Every society eventually faces the question of how it handles its most polarizing figures, and in this case a former television host now broadcasting on his own platform has told an audience that the country is hurtling toward the killing of a former president. The claim arrives in the familiar grammar of political fear, tied to the accumulating legal battles surrounding Donald Trump, yet its speaker offers no evidence of a plot and its framing remains deliberately vague. Forbes has judged the assertion unsubstantiated, but the deeper story is how such a warning travels, passing from one inter
Tucker Carlson's Trump Assassination Warnings: Where the Claim Began and Who Is Amplifying It
"We're speeding toward" an assassination, Carlson said, without citing evidence
Mark
Where did this assassination idea actually start?
Mimi
In August, in Carlson's interview with Trump on X. He asked whether Trump worried about attempts on his life, and Trump didn't really answer. He used it to go after his critics.
Luke
Worth noting that's a question, not evidence. Nothing in the reporting points to an actual plot.
Mark
So what is the claim based on?
Mimi
Trump's legal troubles: two impeachments and four indictments. Carlson suggests an assassination is the next step from his opponents, but he stays vague.
Luke
Right, and vague is the key word. The reporting describes an inference, not a documented threat.
Mark
Who's repeating it?
Mimi
Infowars said Carlson raised the alarm. Dan Bongino praised him as credible on a podcast. Alex Jones had made a similar claim earlier about Trump's airplane.
Luke
Amplification isn't confirmation. Those are the same circle echoing each other.
Mark
And the Russian angle?
Mimi
Solovyov called Carlson a "dead man walking." The Daily Beast speculated he's normalizing assassinations for Russian viewers.
Luke
That's the Daily Beast's reading of motive, not established. Likewise, Prigozhin's death is only speculated to be an assassination.
O Pulso
- A former Fox host declares on podcasts that the country is "speeding toward" the assassination of Donald Trump, and the warning ricochets across right-wing media.
- Trump's mounting indictments and impeachments create a charged atmosphere in which an unproven fear feels like it might be true.
- Infowars, Alex Jones and Dan Bongino amplify the alarm, and the claim gains momentum without a single shred of supporting evidence.
- Forbes labels the assassination claim unfounded, and the story now hinges on whether it fades or keeps spreading through campaign season.
- A parallel echo in Russian state-aligned commentary casts Carlson as a martyred truth-teller, widening the reach of the narrative beyond American borders.
Every society eventually faces the question of how it handles its most polarizing figures, and in this case a former television host now broadcasting on his own platform has told an audience that the country is hurtling toward the killing of a former president. The claim arrives in the familiar grammar of political fear, tied to the accumulating legal battles surrounding Donald Trump, yet its speaker offers no evidence of a plot and its framing remains deliberately vague. Forbes has judged the assertion unsubstantiated, but the deeper story is how such a warning travels, passing from one interview to another and from one partisan voice to the next until a rumor of danger takes on the weight of a prophecy.
On a podcast this week, Tucker Carlson told listeners that the country is "speeding toward" the assassination of Donald Trump. He added that both the Democratic and Republican parties feel so threatened by the former president that "they just can't have him." Forbes describes the claim as unfounded, and it is not the first time Carlson has made it.
The idea first surfaced in August, when Carlson sat down with Trump, the Republican frontrunner, and asked whether he worried about attempts on his life. Trump did not answer directly. He turned the question into an attack on his critics and opponents. Carlson, now publishing his interviews on X after his firing from Fox News in April, has tied the warning to Trump's legal troubles, arguing that assassination is the next step for those opposing him after two impeachments and four indictments. He offers no evidence of any plot.
Others on the right quickly took up the alarm. Infowars and its founder Alex Jones declared that Carlson had "raised the alarm," and Dan Bongino praised him as a credible source while repeating the claim on his own show. The story also crossed borders, as a Russian commentator cast Carlson as a truth-teller under threat himself, a framing that drew scrutiny from observers who noted the State Department's view of the commentator.
Carlson's record with conspiracy theories, which Forbes says includes claims about Covid-19, the 2020 election, January 6 and the Russia-Ukraine war, shadows the new warning. For now, Forbes treats the assassination claim as unsubstantiated. The question ahead is whether it spreads further as Trump's legal cases and campaign events unfold.
In an interview with podcaster Adam Carolla this week, Tucker Carlson said the country is "speeding toward" the assassination of Donald Trump. He went on to say that both the Democratic and Republican parties are so threatened by the former president that "they just can't have him." Forbes describes the assassination claim as unfounded, and it is one Carlson has now made more than once.
The theory first surfaced in August, when Carlson interviewed Trump. Carlson, a former Fox News host, now publishes his interviews on X, formerly known as Twitter. He asked the Republican presidential frontrunner whether he worried about attempts on his life. Trump did not answer directly. He used the question as an opening to attack his critics and political opponents.
The theory is tied to the mounting legal pressure on Trump. Carlson's framing, which is vague about specifics, holds that an assassination is the next step for Trump's opponents after two impeachments and four indictments. The source offers no evidence of any plot.
Other voices on the right have picked it up. On Thursday, Infowars, owned by far-right commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, said Carlson had "raised the alarm" that Trump is in danger of being assassinated. Jones had pushed a similar idea earlier this year, saying, "I think they'll blow his airplane up." The same day, former Fox News host Dan Bongino discussed it on his podcast. He praised Carlson as a credible source and said the Democratic party wants Trump dead and cannot have him in the White House.
The story also has a strand abroad. Vladimir Solovyov, whom the State Department has called "the most energetic Kremlin propagandist around today," cast Carlson as a truth-teller who is himself under threat of assassination, a "dead man walking." That followed Carlson's claim that the U.S. was preparing for war with Russia within the next year. Solovyov said Carlson's alleged attempts to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin were offenses that could cost him his life while traveling, or by eating something "that he shouldn't." The Daily Beast suggested Solovyov may be trying to persuade Russian viewers that political assassinations, more commonplace in Russia and speculated to be behind the death of Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, are actually "quite common all over the globe."
Carlson has a record with conspiracy theories. Fox News fired him in April, and since then he has moved to X. Forbes says he has pushed false narratives about Covid-19, the 2020 election, the January 6 Capitol attack and the Russia-Ukraine war. Mother Jones reported last year that Russia's Department of Information and Telecommunications Support advised state-run media outlets to use as many fragments of Carlson's broadcasts as possible.
Forbes treats the assassination claim as unsubstantiated. What to watch is whether it spreads further as Trump's legal cases and campaign events continue.
Citações Notáveis
We're speeding toward Trump's assassination.— Tucker Carlson, to podcaster Adam Carolla
The Democratic party wants Trump dead and cannot have him in the White House.— Dan Bongino, paraphrased from his podcast
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Politics & Governance