Conservative American commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson announced that he has left the Republican Party and will help form a third political party following a disagreement with President Donald Trump over the Iran war.
According to the New York Times, Carlson said in an interview with the Columbia Journalism Review that he would "make an effort to contribute to building a new party" and stated that the US needs "an honest attempt to figure out what will benefit the country."
The need for a third party
While acknowledging that forming a third party has historically faced major challenges due to the structure of the US electoral system and the dominance of the two major parties, Carlson argued that voters now lack a genuine political alternative.
Arguing that the two parties offer no fundamental difference on issues such as wars and fiscal policies, Carlson said the current situation has turned the country into "a one-party state that looks like a democracy." "This reality must change, and I will do everything I can to make that happen," he said.
Hardline stance on immigration
Regarding the policies the new party could be built on, Carlson stated he favors a complete halt to immigration. His claim that immigration increases unemployment contradicts the assessments of many economists, as the New York Times noted, who see no direct link between the two.
Ties with Trump severed
Carlson stressed that he is not a political figure and does not intend to challenge Trump. "I am not a politician, I am not Trump's rival for power, and I have no authority anyway," Carlson said, adding that despite his long-standing relationship with the president, he has not spoken to him since the Iran war began and is not interested in doing so.
According to the New York Times, the break between the two began when Carlson viewed the US entry into the Iran war as a departure from Trump's key campaign promise to avoid foreign wars. Carlson said he left the Republican Party, which he had supported for over thirty years, for this reason.
Carlson's remarks came at a time when both major parties in US politics are experiencing internal turmoil. According to the New York Times, the Republican Party is facing divisions over Trump's handling of the Iran war, while the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is on the rise amid disagreements over the party's stance on the Israel-Gaza war.
The newspaper interpreted Carlson's emphasis on both calling for a third party and not competing with Trump as an effort to distinguish between opposition to the president's policies and a desire to reshape the conservative movement.
