Tucker Carlson’s recent apologia for his longtime strident support of Donald Trump has predictably outraged some of those Americans who have been resisting Trump for years.
“I do think it’s like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences,” Carlson said about his role and the role of others in support of Trump. “You know, we’ll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be, and I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional.”
“It’s not enough to say, ‘Well, I changed my mind,’ ” he added. “It’s like, in very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now.” It appears that Carlson was referring to Trump’s war in Iran.
The co-hosts of ABC-TV’s talk show “The View” were quick to condemn Carlson’s mea culpa and question his sincerity. The show has often made news for its anti-Trump views, and co-host Joy Behar said that Carlson was expressing “what they call liar’s remorse.”
One co-host said that Carlson’s past rhetoric was “dangerous” and that his change of heart is about “clicks and money.” Another said, “I don’t think this is a true about-face.”
Along with Carlson, other prominent former Trumpers have bailed on the president recently, and Trump responded as usual with insults aimed at Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones.
Trump claimed that “they have all been fighting me for years, especially by the fact that they think it is wonderful for Iran, the Number One State Sponsor of Terror, to have a Nuclear Weapon — Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs.”
But many of his once loyal crowd have lost faith in him over the war that he started in Iran and the resulting global economic damage. Others are questioning the cruelty of ICE and the indiscriminate raids that target honest and hard-working aspiring Americans and not just the criminals he promised he would deport.
People of faith are disgusted with his portrayal of himself as Jesus Christ and his attacks on Pope Leo for preaching the gospel of peace. And his for-profit use of the presidency to grow his family fortune is wearing thin.
It is hard for any observer not to believe that the leadership of this administration and the resulting divisions in our country are not a profound threat to our republic. And it is therefore impossible not to welcome even the most rabid Trump supporters as they begin to question their former commitments.
During World War II, Great Britain and the United States, two democracies, joined the authoritarian Soviet Union to save the world from fascism. There was no pretense that all three would be friends forever. But the leaders of all three nations knew that they had to put their differences aside and work together if there was to be a future for their countries.
As Americans try to find ways to work together, it is helpful that even some of the strongest original Trump supporters now find a market for critical views of the president.