Tucker Carlson’s on-air takes have taken an unusual turn (for him) lately. Last week, the Fox News host appeared to have gained some humanity, or maybe he simply felt worn down by “package” jokes while deciding that everyone should leave Hunter Biden alone. Perhaps the experience of seeing the crumbling of that unverified conspiracy (and the failure of an alleged “October surprise”) took the wind out of his theorizing sails. Whatever the reason, Tucker now thinks that if Trump loses this tight race, he should accept results (rather than make absurd claims about “ballot dumping” and “election stealing,” like Trump’s now doing as states flip) like Tucker teaches his kids to do.
Tucker’s a pretty die-hard Trump fan, and he did take time on Election Night to express disagreement with Fox News’ decision to call Arizona as a Joe Biden win. Yet at around the 9:00 minute mark above, Tucker took this unexpected stance while speaking to Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum:
“If he loses, I mean, I always tell my children this: When you lose, blame yourself first. Don’t blame other people. Blame yourself first. I think that’s morally important for all of us, not just for politicians.”
Tucker continued while stating that there were “many” reasons that Trump might not be reelected, including the “general feelings that things are out of control” in the U.S. (which Tucker doesn’t agree is “primarily Trump’s fault”), along with the administration’s pandemic response. Tucker does feel that an incumbent will “suffer” the brunt of people’s anxiety, and people may want a “channel change,” but it’s still notable that Tucker’s projecting this message to Trump (who was very obviously paying attention to Fox’s election coverage): if he loses, he ought to accept self-blame before pointing the finger elsewhere. Will that happen, though? Trump’s Twitter page points towards “no.”