GOP Q&A. By Roger Kimball.
Who won the Republican blow-out interview lalapalooza with Tucker Carlson in Iowa Friday night? Besides Tucker himself — who was on the Q side of this extended Q & A — the participants were South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Let me say straight off that the biggest beneficiary was probably Tucker himself. He is a master interviewer, outgoing and friendly in manner, informed about the issues, unrelenting in his questioning. Some of his hosts at the Family Leadership Summit, which with Blaze Media sponsored the event, were so impressed with his performance that they suggested to the audience that Tucker himself should run for president. It’s an idea that has been in circulation for a while and it got a notable “trending” uptick as the evening unfolded. Tucker himself has dismissed the idea in no uncertain terms, but it is worth noting how widespread his support is among the politically mature. …
Goodbye Mike Pence:
It’s probably easier to start with the loser, chief among whom was Mike Pence, who might just as well have used the occasion to perform an act of self-immolation. …
“You are distressed,” said Tucker, “that the Ukrainians don’t have enough American tanks. Every city in the United States has become much worse in the last three years. . . .and yet your concern is that the Ukrainians . . . don’t have enough tanks? Where’s the concern in the United States in that?”
“Well, that’s not my concern. Tucker, I’ve heard that routine from you before, but that’s not my concern.” …
The internet lit up over that one, with some people saying that Pence had just committed suicide and others wondering what he was saying. To what did “that’s not my concern” apply? …
[The] suffocating sense that the former Vice President is a priggish, platitude-emitting machine will be hard to overcome. …
The others:
What else happened? Well, Tim Scott strutted on stage with a grinning hallelujah wave but said . . . not much.
Nikki Haley … agreed that Joe Biden 1) had actually got 81 million votes (he didn’t) and 2) even though there were “irregularities” in the 2020 election, Biden was legitimately elected. In other words, she is part of the problem.
One of the best responses was from Vivek Ramaswamy, the young ferociously articulate candidate who, I think, will not be president this time, but who truly gets it. Asked about the origin of January 6, 2021, the little contretemps at the Capitol in 2021, he said, “Well it was probably because of censorship.”
Tell people they cannot speak, he said, and they will scream. Tell them they cannot scream, and they will start taking things apart.
There you have it. I love Vivek. Maybe he will be president someday. Not this time, I think, but maybe soon (how about a Trump Vivek ticket? I am just saying). …
A lot of people lamented the fact that Donald Trump was not present. … But the amazing thing is that Trump was not absent from this Q & A. No, he decided to come via ventriloquist, namely, R. DeSantis, Governor of Florida, who walking back several of his recent expostulations, decided to do a Trump impersonation.
The border. America First. China. Energy. DeSantis hit all the Trumpian signposts, and why not? Trump is the most successful president in living memory. Why not trot out his talking points?
Tucker’s talk after the interviews, highly recommended:
