Carlson says ‘of course’ he doesn’t want to run for president

Pundit Tucker Carlson on Tuesday ruled out any plans to launch a bid for the presidency in 2028, days after saying he no longer supports the Republican Party.

“Of course, I’m not planning to run for president,” he told former “InfoWars” host Alex Jones during an interview streamed on the social platform X. “I mean, of course, I’ve, you know, I’ve never said or done anything that would suggest I have an interest in political office because I don’t. I never have had an interest in political office ever. It’s just not kind of what I do for a living.”

Carlson said he “really doesn’t like politicians” and added that he likes President Trump, calling him very funny. Jones then asked if Carlson likes Vice President Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who are both perceived as potential candidates to succeed Trump in 2028.

“Obviously, [Vance] is great compared to Rubio,” he said. “Look, I’ll support the best person. I have always liked JD Vance enormously. I think he’s really smart.”

Carlson added that Vance is in a “really tough situation,” referring to the vice president leading negotiations with Iranian officials to secure a final deal to end the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran and determine the future of the Islamic regime’s nuclear program.

He later added that he wanted to be “involved in offering an option of some kind” in a future presidential election.

“I don’t know what that would look like, but it’s not a democracy when no matter who you vote for, you get the same result,” Carlson added.

He laughed at the notion Jones raised that Carlson would defeat either Rubio or California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in a race to the presidency. Carlson dismissed them as potential contenders, saying that the country faces a “core problem” if an election boiled down to those two or any other conventional “elite” candidates.

“The core problem… It’s that the system that we have in place to produce elites produces, instead, mediocre conformists, wholly lacking creativity, terrified, weird, easy to control, stagnant,” he said, adding that it does not produce “impressive people.”

Carlson, a former supporter of the president, broke with Trump after the U.S. military campaign against Iran and its proxies began earlier this year. He accused the Trump administration of being influenced by Israel to begin the war and has repeatedly blasted the president over the conflict.

Last week, Carlson told the “Can’t Be Censored” podcast that he’s done with the GOP, accusing the party of being “not loyal to the United States.”

“It’s not possible to vote for people like that and I’m not going to,” he said. “I voted Republican my entire life, I worked at Fox News … I’ve been a consistent defender for 35 years of the Republican Party, but there’s no defending this because it’s immoral.”

Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton on Wednesday said Carlson made his break with the GOP to avoid political hardship.

“I think that he sees them going over the cliff, and he’s not going over with him,” he told MS NOW’s Ari Melber on “The Beat,” referring to Trump and the Republican Party.

Carlson says ‘of course’ he doesn’t want to run for president

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