(Video: Newsmax)
On what proves to be a very rare occasion, Bill O’Reilly was left without words when presented with the possibility of Fox News host Tucker Carlson running for president.
The former Fox News host of “The O’Reilly Factor” appeared on Newsmax TV host Eric Bolling’s show in a flip of the script — Bolling was a frequent guest on O’Reilly’s show — and his one-time colleague was delving into potential 2024 candidates when he brought up the name of the man who replaced O’Reilly when he was ousted from the network in 2017 over claims of sexual misconduct.
“I got another one for you on the Republican side that no one’s really talking about. But I don’t know, why not?” Bolling said. “Ready? Tucker Carlson.”
O’Reilly was dead silent, offering little more than a smirk, prompting Bolling to observe: “Speechless.”
“You want me to reply to that, Bolling, or is this a — ,” O’Reilly interjected.
“Yeah, that’s what we do, it’s called a talk show so we’re hoping I’d say something and you’d talk back. What do you think of that?” Bolling said in a good-natured reply.
“Look, if Mr. Carlson wants to leave his extremely lucrative position at Fox News and run for president, then more power to him,” his guest said. “But there isn’t a chance in hell that, number one, he will do it, and number two, that he could succeed.”
Politico appears to be the source of the Carlson 2024 talk, in an aptly named piece suggesting the Fox News host actually had a chance — for what it’s worth, Carlson rejected any such notion.
O’Reilly did say that he believed former President Donald Trump will run and if he does, he will win the GOP primary. He also commented on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom many see as a top contender who could potentially supplant Trump, suggesting it would be “foolish” for the Republican governor to “primary Trump.”
“He’s going to get reelected in Florida in November,” O’Reilly said of DeSantis. “He’s a relatively young man, four years is not a long period of time in politics.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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