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Right-wing firebrand Tucker Carlson has drawn rare acclaim from progressives for accusing GOPers of pursuing empty, symbolic victories rather than tackling the most challenging US issues.
Carlson on Friday delivered a populist takedown of the economic plights plaguing everyday Americans and faulted the GOP for failing to deliver on its promises to improve conditions.
“I hate the tranny stuff passionately. I think you should keep the boys off girls’ soccer teams. But I don’t know. It kind of sounds like you’re feeding me appetizers,” Carlson said at the Turning Point USA Summit in Tampa Bay on Friday.
Tucker Carlson urges conservatives to prioritize better economic results over culture-war wins. ZUMAPRESS.com / MEGA“At some point, I want to look around and see a better country, I want to see a country recognize I don’t see people sleeping on the sidewalk. I don’t want to see people OD’ing on drugs.”
The former Fox News host ripped the gross domestic product measure that’s used to gauge the growth of the economy as “not relevant” and suggested a better test is whether his children could “afford houses with full-time jobs at, like, 27.”
David Sirota, editor-in-chief of The Lever and a former top adviser to lefty Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), quickly took note of Carlson’s reflection.
“He’s correct here,” Sirota wrote on X. “Democratic leaders’ ongoing refusal to speak to the economic concerns of Americans continues to create opportunities for the American Right to pretend to be economic populists.”
Matt Duss, executive vice president at Center for International Policy and a fellow Sanders alumni, concurred.
“Yep. Democratic leaders have a choice: they can build the party by embracing left populists like Mamdani who are confronting these problems, or keep fighting them and watch as young people flock to right populists who are confronting these problems,” he wrote on the platform.
Yep. Democratic leaders have a choice: they can build the party by embracing left populists like Mamdani who are confronting these problems, or keep fighting them and watch as young people flock to right populists who are confronting these problems. https://t.co/W6eXyHUia5
— Matt Duss (@mattduss) July 12, 2025I'm becoming a Tucker Carlson fan:
"…basic economics really matter. They matter because, not that it's bad that rich people are getting richer. It's bad that everyone else is getting poorer.
And it's especially bad that young people can't afford homes.
Let me just put a… https://t.co/b58n0ljKM5
Anita Bartholomew, a self-described non-woke liberal reporter who has been critical of transgender procedures on children, admitted, “I’m becoming a Tucker Carlson fan.”
During his speech, Carlson railed against the state of large cities in the US, such as New York City, while juxtaposing them against conditions abroad in places such as Japan.
‘”Why are my cities disgusting?” the right-wing pundit vented, claiming many US cities smell like weed.
“And you’re lecturing me about how it’s a great moral victory that I kicked the boys off the girls’ soccer team? Good. I’m so glad. But let’s do the real stuff like making New York livable. And creating an economy where my kids can have kids.”
President Trump ripped Tucker Carlson as “kooky” last month. Getty ImagesCarlson also stressed the importance of “basic economics,” saying “they matter because, not that it’s bad that rich people are getting richer. It’s bad that everyone else is getting poorer.”
The former Fox News host also took swipes at President Trump’s strikes against Iran and suggested — without evidence — that notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein was working on behalf of Israeli intelligence services.
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