By Katabella Roberts
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson believes the indictment against former President Donald Trump is not just political but “ideological” and based on comments he made regarding the U.S.-led coalition invasion of Iraq.
Carlson made the remarks in the third episode of his Twitter show published on June 13, the same day that Trump pleaded not guilty in a Miami court to charges in the federal government’s classified document case.
Carlson described Trump’s appearance in court as the “first step of a process” designed to put the former president in prison for the “rest of his life” and said the Republican—who is currently leading in 2024 election polls—had made himself “the blood enemy of the largest and most powerful organization in human history, which would be the federal government” in 2016.
The former Fox host then shared a clip of Trump during a February 2016 Republican candidates debate in Greenville, South Carolina.
During the clip, Trump can be seen telling the audience: “We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East. They lied, they said there were weapons of mass destruction. There was none. And they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction.”
The United States-led invasion of Iraq, which was closely supported by the United Kingdom, began on March 20, 2003, after former President George Bush’s claim that former Iraq President Saddam Hussein and his regime were harboring weapons of mass destruction.
Trump ‘Sealed His Fate’ With War Comments
Hussein refused to step down as president and went into hiding before being captured by U.S. soldiers in early December 2003. He was then handed over to the new Iraqi government, which tried him for crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death by hanging in December 2006.
However, the war in Iraq continued to rage until 2011, and resulted in more than 4,700 U.S. and allied troop deaths, and the deaths of more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, although the Department of Defense puts the number of American soldiers killed at 4,475.
Weapons of mass destruction were never found.
“By saying that, he sealed his fate,” Carlson said of Trump. “That was the one thing you were not allowed to say because it implicated too many people on both sides.”
“After that, it was pretty clear that even if he did get elected president, Trump was going to have a very hard time controlling the federal government he was supposed to be in charge of. Most of Washington decided that thwarting Trump was the single most important mission in their lives… Many of them said so publicly,” Carlson said.
Trump Indictment ‘Ideological’
Carlson went on to state that the prosecution of Trump is “transparently political.”
“He’s literally [President] Joe Biden’s main political opponent. He’s polling over 60 percent among Republican voters right now. So Joe Biden is doing what no president has ever dared to do. He’s using law enforcement to lock up his chief rival. That’s happening right now. Anyone who denies it’s happening is lying to you. But actually, it’s worse than that. Trump’s prosecution isn’t just political. It’s ideological,” Carlson said.
“Nobody with Trump’s views is allowed to have power in this country. Criticize our wars, and you’re disqualified. If you keep it up, we’ll send you to prison. That’s the message Washington is sending, not just the Democratic Party is sending, but both parties are sending,” he added.
Trump pleaded not guilty on Monday to 37 felony charges related to his alleged improper possession of classified records at Mar-a-Lago.
He has maintained that he is the victim of political persecution and said his indictment is tantamount to “election interference.” Despite the ongoing litigation and the outcome of the trial, Trump has vowed to remain in the 2024 presidential race.
Carlson concluded that the Biden administration is “trying to take Trump out before you can vote for him.”
“And that should upset you more than anything that’s happened in American politics in your lifetime,” he said, adding that the destruction of American democracy “should keep you up at night.”
