Democratic strategist James Carville said Tuesday that right-wing media figure Tucker Carlson is behind Donald Trump’s problematic picks for nominations. (Watch the video below.)
After being shown a clip of MSNBC’s Jonathan Lemire reporting that Steve Bannon and other extreme MAGA types were heavily influencing the president-elect’s choices, Carville zeroed in on ex-Fox News star Carlson.
“So Steve Bannon does not drive this,” Carville told “The Beat” host Ari Melber. “One person is driving this, I promise you. And it’s Tucker Carlson. Tucker’s an old friend of mine.”
Carville, who co-starred with Carlson on CNN’s “Crossfire” in the aughts, noted that Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director who was called “profoundly unqualified” by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, proved that Carlson was pulling the strings.
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“I’m just telling you what’s out there,” Carville continued. “And Tucker is 40 times more clever than Steve Bannon. He’s 40 times more connected. He’s also very connected with Elon Musk and everything else. And he’s a very bright man who should not be underrated. But I think he has more influence in this current administration, way more than Vernon Jordan had in the Clinton administration or any of the kind of wise men that were around. But Tucker is very, very, very powerful. And the Kash Patel pick proves that beyond any doubt at all.”
Trump’s controversial selections include anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health and human services secretary and Pete Hegseth for defense secretary despite mounting misconduct allegations against him. Perhaps the most egregious pick was Matt Gaetz, who has been accused of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, for attorney general, but he withdrew.
Carlson was once talked up as a possible running mate for Trump despite having declared his hatred for him in private texts.