MS NOW’s Al Sharpton argued Tucker Carlson saved himself from the “cliff” President Donald Trump is going over, but also pushed back against allegations Carlson is a “hypocrite” or “liar.”

Sharpton and Molly Jong-Fast joined Ari Melber on MS NOW’s The Beat on Tuesday and reacted to Carlson declaring this week that he is done with Republicans and he won’t be supporting any in the future. While once a vocal Trump supporter, Carlson has grown critical of the president on a number of issues, including the Iran war.

Sharpton called Carlson a “very strange guy” who says “bizarre things,” but he doesn’t believe the former Fox News host is a “hypocrite.” He also noted his time spent with Carlson when Carlson covered a Sharpton delegation in Africa and argued Carlson could be a major problem for Republicans if he jumps into politics because he knows how to “sell.”

He said:

Tucker Carlson is very influential in far right circles. There are even those that have suggested that he may be thinking of running for president himself. And if he does, that would, in my opinion, be very beneficial to the Democrat, whoever that may be, to have a Republican nominee and Tucker, who you could not underestimate, [he] would get a lot of the far right guys and ladies that agree with that. You know, I know Tucker. He’s a very strange guy. 20 years ago I went and had led a delegation to Africa, and he covered it for Esquire. So I spent some time with him and time after. And he really believes a lot of what he’s saying. I think a lot of what he’s saying is bizarre, but I do not think he’s a hypocrite or a liar. He believes that stuff, which means he can sell it.

Melber then asked Sharpton if he believed Carlson was being calculated and noting Trump’s falling poll numbers and support.

“Do you think he’d be saying this if he thought the Republicans were going to remain popular?” he asked.

“No, I do not think he would say it if he felt that he would remain popular, if he felt that they were in a position to do some of the things, he believed, he wouldn’t be saying it, or if he had faith that this president and his successor was going to do things and win, I think he would save his bet. I think that he sees them going over the cliff and he’s not going over with him,” Sharpton said.

Carlson said during an interview this month on the Can’t Be Censored podcast that he has reached his breaking point with Republicans.

“I would not support the Republican Party. There’s no chance I would support the Republican Party,” he said. “I’m not going to support the Democratic Party — I’m not sure what I’m going to do.”

Carlson answered questions about him possibly running for president in 2028 after his chances of getting the Republican Party presidential nomination jumped to nearly 10% on the prediction market platform Polymarket this month. It now sits at about 6%. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio lead him with approximately 40% and 20%, respectively.

“I don’t want to run for president. I do want to be involved in offering an option of some kind,” Carlson told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Tuesday. “I don’t know what that would look like, but it’s not democracy when, no matter who you vote for, you get the same result.”

Watch above via MS NOW.

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