Carlson 'Really the Only Person Who Could Beat Donald Trump'

The stunning news of Tucker Carlson's ouster at Fox News is still settling in across the media landscape, and has some, like the Washington Post, asking: "Now what for Tucker Carlson?" The paper notes that the 53-year-old, who's "unlikely" to be picked up by another cable news network (he's previously been canned by CNN and MSNBC), could start his own media enterprise, but at least one other person thinks there's another option in Carlson's cards. "I think he'd be a good addition to the [2024] race," entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, himself a GOP presidential candidate, told Politico on Monday.

"I think someone should only do this if they feel called to do it, but I think it'd be good for the country if he got in, to be honest with you," Ramaswamy, who'd been set to appear on Carlson's program Monday night, continued. He went on to say that Carlson is "one of the smartest voices in the conservative movement," and a person who's willing to "defect from party orthodoxy when necessary." "Tucker was one of the great political thinkers and commentators of our time," Ramaswamy noted, slamming a "thought leadership vacuum in political media, across the political spectrum."

Politico dives deeper into "the keys to a hypothetical Tucker Carlson 2024 campaign," talking to GOP strategists with varying opinions on the topic. "I can't see that's the best use of his time to go do something like that," says Arizona political consultant Chuck Coughlin. Others think that how Carlson would fare depends on why Fox dumped him. "If Fox is really turning the page on Tucker Carlson, and are not going to give him airtime to promote his campaign, that would be a real challenge for him," predicts former Marco Rubio adviser Alex Conant. However, Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Donald Trump PAC, sees a definite path. "If he wanted the nomination, I think he's really the only person who could beat Donald Trump," he says. "He has the platform, he has the audience, he has the influence." (More Tucker Carlson stories.)