The Political Insider reported last week that Fox News’ Tucker Carlson’s advice to Donald Trump was a major reason the president decided not to launch airstrikes against Iran last week. Carlson lays much of the blame for leading Trump in that dangerous direction to begin with on one person in particular: National Security Adviser John Bolton.
Carlson has made a habit of beating up the “neoconservatives” and “warmongers” who dominate Washington’s foreign policy establishment, and Bolton is no exception.
“Donald Trump was elected President precisely to keep us out of disasters like war with Iran,” Carlson said on his Fox News program Friday. “So how did we get so close to starting one? Simple. The neocons still wield enormous power in Washington. They don’t care what the cost of war with Iran is. They certainly don’t care what the effect on Trump’s political fortunes might be.”
“They despise Donald Trump,” he added.
“Now, one of their key allies is the National Security adviser of the United States. John Bolton is an old friend of Bill Kristol’s,” Carlson continued. “Together they helped plan the Iraq war.”
Carlson explained Bolton’s history.
“When Bolton made it to the White House, the neocons cheered,” he said. “Left-wing ‘New York Times’ columnist Brett Stevens took a break from attacking Donald Trump to celebrate his hiring. Stevens assured MSNBC viewers that John Bolton was a great choice because he would push the President toward war.”
Carlson then played a clip of Stevens saying, “I think someone like Bolton is going to restrain the isolationist impulses that have been really at the heart of Trump’s foreign policy thinking.”
“Got that? John Bolton is going to restrain Donald Trump from avoiding war” Carlson said, disgusted. “And of course, that’s exactly what he has tried to do from the very first day.”
Carlson Eviscerates Bolton
And then Carlson really laid into Bolton (emphasis added), “In other words, last night has been in the works for years. John Bolton is that kind of bureaucratic tapeworm. Try as you might, you can’t expel him. He seems to live forever in the bowels of the Federal agencies, periodically reemerging to cause pain and suffering, but critically, somehow never suffering himself.”
“His life really is Washington in a nutshell, blunder into obvious catastrophes again and again, refuse to admit blame, and then demand more of the same,” Carlson said. “That’s the John Bolton life cycle. In between administration jobs, there are always cushy think tank posts, paid speaking gigs, cable news contracts.”
“War maybe disaster for America, but for John Bolton and his fellow neocons, it is always good business,” Carlson finished.
Carlson is, of course, right. Thankfully, President Trump listened to Tucker Carlson last week and not the supposed “adviser” John Bolton who should be fired immediately.