Timothy L. O'Brien, Columnist

Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson: A Love Story

The former president and ex-Fox News host indulge a bromance made in conspiracy heaven.

August 24, 2023 at 9:00 AM UTC

Timothy L. O'Brien is senior executive editor of Bloomberg Opinion. A former editor and reporter for the New York Times, he is author of “TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald.”

Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson tried to distract from the Republican Party debate.
Photographer: Chris Delmas/AFP/Getty Images

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Soon after former President Donald Trump and former Fox News propagandist Tucker Carlson mutually bemoaned the demise of television and their distaste for Fox during a Wednesday evening roadshow, they knuckled down to discuss the most salient policy issue of the day: whether or not the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein had been murdered in jail.

“Look, I’m not a conspiracy person at all,” Carlson allowed while floating conspiracies about Epstein’s death. And so went the rest of the event, prerecorded and streamed on social media.