Tucker Carlson, during an appearance this week on the Shawn Ryan Show, said he’s reaching the end of his patience with the Republican Party and “conservatives” in general. “I’m going to have to oppose it because I hate them too much, because they’re such betrayers,” he said. “No, I’m not a socialist. I just don’t want any more dollar stores. I don’t want high-density housing in my neighborhood. I don’t want any more f–king strip malls that nobody goes to, more karate studios and vape shops.” “How about no? ‘Ohh, socialist! You don’t believe in the free market.’ Because you bribed a county commissioner to build more garbage? In a normal society, we’d burn your strip mall down.” “You can’t take all my tax dollars and then stop, refuse to do anything about child molestation. Like the whole reason you exist, county commissioners, is to protect my daughters from getting molested. But you won’t, because like, why?” “It’s the party in power right now. It’s an amazing amount of power and amount of money, and there’s a lot at stake,” Tucker said. “Don’t underestimate just how powerful a political party is. You can be against political parties, but they run America.” “So maybe you shouldn’t ignore them. Maybe you should engage. I don’t want to because I dislike them too much, and I dislike the people, but I’m glad that there are some people fighting for the soul of the party, whatever that means.” “Well, I know what it means,” he said. “We’re here to make the country better for the people who live in it – not for a foreign country, whatever that country is, and not for your donors, but for most people.” “That is the argument right now: Does the Republican Party exist to help its voters – actually, every citizen – or does it exist for some boutique corrupt reason, like serving a foreign government or serving your donors?” “I think that’s the argument,” he said. “It’s the argument Trump started when he ran in 2015. It wasn’t about ‘Make America Great Again,’ which everyone is for – who wouldn’t be for that? It was about America First, which is the idea behind MAGA. America First.” “Just put your country first. If you’re its leader, you have a moral obligation to put its citizens before all others. It’s not a controversial idea. It’s the only idea.” “But there are a lot of Republican leaders – and not just elected leaders, though certainly them – but the whole constellation of nonprofits and publications who are ‘conservative.’ Okay, you can call yourself whatever you want. But what does that mean?” “Now we’re getting to the definitional part of the argument,” he said. “What are you talking about? Make America Great Again – how? What are your priorities? ‘Shut up!’ And they’re screaming because they’ve been exposed as liars, and everybody knows they’re liars.” “The conservative establishment – Ben Shapiro all the way up to some idiot Republican senator – all of them are telling the same lie: ‘We’re on your side.’ But they’re not,” he said. “There is nothing more legitimate than that complaint. That is true. I would know – I’ve been involved for 40 years. I know every single person. It’s true. They’re corrupt. They don’t care enough – or at all – about you.” “And everyone on the other side would love to make it about: ‘Why do you hate the Jews?’ Well, I don’t hate the Jews. It’s not about the Jews – whatever that means. It’s about the country. And I’m fervently hoping that the America First people win. I fervently hope that. I think they will,” he said. “I mean, they’re not all bad – some are nice people. But in general, if Trump voters knew who was paying for everything, they’d be like: ‘Wait – I have nothing in common with you at all.’ And now I think they’re starting to figure that out.”
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