In TV, Trump Trusts

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Fox News host Tucker Carlson has given an interview to "The Jamie Weinstein Show" podcast and states President Trump believes that TV is a more accurate reflection of public opinion than polling.

"I know that he watches a lot of television. I know because I've talked to him about it at length, that he's really interested in television, both the mechanics of it - he knows a lot about ratings and lighting, and producing and guest booking... He believes that television producers, especially of highly rated shows, understand what the public is interested in - what it fears, what it wants, what it loves. And so TV programming in some ways is a more accurate reflection of the public mood than polling... That's his view, he said it to me. And that's one of the reasons he watches a lot of television. Whether that's true or not is an entirely debatable point, but he believes if you want to know where the country is, watch TV."


Carlson also said he turned down two of the most-sought-after interviews in TV, in Syrian strongman Bashar Al-Assad and Russian president Vladimir Putin. Why? "It just wasn't worth the criticism." Carlson might be the only TV news host actively turning down huge gets others would knife each other to get.