Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson gave a rousing speech on the final day of the Republican National Convention, praising Donald Trump for being a unifier and comparing Joe Biden to a “dead person.”
The talk show host took the RNC main stage to thunderous applause from the conservatives in the room, who no doubt know Carlson from his time at the helm of the top-rated cable news show before his ouster from Fox.
Carlson immediately addressed the attempted assassination of the former president at Saturday’s campaign rally, pointing out how Trump did not use the arson tragedy as a political cudgel.
“In the moment, the days, the weeks after the shooting… he did the best he could to bring the country together,” the media personality said.
“I think this is the most responsible and unifying behavior from a leader I have ever seen.”
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson applauded Trump for being a unifier following his near-fatal assassination attempt, saying it was the most unifying behavior he had ever seen.
“When he stood up after being shot in the face and raised his hand, I thought at that moment that was a transformation.”
“This was no longer a man… he was the leader of a nation,” Carlson proclaimed, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers.
Carlson also highlighted how much restraint Trump showed in refusing to be divisive in the wake of his shooting.
“He turned down the most obvious political opportunity to inflame the nation after being shot… an opportunity that almost every other politician I’ve known and certainly his opponents would have immediately seized upon.”
The former Fox News host later recounted his personal conversation with the former president just hours after the shooting.
He detailed how Trump never talked about himself after being “shot in the face” and instead “just said how shocked he was and how proud he was of a crowd that didn’t run.”
“Of course they did not run away, their 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 former President Donald Trump gestures as he is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as he leaves the stage at a campaign rally, Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa.
He then turned his attention from the former president to the current one, painting a bleak picture between the two presidents.
Carlson, in an apparent jibe at President Joe Biden, told the crowd that the title of president has no intrinsic value, but the person who holds that office does.
“Just because someone is called president doesn’t necessarily mean much,” he said.
“I can call my dog the CEO of Hewlett Packard and it doesn’t mean anything.”
“You could take, I don’t know, a mannequin, a dead person and make them president,” he said in an apparent mockery of President Joe Biden’s age.
Carlson seemingly mocked Joe Biden by saying that the title of president inherently means nothing and that a “dead person” could take over.
Earlier in the week, Carlson sat 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 together, joking and laughing as the show progressed, giving an insight into the friendly and close relationship the two have.
His comments come just days after reports emerged indicating that Carlson has been an influential power broker in the Trump camp.
Those reports indicate that the talk show host warned the former president not to choose anyone other than JD Vance as his running mate.