Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s lack of intent toward a presidential bid didn’t stop one group from trying to manifest a run, an effort that earned them threats of legal troubles.

Since being taken off the air in April, speculation has remained about the definitive reason the plug was pulled on the ratings leader. While some looked to Carlson’s coverage of Big Pharma, Jan. 6, and the rising zealotry of transgenderism standing in opposition to Christianity as the deciding factor in his program’s end, others hoped for a future in politics.

As reported, the Draft Tucker PAC (political action committee) had filed Federal Election Commission paperwork after the Fox News show abruptly ended and, last week, an ad debuted on Newsmax encouraging viewers to “Sign the petition. Draft Tucker Carlson for president.”

The unaffiliated electioneering prompted a swift rebuke from Carlson’s attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who issued a cease and desist letter to the PAC obtained by The Hill.

“It has come to Mr. Carlson’s attention that you are soliciting contributions and donor contact information from the public by representing that the funds will be used to draft [him] to run for President in 2024,” Dhillon wrote in the letter to PAC executive director Charlie Kolean and treasurer Elizabeth Curtis. “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.”

“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,” she continued.

The ad said, “Republicans need a new leader and Tucker Carlson is ready to lead. No one in America is more articulate and pins down leftists in both parties better than Tucker.”

“Tucker always fought for us, like Rush Limbaugh did,” the ad continued. “Tucker Carlson is witty, sharp, and mocks woke nonsense. Tucker will whip Biden in a debate. Sign the petition. Draft Tucker Carlson for president.”

Pro-Tucker Carlson pack launches adhttps://t.co/YUp2NLZVFt

— American Wire News (@americanwire_) May 22, 2023

“Mr. Carlson is not now, and will not under any circumstances be, a candidate for President in the 2024 election,” Dhillon’s letter stated and noted he “unequivocally disavows your activities. Therefore, your efforts to raise money for a ‘draft’ committee are a waste of your time and the money of every donor to your committee, as you are on notice that these funds will not, in fact, be used for the purpose stated. Nor will the data you are collecting under false pretenses be used for the stated purpose.”

The attorney went on, “Mr. Carlson does not want his supporters to be fooled into sending their hard-earned money and contact information to a project run in his name that he does not support and that has no chance of succeeding in its stated aims, and thus will necessarily be using the funds and donor data for other, undisclosed purposes.”

“If you do not voluntarily stop your ‘Draft Tucker’ effort, we will use every legal option to prevent the misappropriation of Mr. Carlson’s name, likeness, and image, and to protect his supporters from fraud,” she concluded.

The letter garnered a response from Kolean who said, “Tucker’s attorney has contacted us to let us know that Tucker is not a candidate for president nor has any intentions of running and asked us to cease all activities on his behalf. We are going to honor that request.”

PAC chairman and former congressional candidate Chris Ekstrom also provided a statement via text message to The Hill informing the outlet that only $212 had been raised online in addition to the $35,000 he himself had supplied. The donor money would either be refunded or given to a charity of Carlson’s choosing.

He also took aim at Dhillon and said, “I’d like to add that I am TOTALLY OPPOSED TO SCAMPAC’s & have NEVER profited (unlike Harmeet) from my political activities.”

“Indeed, I have spent a great deal of money exposing the narcissistic perfidy rampant in Republican politics. Especially at the so-called ‘top’; which, in reality is [an] abysmal SEWER of losers, weaklings & liars,” Ekstrom continued.

While Dhillon went on to release a statement pleased to learn that the PAC had ceased activities and teased, “Mr. Carlson looks forward to sharing his new projects with the public in the near future,” she also took a parting shot at the PAC’s suspension with a screengrab of their shutdown Twitter page with the caption “[Sad trombone sound].”

[Sad trombone sound]. pic.twitter.com/5Ywi6cAX3V

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) May 23, 2023

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Kevin Haggerty

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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