Alexa, play “Heartless”: Tucker Carlson, one of Trump’s loudest supporters, has been telling guests on his program that in 2020 he voted for Kanye West.
According to a new report out of Politico, two associates confirmed that Carlson made that claim, with a third alleging that even before the election, Carlson had announced his intention to mark his ballot for Yeezy. None of the sources sounded sure if Carlson was serious or joking. One person thought it was a way of separating himself from the other Fox sycophants, speculating that, “It’s his way of saying that he’s not just another Trumpette at Fox News like Sean Hannity.”
West stumped for the presidency under the banner of The Birthday Party, although his bid faced numerous obstacles. To start, his name didn’t appear on the ballot in 38 states, including Carlson’s home of Florida. Perhaps Carlson cast a write-in vote, but unfortunately West failed to file Florida’s write-in paperwork, so if Carlson is telling the truth, then his vote wasn’t counted.
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Regardless, Carlson seems to genuinely like West. “He and Kanye get along,” one person said. “They both regularly find themselves in the crosshairs. They’re both pro-life.”
Carlson has also praised the rapper on the record. In 2018, after West met with Trump in the Oval Office, Carlson said on his show, “[M]uch like someone else who comes to mind, West may be precisely crazy enough to think for himself, and that’s a valuable quality right now. But listen carefully to what he said. Sprinkled throughout his ramblings are flashes of truth, real insights into the way the world actually is rather than the way they tell us it is.”
Despite his pro-Trump on-air presence, Carlson has been critical of Trump behind the scenes. A recent New York Times profile described him as an eager source for more left-leaning publications, having become “the go-to guy for sometimes-unflattering stories about Donald J. Trump.” In other words, it’s hard to tell if he’s actually a blowhard or if he just plays one on TV. Either way, his unhinged freakouts over pop culture from Elmo to “WAP” remain funny.
