Leading conservative commentator Tucker Carlson praised former President Donald Trump’s selection of Senator JD Vance (R-OH) as his running mate.
“I think every person who pays close attention has gotta be thrilled by that. And if you don’t know much about J.D. Vance, I’m not even gonna make a case for J.D. Vance,” the former Fox News host said while speaking at the Heritage Foundation’s Policy Fest as part of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“I’m gonna tell you what I just saw, which is that every bad person I’ve ever met in a lifetime in Washington was aligned against J.D. Vance.”
He went on to make the case that Vance was the best candidate on Trump’s long-rumored shortlist, which included names like Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY). Carlson himself was once rumored to be in the mix, though it is unclear if such a move was ever seriously considered.
“…I don’t always think that my side is right. I know for a fact I have been wrong many, many times, and I hope to correct and be honest about my error,” Carlson said while addressing the Heritage Foundation event. “So, it’s not like I think that…God’s always on my side. Sometimes I’m not on God’s side, but I definitely know who’s representing the other side.”
Carlson, who recently launched the Tucker Carlson Network, pointed to hostile reactions to Vance from those with a financial interest in “killing other people in pointless wars.”
“I know who those people are, and their odor is so powerful that I can smell one when he walks in the room. And every single one of those people in a line that would extend from Milwaukee to Chicago was lined up over the last week to knife J.D. Vance,” he said.
“And boy, they went after him in a way I’ve just kind of never seen, which I think happens every day in Washington. I just don’t have a vantage on it because I’m far, far away and grateful to be.”
Vance reportedly received no less than 20 minutes notice before Trump formally selected him as his running mate in a Truth Social post. A freshman senator, Vance has evolved from a former critic to one of the former president’s strongest supporters in the Senate.
The campaign is hopeful that his inclusion on the ticket will help turn out the vote in pivotal Rust Belt states.