Fox News host Tucker Carlson has taken a novel approach to defend President Donald Trump’s controversial interview with journalist Bob Woodward, who did not paint a glowing picture of Trump in the book that resulted from the interview.
According to Carlson, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is to blame for the interview, and he said so on his program Tucker Carlson Tonight. Carlson mentioned an unnamed source who told him it was Graham “who helped convince Donald Trump to talk to Bob Woodward,” Newsweek [1] reported. Then he said he believes Graham had an ulterior motive.
“Lindsey Graham is supposed to be a Republican, so why would he do something like that?,” Carlson said. “You would have to ask him. But keep in mind that Lindsey Graham has opposed — passionately opposed virtually every major policy initiative that Donald Trump articulated when he first ran.”
“From ending illegal immigration to pulling back from pointless wars to maintaining law and order at home,” Carlson said. “Lindsey Graham was against all of that, more than many Democrats. So maybe you already know the answers.”
Early on Graham was one of Trump’s most prominent opponents, The Guardian [2] notes. Graham excoriated Trump for his attacks on the late Arizona Sen. John McCain and tweeted in May 2016:
“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed……and we will deserve it.”
If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed…….and we will deserve it.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 3, 2016 [3]
Graham seems to have transmogrified into one of Trump’s sycophantic adherents since then but his tweet was oddly prophetic because this president has made a real hash of the Republican Party while simultaneously causing real tragedy in the U.S.
Let’s bring back the other Lindsey Graham, please. You know, the one who said, [4] regarding Trump, in February 2016: “I think he’s a kook. I think he’s crazy… He’s not fit to be president.”
Where’d that guy go? Trump is clearly unfit to be president but here he is.
Graham admitted Thursday that he helped arrange the first meeting between Trump and Woodward but he’s rebutting Carlson’s contention that he’s trying to sabotage Trump, The Detroit News [5] reports.
“I think it’s pretty absurd to believe that President Trump did something he didn’t want to do because of me or anybody else,” Graham said. “I have more confidence in the president than Tucker Carlson does.”
Excerpts from Woodward’s book, Rage, [6] scheduled to be released on September 15, are creating a media firestorm, especially after it revealed that Trump knew as early as February 7, 2020, just how deadly the coronavirus is but kept mum about it.
Carlson is being an apologist here for something that deserves an apology and journalists are now questioning Trump about why he kept quiet on something of crucial importance, and he had this to say on Wednesday:
“We don’t want to have to show panic, and that’s exactly what I did,” he said, then described Woodward’s book as “another political hit job.”
And White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has told reporters that Trump “has never lied to the American public on COVID. The president was expressing calm, and his actions reflect that.”
Yes, well he’s being “calm” about a pandemic that’s killed [7] more than 196,000 Americans. From the very beginning of the pandemic, this man has done nothing more than sitting on his hands. Carlson can go ahead and blame Graham for this political “hit job” but it’s one that Trump deserves.
Carlson also couldn’t resist taking a swipe at Woodward and The Washington Post.
“Bob Woodward dislikes Donald Trump, he’s been very clear about that. Woodward works for Jeff Bezos’ personal newspaper, The Washington Post, which has made defeating Donald Trump its all-consuming mission.”
I hope that’s true. Woodward was instrumental in the downfall of President Richard Nixon. Let’s hope this works.
WATCH:
Watch as Tucker Carlson blames Lindsey Graham for setting up the Bob Woodward interview to please Trump, who is no doubt watching closely.
They are all starting to eat each other. pic.twitter.com/76ZOhjAJnt [8]
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) September 10, 2020 [9]