Tucker Carlson Defends Trump Amid Possible Indictment Over Hush Money Payments
On Tuesday’s episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the Fox News star came to Donald Trump’s defense regarding a possible indictment over hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Carlson defended the payments, stating that they are ordinary and common in both famous people and corporate America. He argued that non-disclosure agreements are also not a big deal, and that there was no wrongdoing in this case.
It comes as no surprise that Carlson sees such behavior as commonplace. Fox News has a history of paying out settlements to make misconduct allegations against the network go away. Carlson’s own prime-time slot became available in 2017 after former host Bill O’Reilly reached settlements totaling around $13 million with five women who accused him of sexual harassment.
In a recent post on his social media site, Trump signaled that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into the $130,000 payment to Daniels in the final days before the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claims to have had an affair with Trump a decade earlier, and was allegedly on the verge of going public about it.
Trump’s former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, who made the payment, served time in prison for campaign finance violations over the incident. Trump has admitted to reimbursing Cohen for the payments. Trump’s legal team has attempted to argue that the payments didn’t qualify as campaign expenditures that needed to be reported because Trump would have paid it regardless of the campaign. Even if that argument were to hold up, there are other legal issues at play involving potential falsification of business records when Trump reimbursed Cohen for the payments.
Carlson’s defense of Trump’s actions regarding the hush money payments has raised some eyebrows on social media, with many questioning the morality and legality of such behavior. As the investigation continues, it remains to be seen what the future holds for both Trump and Carlson in relation to this case.
