Did Tucker Carlson Really Mean to Say He Thinks Donald Trump Is Too Old to Run?

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

What a way to kick off the Labor Day Holiday of the year 2023: with a report that is almost too good to believe and I'm inclined to think it is. 

Really.

Now, as long-time readers of RedState know we have been following the musings of one Mr. Tucker Carlson for quite a while — long before his surprise exit from Fox News that has enabled him to speak his mind and garner millions of views on X ( formerly Twitter) and gain a larger following than he ever had at Fox.

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Here is one of the more recent examples of an article by my colleague Nick Arama about something controversial Tucker said.

Tucker Carlson Says That 'Permanent Washington' Will Do 'Anything to Take Out Trump'

Carlson was then interviewed by Adam Carolla, where he dove into several controversial subjects. He didn't hold back on any of them. 

Carolla asked Tucker if he thought that "they" were going to "let" Trump be president. Tucker then outlined the efforts that had been taken against Trump and voiced a big concern -- what do they do after they've tried everything and they still can't stop Trump?

Carlson said:

If you begin with criticism, then you go to protest, then you go to impeachment, now you go to indictment and none of them work...What's next? I mean, graph it out, man! We are speeding towards assassination obviously....They [permanent Washington] have decided that there's something about Trump that's so threatening to them, they just can't have it.

Carlson noted how "they" want him to go to trial on March 4, 2024 (the day before Super Tuesday), and be sent to prison for the rest of his life for complaining about the election. If this were happening in another country, Tucker said, the U.S. would be issuing an "all hands on deck" to blast it. "It's hard to overstate how bad this is," he exclaimed. He added that Biden was "senile" and that he "had never been as worried about anything." 

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Comments like that have made him a lightning rod for criticism on all sides of the political spectrum but he does not shy away from it.

I don't think I'm out of line to say that Carlson is a fan favorite of Trump supporters and at least from my perch he seems to cater to them a bit. His interview with Trump on the night of the first GOP debate last week was a double whammy of joy for both Trump and Carlson. Trump enjoyed going up against his former favorite network that was hosting the debate. Tucker loved the direct poke in the eye of his former employer. 

Part of that was covered by the one and only Jerry Wilson of RedState with his offering last week: Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Cover a Lot of Ground During Wide-Ranging Interview.

So imagine my surprise when Carlson did an interview with Dave Portnoy of Bar Stool Sports and during a free-flowing discussion, Carlson agreed with Dave on this about Trump right here.

Carlson then asked Portnoy if he believed President Joe Biden would be the Democratic nominee.

“I… don’t know. I’m not a political person,” Portnoy responded.

He added, “I feel like there’s been a shift where internally maybe the Democrats don’t think he can win and they’re setting the stage to choose someone else. I think it’s crazy if he’s — I mean, to be honest, I think both Trump and Biden are too old. I don’t think you should be able to be that old and be president.”

Carlson was seen shaking his head approvingly while Portnoy spoke.

He leaned forward and said, “I agree 100%.”

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Now, the age question is one that's been a hot topic for the past couple of years in the United States body politic. That is not surprising when you have the incidents that we have had with Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, and Dianne Feinstein all in the past year. 

Of course, I would include Joe Biden but as anybody who has watched Joe Biden for 40 years as both a senator from some small insignificant state on the East Coast to Vice President, he's always acted, to a certain degree, how he is now. Yet at 80 years old, it has just exacerbated his problem of being who he always was, which was a befuddled, confused individual who is always trying to make himself seem smarter and more accomplished than he ever could hope to be.

While it is true that Trump's current age of 77 years would put him at age 78 on January 20th, 2025 if he were elected next year, he does seem to move around and communicate a bit better than Biden who's just a horse-length ahead of him in age.

So did Carlson really mean to say that he thinks both Biden and Trump are a little bit long in the tooth to run for President?

I'm going to guess that he was thinking more in terms of Joe Biden who, at his age and current level of competency, should not be allowed to operate an ice cream truck without supreme adult supervision. I know a lot of people have a problem with Donald Trump, and I could take some issues with him and argue them quite effectively, but at this point in time, he doesn't really seem ineffective in getting his message out as a campaigner and his age does not seem to hinder him.

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However, if Carlson is joining a growing chorus of Americans who are clamoring for age restrictions on elected officials, it will be interesting to see how the incredibly active and vocal Trump base handles this not-so-mild criticism.

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