Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson are throwing down the gauntlet with Fox News, as the former president has announced that a pre-recorded interview with the ex-Fox News host will air at 9 pm, the same time as the Republican presidential debate is set to air on the network.
The sit-down interview will reportedly air on X, previously known as Twitter, where Carlson has been posting video segments ever since his firing.
Trump announced the direct confrontation on his own social media platform, Truth Social.
“My interview with Tucker Carlson will be aired tonight,” he wrote. “Sparks will fly.”
The leading GOP candidate threatened to be “very busy” during the Fox News debate this evening in a previous post.
Donald Trump says his interview with Tucker Carlson will drop at 9pm tonight, the same time as the start of the GOP Debate pic.twitter.com/GoCaDoVO8K
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) August 23, 2023
RELATED: Tucker Carlson Is Starting His Own Media Company
Carlson And Trump Directly Challenge Fox News Debate
Trump will not be on the Fox News debate stage this evening, long-contending that he is so far ahead in the primary polls that he finds it unnecessary to swat away the other candidates.
Previous reports indicated that Carlson was interested in hosting an alternate GOP presidential primary debate and had been discussing the matter with Trump.
The sit-down interview, for now, will have to suffice. Carlson did hold a candidate forum recently in which he made a mockery of “Ukraine first” Republicans, but Trump did not attend the forum.
Tucker and Trump are already trying to hatch a plan to hold an alternate candidate forum for Republicans for 2024… scoop with @isaacstanbecker and @jeremymbarr https://t.co/kicfpYvb0K
— Sarah Ellison (@sarahellison) May 4, 2023
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While it is tempting to play the ratings game, it is important to note that the platforms for the debate and Trump’s interview are so different – X and network television – that it’s possible to watch them alongside each other.
Would viewers tune in to X knowing that they can watch the interview at any point once it’s posted, or put Fox News on live? Or would they watch the X interview on their phone in between commercials? Anything is possible, and the metrics might not tell the whole story.
It’d be difficult to ascertain how successful Trump and Tucker might be at siphoning off viewers from the debate.
That said, this is Carlson directly challenging Fox News and making a pitch for viewers from his former network to watch his interview with the more important candidate instead.
Carlson has insisted repeatedly since his firing that he would not be silenced, even as Fox has tried to do so by sending him a “cease and desist” letter back in June.
Fox News is threatening to sue Tucker Carlson if he doesn’t stop tweeting.
Fox sends Tucker Carlson cease-and-desist letter https://t.co/ufowFU5pjf
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) June 12, 2023
Trump Says He’ll Be ‘Proudly Arrested’ On Thursday
Former President Trump, aside from a busy effort on Wednesday attempting to sabotage the Fox News debate, will also have an active day on Thursday.
A grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia indicted Trump on 13 counts following an investigation into alleged efforts to “overturn” the 2020 presidential election.
He announced on Truth Social that he will “proudly be arrested” when he turns himself in tomorrow.
“Nobody has ever fought for election integrity like President Donald J. Trump,” he said. “For doing so, I will proudly be arrested tomorrow afternoon in Georgia. God bless the United States of America!”
🚨 Trump says he will “proudly” be arrested in Georgia tomorrow pic.twitter.com/8f09nIPRuT
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 23, 2023
Trump has claimed the indictment is at the behest of the Joe Biden administration and is a clear example of “election interference.”
Officials have said that when Trump surrenders, he will very likely be fingerprinted and have his mugshot taken like a common criminal, as opposed to the former and potentially future President of the United States that he is.
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