Tucker Carlson 2024?
Plus Jill Stein, The Confederacy, COVID, and some non-depressing stuff from 2020
Hey there,
Hope you are staying safe and sane.
Happy Independence Day Eve. Here are two of the best 4th of July speeches.
Frederick Douglass’ “What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?” delivered in 1852, eight years before the start of the Civil War. The full thing is worth a read HERE.
Or if you’d prefer to listen, NPR recently found several of Douglass’ descendants and had them read excerpts HERE.
And if you want more Frederick content, David Blight’s recent biography is real good. Here’s the NYT review.
As for the other July 4th speech —>
On the news front, I dived into growing GOP buzz about Tucker Carlson running for president in 2024. I was initially skeptical when a source mentioned it but then I kept making calls and almost everyone was bullish on his chances including more establishment-Jeb Bush types, former Trump campaign and administration officials, and conservative commentators like Rich Lowry, the editor of the National Review. The buzz has only grown over the past month as Carlson has posted the highest quarterly ratings in cable news history. If Trump loses this November, Republican strategists see him as perhaps the leading candidate to carry the Trump banner.
Read the piece HERE
Some other stuff I watched and read that didn’t make the piece but helps understand the “Tucker phenomenon”:
My boss John Harris dived into why writers and editors (especially liberal-leaning ones) are so obsessed with Tucker. Read that HERE and it includes links to seemingly every profile done recently (and yes, Harris laughed at me when I told him I was writing this piece).
Tucker’s 2019 book “Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution” is a lot like his recent string of blockbuster monologues: unapologetic, provocative, and a little snarky. It also shows how he’s a believer in “Trumpism” as opposed to Trump .
Also, Tucker’s Live TV dunking skills have been well-honed (as Trump’s were in the 2016 primary debates). Two that stuck out to me and that sources also brought up unprompted.
This interview with John Bolton just before he joined the administration when Tucker grills him on Iraq. It’s worth watching to the very end:
And his tough interview over Black Lives Matter and law enforcement this week with Republican Sen. Mike Braun who, like many in the GOP, has been supportive of police reform in the wake the BLM protests.
Alright, enough Tucker. Here’s SNL’s take on the McLaughlin Group from 1990.
I was bad about sending this the past few weeks. I feel like blaming COVID is a catch-all excuse for anything right now so let’s go with that. Here are a few of my pieces if you missed them.
The Green Party and Jill Stein cost Hillary dearly in 2016. Democrats are still writing off her successor. READ HERE.
Biden v. Trump on the Confederacy.
One bit: After many many unanswered emails, former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly messaged me back and split from the president on renaming the military based named after Confederate soliders. "In 2020 I think it’s time the potus, Congress and our Army take a hard look at renaming, and do it," he wrote back. "I am confident that with leaders like Secretaries Esper, McCarthy and General Milley they can convince the powers that be that it is the right thing to do." The powers that be…whoever could he mean? READ HERE.
And white America’s reckoning with racism shakes up 2020 as Biden appeals to the woke and woke curious. READ HERE. For an audio version, my colleague Eugene Daniels and I dived in on Nerdcast. LISTEN HERE.
After the killing of George Floyd, Dave Chappelle did a short stand up routine with a socially distanced audience. It’s funny but also much angrier than his usual stuff. If you missed it, it’s worth the watch.
Some great pieces from my colleagues this week:
Alex Isenstadt on the Trump campaign is always a must read.
Joanne Kenen, our health care editor, on America’s botched reopening. READ HERE.
And Melanie Zanona on how Liz Cheney has navigated being an outspoken Trump critic and in Republican leadership. READ HERE.
I’ve also been on a Silicon Valley reading binge. If the topic interests you, I really enjoyed these:
No Filter on Instagram by Sarah Frier
Super Pumped on Uber by Mike Isaac
Bad Blood on Theranos by John Carreyrou
Hatching Twitter (you can guess what that’s about) by Nick Bilton
Facebook by Steven Levy
Chaos Monkeys by Antonio García Martínez
For a sci-fi fiction look, Ted Chiang’s Exhalation was excellent.
And for brainless fun, go for Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None”
I leave you with Hamilton’s "The Election of 1800” as it’s on Disney + starting this weekend. Happy 4th! -Alex