Fox’s Carlson on Potential of Bolton Firing, as President Blasts Bolton

Sept. 11, 2019 (EIRNS)—Fox TV’s Tucker Carlson—who may have been an influence on Trump’s firing John Bolton as National Security Adviser—opened his show last night with ebullient coverage of Trump’s dismissal of Bolton.

President Donald Trump himself, before press at the White House, said Bolton “made some very big mistakes. When he talked about the ‘Libyan model’ for Kim Jong Un, that was not a good statement to make.... That set us back.... John’s known as a tough guy. He’s so tough he got us into Iraq—and that’s tough.”

What follows is a close paraphrase of key Carlson comments.

Carlson called it, “Great news for America! Especially for the young who would have been killed in pointless wars!” Oil prices will go down, Carlson forecast, because investors know that Bolton planned another war. Obama’s former Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power found Bolton’s firing “a troubling sign.” Mitt Romney, Tucker said, was “very, very unhappy” to lose “a brilliant man with decades of experience”—with Carlson recounting wars in Iraq, Libya, Iran, Syria, accompanied by regime change that Bolton championed. Bolton promoted Obama loyalists, acting as a “Fifth Column” in the White House, Carlson stated. Bolton repeatedly called for toppling Iran’s government, but never talked about what would replace it, Carlson reported. War may be a disaster for Americans, but for John Bolton—it’s always good business.

Will John Bolton clone, and be replaced by another John Bolton? Carlson asked, pointing to the State Department’s Brian Hook, U.S. Special Representative for Iran, a neo-con with contempt for Trump and his nationalist foreign policy. Hook thinks Trump is reckless, and doesn’t conduct foreign policy.

Two other names being floated for Bolton’s position are Stephen Biegun, the current U.S. Special Representative for North Korea, and U.S. Army Col. Douglas MacGregor, a frequent guest on Tucker Carlson’s show, South China Morning Post reported today.

Carlson next interviewed Colonel MacGregor, author of Margin of Victory: Five Battles That Changed the Face of Modern War, whom he asked, what needs to be fixed post-Bolton? MacGregor said, go back to first principles. It’s 75 years since World War II ended; we need to recognize that we no longer see the world as bipolar, but multipolar. End the “forever wars” and global police missions.

An article in South China Morning Post published Sept. 10, reports that Carlson had been lobbying President Trump to fire Bolton for months, telling him it was foolish to keep a top adviser on his team opposed to his own national security views, who made his disagreements with the President public, on North Korea, pulling troops out of Syria, or sitting down with Iranian leaders.

In the meantime, Charles Kupperman, Deputy National Security Adviser, and a former Reagan official, will be acting National Security Adviser.