NEW YORK — TV host Tucker Carlson heaped praise on Donald Trump at Sunday’s Madison Square Garden rally, calling the former president someone who “liberated” the American people.
“He’s liberated us in the deepest and truest sense, and the liberation he has brought to us is the liberation from the obligation to tell lies,” Mr. Carlson told the crowd.
“Donald Trump has made it possible for the rest of us to tell the truth about the world around us,” he said. “If you want to enslave people, if you want to degrade them, force them to tell lies, and they have.”
Mr. Carlson accused the Biden-Harris administration of forcing Americans to “lie about everything at gunpoint” and “effectively put people into prison for refusing to lie.”
Mr. Carlson pushed back on the Biden administration’s support of transgender surgeries of minors, the immediate assumption that Russia blew up the Nord Stream pipeline, and that the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol was an insurrection.
The former Fox News host also told the crowd not to fear the U.S. ruling class against whom he was railing.
“You know what the Big Lie is? The Big Lie is that they’re impressive,” Mr. Carlson said. “That the people in charge have somehow earned the right to rule over you, and they haven’t.”
He added, “These are the single most useless people in the United States. They have no skills whatsoever.”
Mr. Carlson cited former Rep. Liz Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who helped lead the Jan. 6 Select Committee against Mr. Trump, as someone he considers unimpressive with no skills.
Ms. Cheney and her father, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. She has also campaigned alongside Ms. Harris and endorsed some Democratic congressional candidates.
“Look at Liz Cheney and you ask yourself honestly, what skill could she possibly have that allowed her to send hundreds of thousands of people to their deaths? Did she earn that? I don’t think she did.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.