A political action committee to draft former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for president has formed and launched its first ad.
The Draft Tucker PAC was formed and registered with the Federal Election Commission shortly after his show was canceled in April. The PAC’s chair and principal financial backer is Chris Ekstrom, a former Texas congressional candidate and major GOP donor.
The ad, urging Carlson to run, premiered on social media on Thursday and will run on Newsmax next week.
Republicans need a new leader that can stand up to Biden. It’s time to draft Tucker Carlson pic.twitter.com/FV9s3wxalc
— Draft Tucker Carlson (@DrafttuckerPAC) May 19, 2023
“Republicans need a new leader, and Tucker Carlson is ready to lead,” the ad states. “No one in America is more articulate and pins down leftists in both parties better than Tucker.”
The ad says Carlson will “whip Biden” in a presidential debate.
“Tucker Carlson is witty, sharp, and mocks woke nonsense,” the ad says. “Tucker will whip Biden in a debate.”
Ekstrom believes that there is a “realistic opportunity” for a candidacy now that Carlson’s Fox show is over. He said he doesn’t find Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or former President Donald Trump “fully satisfactory.”
“I’m very concerned that they’re going to not move the debate as far right as it ought to be,” Ekstrom said, according to a report from The Hill. “If Tucker Carlson entered the race in a reasonable amount of time and just continued in the same territory that he was covering at Fox, I think that’d be a rude awakening for both President Trump and Governor DeSantis.”
Carlson has long maintained that he has no desire to run for office, but that has not stopped his fans from pressuring him to do so.
