Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson delivered a stirring speech on the final day of the Republican National Convention, praising Donald Trump as a unifier and comparing Joe Biden to a “dead person.”
The talk show host marched onto the main stage at the RNC to loud applause from conservatives in the audience, who no doubt remember Carlson from his time as the head of the top-rated cable news program before he was fired from Fox.
Carlson immediately addressed the attempted assassination of the former president during his campaign rally on Saturday, noting that Trump was not using the incendiary tragedy as a political weapon.
“At that moment, in the days, the weeks after the shooting … he did his best to bring the country back together,” the media personality said.
“This is the most responsible, unifying behavior from a leader I have ever seen.”
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson praised Trump for his unifying stance after his near-fatal assassination attempt, saying it was the most unifying behavior he had ever seen
“When he stood up after he was shot in the face and put his hand up. I thought at that moment, that was a transformation.”
“This was no longer a man… this was the leader of a nation,” Carlson exclaimed, prompting the crowd to burst into cheers.
Carlson also pointed out how restrained Trump was in refusing to sow division after his shooting.
“He turned down the most obvious opportunity in politics to incite the nation after he was shot… an opportunity that virtually every other politician I’ve ever met, and certainly his opponents, would have seized on immediately.”
The former Fox News host then recounted his personal conversation with the former president within hours of the shooting.
He detailed how Trump never spoke about himself after he was “shot in the face” and instead “only said how surprised he was and how proud he was of a crowd that didn’t run away.”
‘Of course they didn’t run away, his courage gave them courage. The courage of a leader gives courage to his people.’
Tucker Carlson speaks at the Republican National Convention
Donald Trump applauds during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump gestures as he is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as he leaves the stage during a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania
He then turned his attention from the former president to the current president, painting a grim picture between the two presidents.
Carlson, in an apparent dig at President Joe Biden, told the crowd that the title of president itself has no value, but the person who fills the role does.
“The fact that you call yourself president doesn’t mean much in itself,” he said.
“I can call my dog the CEO of Hewlett Packard and it doesn’t mean anything.”
“You could, I don’t know, take a doll or a dead person and make him president,” he said in an apparent dig at President Joe Biden’s age.
Carlson took a swipe at Joe Biden, saying the title of president itself means nothing and that a “dead person” could assume the office
Earlier this week, Carlson was seated in Trump’s VIP box and was the first to welcome him to the convention floor when he entered the Fiserv Forum on Monday.
The two were photographed laughing together as the program progressed, giving an insight into the friendly and close relationship between the two.
His comments came days after reports that Carlson was an influential power broker in Trump’s camp.
Those messages show that the talk show host warned the former president not to choose anyone other than JD Vance as his running mate.