Tucker Carlson claims 'neocon war agenda' is behind Trump documents prosecution

14 June 2023

When former President Donald Trump was arraigned on 37 federal criminal counts in a Miami courtroom on Tuesday, June 13, a long list of right-wing media outlets reflexively echoed Trump's claim that the prosecution is a baseless "witch hunt."

Not all conservatives have been defending Trump, of course; MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, attorney George Conway, The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson and The Bulwark's Charlie Sykes are among the many Never Trumpers on the right who have been applauding special counsel Jack Smith and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for pursuing the case and stressing that Trump is not exempt from the rule of law. Conway, in fact, slammed Trump's Republican defenders as
unprincipled and shameless" during a June 14 appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

But MAGA pundits have been painting Trump as the victim. One of them is former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

In a 13-minute video posted on Twitter on June 13, Carlson argued, in essence, that: (1) storing classified government documents at Mar-a-Lago is no big deal, and (2) a hawkish combination of Biden Democrats and establishment Republicans are trying to bring Trump down because of his anti-neocon views.

Carlson told viewers, "What matters, then and now, is foreign policy. The invasions and occupations and proxy wars — the decisions that determine which global populations will thrive and which will die…. In Washington, that's what actually matters."

"Permanent Washington," Carlson added, "decided to send Donald Trump to prison" seven years ago because he opposed the "neocon war agenda." Trump, the former Fox News host argued, "sealed his fate" when he condemned the invasion of Iraq during the 2016 GOP presidential primary debates.

"Whatever else you say about him," Carlson told viewers, "Trump is the one guy with an actual shot at becoming president who dissents from Washington's longstanding, pointless war agenda. And for that — that one fact — they are trying to take Trump out before you can vote for him."

Carlson was highly dismissive of the federal government's system for classifying documents, saying, "Washington is a city where internal memos about Labor Day are classified because everything is classified…. None of this is done in order to make America safer."

Twitter CEO Elon Musk praised Carlson's video as "bold" and posted, "This is why we like Tucker!" And far-right MAGA conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec wrote, "Tucker just spent 13 minutes giving the best explanation for why Trump should be president."

In the Daily Beast, journalist William Vaillancourt alluded to Carlson's legal battle with Fox News, writing, "Despite an escalating dispute with Fox News over the Twitter videos, Carlson returned to the social media platform, expressing support for the former president and criticizing the very concept of classified documents, asserting casually that in Washington, D.C. 'everything is classified.'"

Watch Tucker Carlson's video below or at this link.

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