As many rightly worry (except Sen. Tom Cotton) that President Trump is gearing up for war with Iran, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the president’s national security adviser John Bolton leading the way and licking their chops, a story Wednesday gave some hope that might not be the case.
It seems Trump is also seeking advice from someone who isn’t a stark raving mad neoconservative hawk: Tucker Carlson.
The Daily Beast’s Maxwell Tani, Betsy Woodruff, and Asawin Suebsaeng reported Wednesday, “In the upper echelons of the Trump administration, hawkish voices on Iran predominate—most notably Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton.”
“But as tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated over the last few weeks, there’s been another, far different voice in the president’s ear: that of Fox News host Tucker Carlson,” the trio reported.
“A source familiar with the conversations told The Daily Beast that, in recent weeks, the Fox News host has privately advised Trump against taking military action against Iran,” The Daily Beast noted. “And a senior administration official said that during the president’s recent conversations with the Fox primetime host, Carlson has bashed the more ‘hawkish members’ of his administration.”
This is good news for anyone, especially the majority of Americans including veterans who believe the Iraq War was a mistake and do not wish to see that disaster replicated in Iran — which it most assuredly would be, and then some.
Cato Institute Vice President Gene Healy responded to the story with a smart recommendation: “Tucker Carlson for National Security Adviser!”
Tucker Carlson for National Security Advisor! https://t.co/R9tNJUDWON
— Gene Healy (@GeneHealy) June 19, 2019
Not a bad idea.
The only other person in Trump’s adviser orbit who the president seeks counsel on foreign policy matters, even if unofficially, seems to be Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
As Politico reported in August, “While Trump tolerates his hawkish advisers, the [Trump] aide added, he shares a real bond with Paul: ‘He actually at gut level has the same instincts as Rand Paul … Rand Paul has persuaded the president that we are not for regime change in Iran,’ this person said, because adopting that position would instigate another war in the Middle East.”
Carlson’s aversion to war with Iran is similar to Paul’s, and the populist pundit also worries about Trump getting bad advice from warmongers in his cabinet.
“More than anything in the world, national security adviser John Bolton would love to have a war with Iran,” Carlson said on his program in May. “It will be like Christmas, Thanksgiving, his birthday [all] wrapped into one.”
“Mercifully, John Bolton does not control the military, President Trump does,” Carlson added. “The question is, just how influential is Bolton in the White House.”
Time will tell how much stroke Bolton has, but in the meantime Healy is not wrong: Tucker Carlson would be a vastly superior national security adviser to Trump than anyone currently serving in that role.
Jack Hunter (@jackhunter74) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is the former political editor of Rare.us and co-authored the 2011 book The Tea Party Goes to Washington with Sen. Rand Paul.
