A lawyer representing Tucker Carlson has slapped a political action committee (PAC) trying to enlist him to run for president with a cease-and-desist letter, confirming that the television personality has no interest in running for office in the current cycle.
"Mr. Carlson will not run for President in 2024 under any circumstances, and therefore your misrepresentations are damaging to Mr. Carlson and defrauding his supporters," the letter, sent to the Draft Tucker PAC by attorney Harmeet Dhillon, said.
"If you do not immediately cease and desist your efforts to solicit money to 'draft' Mr. Carlson, we will use every legal means at our disposal to vindicate his rights and protect his supporters from these misrepresentations," the lawyer added.
According to the attorney, the political action committee did not receive her client’s permission to use his name, image and likeness, and was engaged in a scam to collect cash and sell donor lists to other groups at some point in the future.
The legal threat pushed Draft Tucker to fold up, with a spokesperson for the PAC confirming that the group has received the letter, and would "honor" the request "to cease all activities on [Carlson’s] behalf."
The PAC ran an online ad last week praising Carlson, suggesting that he would "whip Biden in a debate," saying Republicans "need a new leader," and claiming that "no one in America is more articulate and pins down leftists in both parties better than Tucker."
The PAC was founded and operated by Chris Ekstrom, a Republican donor and former Texas Congressman. Ekstrom said that the group had raised only $212 online, and that he himself had sunk $35,000 into the campaign. The donor plans to refund the money or donate it to a charity of Mr. Carlson’s choice, and insisted that he “NEVER profited” from his political activities. He went on to attack Harmeet Dhillon as a "failed politician," and "ridiculous Wanna Be," expressing "regret" for assisting her campaign for chairperson of the Republican National Commission against Ronna McDaniel in January.
Dhillon expressed satisfaction over the PAC's disbanding "without the need for litigation," and said her client "looks forward to sharing his new projects with the public in the near future."
Carlson's firing from Fox led to rampant speculation about a possible run for the Republican nomination, which one leading conservative opinion maker saying such a possibility would be the "worst-case scenario" for both frontrunner Donald Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Carlson's relationship with Trump has been a source of heavy speculation, with private communications leaked in March suggesting “hated” the former president “passionately.” Other reports dispelled these reports, claiming the two communicate on a regular basis and that they are actually now “closer than ever.”
Trump blasted Fox News over Carlson’s ouster last week, saying the network was "way down in the ratings" after the host's dismissal, and that it had turned into the "DeSanctimonious Network" – his pet name for Governor DeSantis.
Carlson interviewed Trump in mid-April, just before his ouster, potentially adding to the list of reasons for Fox boss Rupert Murdoch to can him. (Others reportedly include his decision to give a platform to Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Carlson's views on the NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine, which clash with those of official Washington, his criticism of politicians from both parties, and the invitation of progressive, non-mainstream voices on his show on a regular basis).
Carlson was unique in the US corporate media landscape in his readiness to stand up to what he dubbed the "War Machine," criticizing US military interventions and regime change operations abroad, and even reportedly helping to stop a war between the US and Iran in early 2020 by convincing Trump not to retaliate to Iranian strikes on US bases in Iraq following the drone strike murder of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.
Carlson's planned move to Twitter will force him to give up a $25 million+ no-compete agreement with Fox News.