Tucker Carlson warns GOP elite: You give "the finger" to the most vile elements of your base "at your peril"

Trump might not be a good candidate, and he might appeal to terrible people -- but they're the GOP's people now

Published April 27, 2016 4:13PM (EDT)

Tucker Carlson        (Fox News)
Tucker Carlson (Fox News)

Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson appeared on America's Newsroom on Wednesday to speak to host Martha MacCallum about what would happen if -- as even House Speaker Paul Ryan is refusing to rule out -- the Republican Party does not accept Donald Trump as its nominee this summer in Cleveland.

Carlson singled out RedState for attacking Trump's voters as "diseased" and "probably on Oxycontin" or "secretly liberal," but insisted that such talk is inherently counterproductive.

"He is on track to receive more votes than any Republican nominee ever," Carlson began. "He's already surpassed Mitt Romney's number in 2012."

He was quick to note that that "doesn't mean he's a great guy or that he'll be a great president -- it does mean that he is the choice of Republican voters and give them the finger at your peril."

Carlson -- who became famous in part for being the hyper-literate bow-tie aficionado on CNN's Crossfire -- said that the party must "pay attention to the people" and not to the opinions of "donors and think-tank intellectuals."

"The core of his campaign is his economic message -- 'I'm gonna bring jobs back' -- and it's baffling to me why the Republican establishment in Washington doesn't understand that," he said.

Watch the entire interview below via Fox News.


By Scott Eric Kaufman

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