There has been much talk about who former President Donald Trump might pick as his running mate this time around in his bid for a return to the White House.
He needs a new vice president, of course, because he has broken free from his former vice president, Mike Pence, after the two infamously differed over the results of the 2020 presidential election.
It’s been floated in the recent past that Trump prefers a woman to be his running mate, possibly because he sees that as a good way to reach more female voters. There have been plenty of other people mentioned as possibilities, including some of his GOP running mates, like South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
But, on Wednesday, an unlikely name was raised as a possibility – former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson.
While appearing on The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, a conservative podcast, the hosts asked Trump whether he might consider Carlson as his running mate. Trump responded:
“I like Tucker a lot! I guess I would, I think I say I would. He’s got great common sense.”
At one point, this pick might not have been all that surprising. Carlson seemed to be one of Trump’s biggest supporters. He consistently showed that support on his nightly newscast on Fox News, before he was ultimately fired by the media organization – seemingly over his role in the network’s massive settlement agreement with Dominion Voting Systems.
During the discovery period of that defamation lawsuit, though, it was revealed that Carlson wasn’t the Trump supporter he had made everyone think he was. Some of Carlson’s private text messages were released during discovery, which showed he actually didn’t like the former president.
Some of those messages read:
“We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But, come on. There really isn’t an upside to Trump.”
Carlson at one point said the former president was only good at “destroying things.” He continued:
“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait. I hate him passionately.”
Yet, it seems that in the time since those messages were made public, Trump and Carlson have made up. Carlson now has a new show that he hosts on the social media platform X, and Trump actually gave him an exclusive interview that aired at the same time that the first GOP primary debate was happening.
Carlson certainly does have national appeal, especially among conservatives, which would seem to make him a good choice as a running mate. That being said, his text messages could serve as fodder for Democrats during the run-up to the election, which could serve as a wedge between the two.
The last thing that Trump probably wants is another vice president who either takes away too much attention or is perceived to not be fully behind him. So, while Carlson sounds like an exciting name as a running mate, he’s probably a long shot to actually be selected.
