Tucker Carlson says he’s going to help build a third party after a public, bitter rupture with the Republican Party, arguing the country’s financial and political system is degrading Americans and that the current parties are locked together. He rejected the i
Tucker Carlson said he knows what he’s not going to do—run for president. Then he described, in stark terms, what he wants to help build.
In a story published Wednesday by Columbia Journalism Review, the onetime MAGA loyalist and staunch Trump supporter said, “I’m going to help build a third party.” Carlson framed it as a “good-faith effort to figure out what benefits the country,” not a personal brand takeover.
The break with his former political home is not subtle. Carlson has accused the United States of a slow decline in economic security and what comes after it. In his view. “if you make sixty thousand dollars a year. you’re degraded.” He added that “your life expectancy has gone down. and the promise of your children’s lives is likely gone.” For him. the urgency isn’t abstract. “No one seems to care. It’s not even a factor,” he said, arguing “The U.S. government should have, as its first priority, the welfare of its own people.”.
Carlson also undercut the idea that the two existing parties can be relied on to change course. Earlier in the interview, he argued that the current political parties are in “lockstep solidarity with each other.”
When asked if he would be a presidential candidate for the fledgling party, Carlson shut the notion down. “I don’t want to be a candidate,” he said. He described how he’d already been pulled toward that question before the interview. recalling that “before I did the Times interview. someone said to me. ‘They’re going to ask you if you’re running for president.’”.
He even said he’d been tempted to answer with a jab—“I was very tempted to say ‘I am running—on the pro-patriarchy ticket.’ Just to make sure I gain no new fans.”
The emphasis on a third party is tied to his deeper claim that the current system isn’t really competitive. In the interview, Carlson said, “That’s not a democracy. That’s a one-party state posing as a democracy. and it needs to be broken. and there’s going to be a third party. and I’m going to do everything I can to bring that about.” He added that he’s learned something from his last stretch of political conflict: “That’s the lesson of the last two and a half months. to me.”.
For Carlson, the break isn’t only with establishment Republicans. He also directed a direct warning at Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—linking his critique of party politics to the risk of another foreign-policy quagmire.
“If you vote for Trump and you still wind up in a regime-change war — if Chuck Schumer is strongly behind Trump’s foreign policy. which he is — then we need options. or else let’s just give up and be ruled by the most unscrupulous people. ” Carlson said. “And I’m just too young to accept that. We need a third party.”.
The remarks land on top of a rapid public deterioration of Carlson’s relationship with Trump and the Republican Party. In late last month. Carlson said. “I would not support the Republican Party. there’s no chance. ” during an appearance on the “Can’t Be Censored” podcast. He also said he would not support the Democratic Party, adding, “[I’m] not going to support the Democratic Party. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”.
The fallout has been fueled by Carlson’s feud with Trump over Israel-related policy and the administration’s actions in the U.S.-Israel joint military conflict with Iran. Carlson criticized Trump’s involvement, and Trump has responded.
Trump has fired back at Carlson’s criticisms by calling him a “low IQ person” and attacking him with offensive memes on Truth Social.
Put the pieces together—the talk of party “lockstep solidarity,” the insistence that the U.S. government should prioritize the welfare of its own people. and the sharp warnings about foreign-policy wars—and Carlson’s new political ambition looks less like a pivot in messaging than a rejection of the choices he says Washington keeps forcing on voters. He wants another door to exist. even if he doesn’t intend to be the one walking through it as president.
Meanwhile. his decision to rule out a candidacy makes the center of gravity shift: Carlson is positioning himself as an organizer of alternatives rather than a nominee seeking power. Whether that translates into anything durable in the U.S. political system—where third parties rarely break through the two-party structure—will depend on whether Americans see his third-party argument as a vehicle for change or just another rupture in an already fractured political landscape.
Tucker Carlson third party Republican Party breakup Donald Trump Chuck Schumer foreign policy regime-change war Israel Iran
Third party again? Seems like everyone says that until it’s election time.
I don’t even know what to think. He says he won’t run for president but also wants a third party like… what else would happen? And the whole “degraded” thing sounds dramatic but also kinda like reality now.
So he’s mad the Republicans and Democrats are “locked together” but he’s STILL basically building another lane for the same donors? Also he said life expectancy is down because people make $60k? Like is that a real stat or just vibes. I’m confused.
The line about “no one seems to care” is the part that gets me. Like yeah, sure, but third parties don’t magically fix money in politics. Next thing you know it’s gonna be him telling everyone to support his side anyway. And the part where he says he’s not going to be a candidate… okay but they always say that at first.