Failed Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is praising former President Donald Trump for reportedly planning to upstage next week’s GOP presidential debate with a live Tucker Carlson interview in what she called a master-level trolling move.
The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump intends to snub the rest of the 2024 Republican primary field by skipping the election cycle’s first primary debate next Wednesday, which will be hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee. Instead, the former president will reportedly appear at the same time for an interview with Carlson, who was Fox News’ star host until being fired earlier this year.
Lake, an ardent supporter of Trump’s claims of a “stolen” 2020 presidential election who also falsely claims that her 2022 loss to Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs was due to massive fraud, praised the ex-president for trolling Fox News in a Friday post to X, formerly Twitter.
Trump’s interview with Carlson is likely to be streamed on X, where the conservative pundit has hosted his show since shortly after his removal from broadcast television. Carlson is reportedly still under an exclusive contract with Fox and has ignored legal warnings from the network against creating his own content.
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“Troll Level: Master,” Lake posted to X..”Everyone is going to be talking about (and watching) FOX’s two least favorite people: Trump & Tucker”.
Lake likened the debate to “a job interview” in a subsequent post, arguing that Trump “excelled” in his four years as president, and, therefore, “has nothing more to prove.”
Lake was not the only supporter of the former president to react positively to the decision. Former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka referred to his old boss with the hashtag “#GENIUS,” while Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk suggested that Trump further capitalizes by doing his interview with Carlson “on Maui after an afternoon of distributing aid.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Fox News via email on Friday.
A selection of the Republican candidates who are expected to participate in the debate reacted to the news with varying degrees of disapproval.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis did not name Trump specifically but said during an event in Atlanta on Friday that “everyone” who qualifies should take part in the debate because they “owe it to the people.”
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a former Trump ally who has become one of his fiercest critics, called the ex-president a “certified loser” and a “verified coward” for skipping the debate in a post to X.
Surprise, surprise… the guy who is out on bail from four jurisdictions and can’t defend his reprehensible conduct, is running scared and hiding from the debate stage.
Trump – certified loser, verified coward. https://t.co/plGjaBngVP
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) August 18, 2023
Trump, the clear 2024 GOP frontrunner despite facing four felony indictments so far this year, has repeatedly dropped hints that he might not participate in the debate, including last month having floated the idea of staging a rival event with Carlson.
The former president has yet not publicly confirmed that he will be taking part in the Carlson interview instead of the debate, with The New York Times report based on multiple anonymous sources who were reportedly briefed on the matter.
Trump most recently addressed the topic in a post to Truth Social on Thursday night, touting his “extraordinary” poll numbers while rhetorically asking why he would participate in the debate.
“ALL AMERICANS have been clamoring for a President of extremely High Intelligence,” Trump wrote. “People know my Record, one of the BEST EVER, so why would I Debate? I’M YOUR MAN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
