On July 18 2024, Tucker Carlson took the stage at the Republican National Convention to lavish Donald Trump with praise. He described Trump surviving his assassination attempt as “divine intervention”, said he’s a “wonderful person”, “the funniest person I’ve ever met in my life”, and a man who is brimming with empathy.
Carlson concluded:
“Everything else about Trump aside, he actually cares, because he’s interested in the people who live here, because that’s his job. A father’s job, his duty, is to his family. An officer’s duty is to his men. A president’s duty is to his citizens. And he seems to be the only one who thinks that.”
Smash cut to 2026, and it’s safe to say Carlson is feeling some buyer’s remorse. Trump has broken practically every promise he made during the 2024 election campaign (as anybody with a functioning brain told you he was going to at the time). Jobs are still going to China, grocery prices are high, gas is skyrocketing, and, of course, he’s launched a disastrous war in the Middle East.
To Carlson’s credit, he’s now owning up to his mistake and admitting that supporting Trump was a huge error in judgment. Speaking on his own show, he sounded uncharacteristically remorseful, saying he feels personally implicated in the chaos Trump has wrought:
TUCKER CARLSON: “I’ll be tormented for a long time by the fact that I played a role in getting Donald Trump elected. And I want to say that I’m sorry for misleading people.”
— Stew Peters (@realstewpeters) April 21, 2026
This is a very humble and honest statement. Big respect to Tucker. pic.twitter.com/dyMgrsRAP8
“It’s not enough to say I changed my mind, or ‘oh this is bad I’m out’. In very small ways but in real ways you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now. So I do think it’s like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences. You know, we’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional.”
“We’ll be tormented by it for a long time”
Hindsight really is 20/20, huh? You might point out that perhaps pushing for a convicted felon to return to the presidency after already having proved many times over in his first term that he’s dangerously incompetent would be an obvious mistake you could see coming a mile off. Actually, you know what, I will point out that!
Perhaps there’s a counterargument that Trump lied: who can be blamed for believing his vows that there would be “no new wars” and that he’d focus on improving life for regular Americans? But, y’know, maybe that’s on Carlson for unquestioningly swallowing the promises of arguably the most renowned liar currently on the face of the Earth?
There’s probably also an ulterior motive to this. Carlson generally has his finger firmly on the pulse of what conservative America is thinking – the very instincts that have gotten him to where he is today. He knows which way the wind is blowing for this administration.
As such, he’s likely concluded that the RMS Trumptanic has already smashed into the iceberg and is rapidly taking on water. Time to make a speedy exit, clamber into a lifeboat, and get out of there, because when that ship goes down (and that may well be quite soon), it’s going to take everyone still on board with it.
