real,” he said, referring to Mr. Ramaswamy. “He’s not attacking her because she’s a woman. He’s attacking her because he actually thinks her views are terrible for the country he lives in. And I love that.”

As for Ms. Haley, neither she nor her campaign have responded to the speculation about her becoming President Trump’s running mate for 2024. She also hasn’t responded to Mr. Carlson’s criticism of her.

A recent poll showed that she is gaining on the former president in New Hampshire after she was endorsed by Governor Chris Sununu earlier this month. The survey CBS News and YouGov released earlier this week shows she has 29 percent in the Granite State, whereas President Trump has 44 percent.

Former President Donald Trump leaves the courtroom during a break in the civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization at the New York State Supreme Court in New York City, on Dec. 7, 2023. Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

But nationally, she is still far behind the former president. A RealClearAverage aggregate of recent polls shows that President Trump is at nearly 63 percent among GOP voters, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is at 12.1 percent, Ms. Haley stands at 11.6 percent, and Mr. Ramaswamy has 4.4 percent.

In Iowa, a crucial early nominating state, President Trump has 58 percent among likely GOP voters, according to a new poll. Mr. DeSantis is No. 2 in the Hawkeye State at 22 percent, and Ms. Haley stands at 13 percent.

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Earlier this week, Ms. Haley told ABC News that she, in part, blamed the former president for the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“I think Jan. 6 was a terrible day, and I think that the tone at the top matters,” Ms. Haley said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” adding, “When President Trump had the opportunity to stop it ... he didn’t.”

She added: “I hate that for the people who were there supporting him. I hate that for those of us that were watching it.”

The GOP presidential candidate has been reluctant to criticize the former president directly. “Anti-Trumpers think I don’t hate Trump enough. Pro-Trumpers don’t think I love him enough. I call it like I see it. If I agree with you on something, I’m gonna say it. If I disagree with you on something, I’m gonna say it,” she said Sunday.

Previously, President Trump has cast Ms. Haley as disloyal, noting that she would often publicly pledge to never run against the former president.

In a recent Truth Social post, the former president responded to media claims that Ms. Haley’s campaign is on the rise, asking: “Where is the Nikki’ SURGE,’ and the DeSanctimonious’ BOUNCE.’ (I am beating Ron in Florida, 83 percent to 12 percent) I went up 7 points, they both went down.”

“Everyone should drop out, unify, and go after” President Joe Biden, he added.