Democratic strategist James Carville pointed fingers at Tucker Carlson as the key influence behind President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet selections.
During a segment on MSNBC’s “The Beat” with host Ari Melber, Carville discussed a comment made by Jonathan Lemire earlier that day on the network. Lemire suggested that Patel’s nomination bore the hallmarks of Steve Bannon, indicating an appeal to the far-right factions within Trump’s support base.
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“People I’ve talked to say this pick was a nod to the extreme right-wing portions of the Trump base, the Steve Bannon, ultra-MAGA sector here, who had been disappointed by some of Trump’s more conventional picks like, say, Treasury secretary and secretary of state,” Lemire said. “So, this is Trump throwing them red meat because he knows he needs to keep them happy.”
After the footage aired, Carville dismissed Lemire’s statement and stated his own theories.
“One person is driving this, I promise you. And it’s Tucker Carlson. Tucker’s an old friend of mine… We haven’t talked to each other in a while, but we were friends. But everything that I see is the same thing I heard in the green room in 2002. OK? And J.D. Vance, Don Jr., Kash Patel was Tucker’s business partner. I’m just telling you what’s out there. And Tucker is 40 times more clever than Steve Bannon,” Carville told Melber.
Carville continued with his narrative about Carlson’s supposed influence over Trump’s decisions.
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“I think he has more influence in this current administration, way more than Vernon Jordan had in the Clinton administration or any of the kind of wise men that were around. But Tucker is very, very, very powerful. And the Kash Patel pick proves that beyond any doubt at all,” Carville said.
Trump announced a series of appointments, including the nomination of former Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general, who later withdrew his nomination amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Additionally, Trump has tapped former Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth as Pentagon chief and selected Kash Patel to serve as FBI director.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.