BS BRIEF:
- Stephen A. Smith directly questioned Tucker Carlson about his changing positions on Donald Trump during a lengthy interview on Straight Shooter.
- Carlson acknowledged he has made “many, many pivots” over the years and admitted, “I was wrong because I’m wrong a lot.”
- The exchange highlights continuing debate among conservative commentators over Trump’s presidency and the future direction of the Republican coalition.
STEPHEN A. SMITH PUTS TUCKER CARLSON ON THE SPOT OVER HIS CHANGING VIEWS OF TRUMP
Stephen A. Smith challenged Tucker Carlson Wednesday over what he described as Carlson’s evolving positions on President Donald Trump, asking why viewers should view his latest criticism as principled rather than simply another reversal.
The exchange came during Smith’s Straight Shooter program and focused on Carlson’s well-documented history with Trump. Smith referenced private text messages made public in 2023 in which Carlson said he “passionately” hated Trump, noting that Carlson later backed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign before once again becoming a vocal critic.
“You later supported him in 2024,” Smith said. “So here’s the question: Why should listeners see this latest break as principle rather than another pivot on your side, on your part? How do you answer that?”
Carlson responded without disputing the premise.
“Well, I’ve had many, many pivots,” Carlson said. “I was wrong because I’m wrong a lot… I certainly am wrong sometimes and wrong on big things. I was wrong on Trump and I was wrong on the Iraq war and I’m sure a million other things.”
He added that audiences are free to judge his sincerity.
“People can judge whether I’m sincere or not. I don’t really know what I’m getting out of this… If I can’t convince people, I can’t.”
Carlson explained that he came to support Trump because he viewed him as an outsider challenging both Republican and Democratic establishments.
“I decided that Trump was the option to the Republican leadership and the Democratic leadership,” Carlson said. “He wasn’t a Republican. He was a challenge to the Republicans.”
Carlson also said the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, reinforced his belief that Trump’s political movement represented a genuine challenge to Washington’s political establishment.
At the same time, Carlson argued that Trump’s approach changed after the Butler shooting.
“Somewhere along the line, after that Butler shooting… he changed like 180 degrees and started doing things that he ran against doing.”
Carlson concluded by saying he believes “something changed” but acknowledged he could not explain exactly what had happened.
