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“I know all kinds of people who are like, I gotta listen to Tucker’s monologue,” Jordan said. “That’s one of the things they wanted to do. So I think he’s had huge impact across the board.”
In May 2021, Punchbowl News conducted an extensive survey of congressional staff, asking the most senior GOP aides who the most important Republican voices were among those who weren’t seeking political office.
Carlson was No. 1 and Hannity finished a distant, distant second.
“They realize their chances of winning a primary are better if they’re going along with Tucker than not,” Romney said of House Republicans.
He used his show to meddle in House GOP politics in all sorts of ways. Two years ago he devoted more than 5 minutes to excoriating McCarthy, then the minority leader, for renting a room in famed GOP pollster Frank Luntz’s 7,000-square-foot penthouse apartment about a mile from the Capitol.
McCarthy sheepishly admitted that he had spent a few months in the palatial home, paying “fair market value,” but then vowed to move out and return to living in his congressional office.
In late 2022, Carlson waded into the GOP leadership election for House majority whip, angrily calling Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) to accuse his staff of leaking disparaging information about his son Buckley Carlson, according to Axios.
Buckley Carlson has worked for four years for Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and the elder Carlson’s allies, including Donald Trump Jr., responded with social media support for Banks over Emmer.
In a secret-ballot race, Emmer narrowly defeated Banks for the No. 3 position in leadership.
In early January, as McCarthy kept falling short in his bid to win the votes to become speaker, Carlson used a show segment to suggest that he would more forcefully support his bid for the gavel if he agreed to release the insurrection tapes.
“Release the January 6 files. Not some of the January 6 files and video, all of it,” Carlson said.
Two months later, Carlson aired a two-part series that defended those Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol and created a false narrative that they were peaceful protesters. McCarthy promised to let other media see the footage, but two and a half months later, only Carlson has had that access.
Senate Republicans erupted at the Fox News episodes, with McConnell blaming senior executives for allowing Carlson to air the falsehoods.
But Carlson’s views on Ukraine might be the most broadly influential, with potential global impact. When Russia invaded last year, just a handful of House Republicans would vote against legislation meant to provide funds to shore up Ukraine’s defense.
By last summer the anti-Ukraine crowd grew to more than 50. And this year, with Republicans now in the majority, some traditional GOP security hawks are dreading the expected request later this year from Biden to provide billions more to Zelensky’s forces.
Trump has been a big voice against Ukraine, and now Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has followed Trump into that lane as they get ready to square off for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
But on Capitol Hill, every senior Republican gives a one-word answer to the biggest obstacle for supporting Zelensky: Tucker.
And Johnson learned that firsthand two months ago after visiting the House GOP to try to twist arms.
“What is it with this guy? All these wonderful Republicans seem somehow intimidated by his — by his perspective,” Johnson said. “I haven’t watched anything that he’s said. But I’m struck by how often this comes up.”