For decades, Republican candidates for President have allowed left-wing media personalities to define them in nationally-televised debates.
But that won’t be the case in 2024.
And Tucker Carlson will be the first hurdle for Republican Presidential candidates to clear.
The debate is over
Primary debates are part of the tradition every four years for electing the next President of the United States.
And without fail, Republican candidates are trotted out in front of a hostile firing squad of left-wing moderators to ask “gotcha” questions on a national stage.
Of course, it’s even worse in the General Election when the debate is weighted in favor of the Democrat candidate.
Last year, the Republican National Committee finally decided enough is enough and announced they would block GOP candidates from participating in any debates organized by the Committee on Presidential Debates (CPD).
The Committee has hosted Presidential and Vice Presidential debates since 1987.
In a letter to the CPD, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel pointed to several violations of trust that occurred in 2020, including not being sufficiently nonpartisan, holding the first debate after early voting had already begun, making “unilateral changes” to debates, selecting moderators who clearly favor Democrats, and other issues.
Tucker Carlson to the rescue
There will still be GOP debates this cycle.
And while not officially a debate, the Iowa Family Leadership Summit has become the unofficial launch to election season.
The event is scheduled for July 14 and it will have a rockstar moderator.
Real Clear Politics is reporting that the group selected Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson to moderate the Summit.
Carlson is a big upgrade in terms of stature and star power, as well as conservative credentials, compared to the prior moderator of the Summit, centrist pollster Frank Luntz.
Luntz hosted the event in 2015, but there was no Iowa Family Leadership Summit in 2019 since then-President Donald Trump had no Primary opponents.
Despite other announced candidates and many more considering a bid, the early stages of the 2024 GOP contest are looking like a two-man race between former President Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
According to reporter Philip Wegmann, a prominent grassroots activist told him that Tucker Carlson is the only person who could unite a divided room of Republican voters torn between Trump and DeSantis.
A big change of pace
Wegmann is also predicting the line of questioning will be much different with Carlson as opposed to Luntz.
“Judging by his recent programming, Carlson is likely to press candidates on where they stand on domestic issues,” Wegmann wrote. “Including whether they oppose ‘woke’ social policy and questions on transgender identity as it relates to children.”
Last year, Carlson made a speech in Iowa where he outlined the issues he believes GOP candidates should be campaigning on.
According to Carlson, the GOP should focus on “things that actually matter,” like the health of the American family and the woke LGBTQ+ agenda that has waged war against family values and the American way of life.
“You need to be really wary of candidates who care what the New York Times thinks,” Carlson warned.
