Tucker Carlson Signals Intent to Help Launch Third U.S. Political Party

Right-wing broadcaster Tucker Carlson has declared his intention to help establish a new political party in the United States, arguing that the current two-party system functions as a “one-party state” on critical issues such as war and finance. In a wide-ranging interview with the Columbia Journalism Review published Wednesday, the former Fox News host turned podcast personality offered few structural details on the project, leaving it unclear whether he is advancing a concrete initiative or articulating a ideological provocation.

Carlson explicitly ruled out running for office himself. “I don’t want to be a candidate,” he stated. His remarks represent an escalation of his recent public rupture with the Trump administration, particularly over its military posture toward Iran. Having previously expressed regret for his support of Donald Trump, Carlson said last week there was “no chance” he would back Republicans or Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections.

“I do know what really matters is war and finance,” Carlson told the CJR, suggesting pro-Israel donors had pressured the president into confrontation with Tehran. “On those questions, the parties are in lockstep solidarity with each other. That’s not a democracy. That’s a one-party state posing as a democracy, and it needs to be broken, and there’s going to be a third party, and I’m going to do everything I can to bring that about.”

He framed the motivation in economic populist terms, arguing that working Americans have seen their living standards collapse. “If you make $60,000 a year, you’re degraded. Your life expectancy has gone down, and the promise of your children’s lives is likely gone,” he said. “I officially don’t care about Hamas. The US government should have, as its first priority, the welfare of its own people.”

Carlson, known for thinking aloud, did not elaborate on the mechanics of party-building. His comments contradict a May interview with the New York Times in which he insisted, “Am I going to build it? Absolutely not.” Despite persistent speculation regarding his own political ambitions, Carlson has consistently denied seeking office, though he has wielded significant influence through his media platform and direct lobbying of the former president.

In the CJR interview, Carlson confirmed he had personally urged Trump to avoid military intervention in Iran. Their relationship has since fractured: “I haven’t spoken to him since the regime-change war began. I’m not interested in talking to him.”

In recent years, Carlson has become a leading voice for a nationalist-isolationist flank of the right that views Trump as insufficiently disruptive of the Bush-era foreign policy consensus. This faction, often labeled “America First” to distinguish it from “Make America Great Again,” has also assailed the U.S.-Israel relationship with a ferocity critics charge veers into antisemitism and conspiracy theory, while demanding more radical immigration restrictions.

“I’m for less immigration,” Carlson said. “In fact, I’m for ending all immigration today. I don’t know how you can justify immigration when half of all white-collar jobs are going away because of AI. What are people going to do for a living?”

A self-described conservative Episcopalian, Carlson has increasingly woven Christian nationalist rhetoric into his commentary, citing scripture and claiming a supernatural encounter with a demonic entity. He recently replaced the American flag in his studio with a banner associated with the far-right Christian nationalist movement.

Asked by his interviewer if he was “strategically positioning” himself as counter-programming to a GOP defined by Trump and an aging cable news audience, Carlson rejected the premise. “I’m not strategic in any way,” he said. “I make almost all decisions on the basis of smell and instinct.”

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