Tucker Carlson levies corruption allegations against Trump

Tucker Carlson has had a rather interesting turn in his career since departing Fox News.

He went from hosting the number one show in cable news, to a Trump supporter, to being accused of being a traitor, to now saying the Trump family is corrupt.

The Deals

On one hand, you have a family that has been doing business for generations, and even though their father is the president, you would expect that to continue.

On the other hand, you have deals being made in countries for the first time, and conveniently, right around the same time the president is negotiating and getting a $400 billion “gift” from one of these countries.

Needless to say, the media is pouncing, with the New York Times reporting, “A luxury hotel in Dubai. A second high-end residential tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Two cryptocurrency ventures based in the United States. A new golf course and villa complex in Qatar. And a new private club in Washington.

“In many cases, these new deals promoted over the last week will personally benefit not only Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., but also President Trump himself.”

Have a Free Plane

I have been adamantly against Donald Trump accepting this plane from Qatar because it does not make financial sense for taxpayers.

Yes, we are not paying the $400 million or so for the plane, but we will be getting hit with the bill to fit the plane for Air Force One. Then, after we spend what will likely be a multi-billion-dollar tab on that plane, once Boeing delivers the new Air Force One planes that cost us about $3.5 billion, the Qatar plane will be decommissioned and sent to Trump’s library.

Trump put all the criticism aside, with the Department of Defense announcing this week that the plane will be accepted. DoD spokesperson Sean Parnell stated, “The secretary of defense has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.

“The Department of Defense will work to ensure proper security measures and functional-mission requirements are considered for an aircraft used to transport the president of the United States.”

Corrupt?

None of this is a good look, and I am being very kind in saying that. Corruption is a strong word, but I can see where people go right to using it here, as the optics on all of this are horrible.

Tucker Carlson, once a MAGA favorite, did not hold back. Carlson was interviewing former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan, who stated, “F‑‑‑ it, I’m going to get blasted for this, but, you know, I mean, I see all these negotiations going on in the Middle East and then — I don’t know when these buildings were approved or when these deals got done — but then I also see, like, oh, there’s a brand new hotel going up in Dubai or Abu Dhabi, and another one going up in Doha, I think.”

Ryan questioned when all of these deals were getting done, then added that this “worries” him, to which Carlson responded, “Well, it seems like corruption, yeah.”

I am sure Carlson will get blasted for this by the MAGA faithful, but any reasonable person has to start asking questions here, especially when you consider the timing. After all the allegations against Hunter Biden, it seems like the Trump family is just thumbing its nose at everyone. Again, maybe these deals were in the works for years and just happened to come to fruition at the same time Trump was traveling to the Middle East and accepting a $400 million plane, but even if they were, can we at least agree the optics on this are horrific?