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Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will host Tucker Carlson Tonight on Friday, which is a peculiar spot for a former lawmaker who not long ago presumably opposed much of what Fox News’ reliably conservative audience stands for.
Tucker Carlson boasts the highest-rated show in cable news. In his absence this week, the network has relied on its bench to try and fill the void.
Will Cain filled in Monday and Tuesday, while network morning host Brian Kilmeade sat behind the desk Wednesday and Thursday.
To end the week, Gabbard will use Carlson’s pulpit. She will likely advance narratives similar to Carlson’s, and from a perspective which seemed implausible two years ago.
In January of 2020, after former President Donald Trump ordered the drone killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Gabbard joined Fox News to blast the then-commander-in-chief.
“It was an act of war taken by President Trump without any authorization or declaration of war from Congress as per the Constitution,” she said on the network.
Weeks after that viral interview, Gabbard
Gabbard was forced to defend that and other appearances on Fox News, which date back to 2015.
Those appearances ramped up after her unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 2020. She is now a regular on the network, playing the role of a moderate Democrat.
But a moderate Democrat is far away, ideologically speaking, from the network’s army of viewers, most of whom are staunch supporters of Trump – or at least his policies. Gabbard opposed Trump in 2016 and 2020.
In September of 2016, she actually endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton.
A military veteran, Gabbard portrayed the endorsement as a binary choice between a war hawk and an isolationist.
“There is a clear contrast between our two candidates with regard to my strong belief that we must end the interventionist, regime change policies that have cost us so much,” she said at the time. “This is not just another issue. This is the issue, and it’s deeply personal to me.”
Gabbard has been accused of being politically pliable, and branded everything from an opportunist to a maverick.
She rarely disagrees with Fox News hosts or guests on issues ranging from the economy to Covid. Gabbard has also echoed Carlson’s views on foreign policy and has similarly elevated fringe theories.
Perhaps her role as fill-in host
Gabbard has found a home at the network, and it has entrusted her with the keys to its flashiest ride, even if for one day.
Friday, in a span of fewer than six years, a former Democratic candidate for president will have gone from endorsing Bernie Sanders to sitting in the big chair at Fox News.