Friends of Tucker Carlson claim he 'has been telling them he voted for Kanye West in the 2020 Presidential Election despite publicly backing Donald Trump'
- Carlson, 53, has reportedly told people he voted for the rapper in November
- The Fox News host is registered to vote in Florida and did so in person
- Eight write-in votes counted in his district, one of which may have been him
- Carlson declined to comment when asked about his vote, but has praised both
- One source told Politico that they were unsure if he was joking about his vote
- Carlson has taken pride in occasionally disagreeing with Trump on policy
Tucker Carlson has been telling some of his Fox News guests that he voted for Kanye West rather than Donald Trump, according to a report on Thursday.
The Fox News host, known for his close relationship with Trump and harsh criticism of Joe Biden, has surprised people with his declaration, according to Politico.
The site spoke to two people who confirmed the conversations, but said that those he told were unsure if he was joking.
They took it as a demonstration of his independence and free-thinking, and his refusal to slavishly follow Trump regardless. Carlson has benefitted, in the eyes of many, from stories suggesting he rebukes the former president when he believes Trump has gone too far.
'It's his way of saying that he's not just another Trumpette at Fox News like Sean Hannity,' one of the sources told Politico, referring to Carlson's fellow primetime opinion host.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been telling guests that he voted for Kanye West in November
West was married to Kim Kardashian until she filed for divorce earlier this year
A third person who knows Carlson, 53, said that he had announced before the election that he would vote for West.
'He and Kanye get along,' the person said.
'They both regularly find themselves in the crosshairs. They're both pro-life.'
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Carlson declined to comment when asked by Politico.
Carlson is registered as a Republican to vote in Florida, according to Florida registration records obtained by Politico.
The conservative commentator, who splits his time between Lee County, Florida, and rural Maine, voted in Florida in-person in 2020, according to voter records seen by the site.
Carlson is one of Fox News' biggest stars, and regularly attracts three million viewers for his primetime weeknight show
Carlson is a strong supporter of Donald Trump - but has at times disagreed with him
West and his 'Birthday Party' was not on the ballot in Florida - the billionaire rapper and eccentric was only on the ballot in 12 states, having failed to register in others.
His paperwork failure in Florida meant that any write-in votes for him were not counted.
Election officials, however, did say that there were eight invalid write-in votes in the district where Carlson voted, meaning his could have been one of them.
Carlson, whose show is one of the highest-rating on cable news, has carved out a niche for himself being firmly pro-Trump, but also unafraid to disagree with him.
He reportedly helped persuade Trump not to attack Iran, and in the early days of the pandemic met Trump at Mar-a-Lago and urged the then-president to take COVID-19 more seriously.
Kanye West is seen embracing Trump on October 11, after their meeting in the Oval Office
West's meeting saw the rapper launch into a monologue about his ideas for the world, to the apparent surprise of the then-president
Yet Carlson is also on friendly terms with West.
The two men have spoken from time to time, and Carlson even spent some time in Wyoming with West shortly before the election, Politico said.
Carlson hoped to interview West, but never managed to confirm their sit-down.
In August, Carlson called him 'the most compelling voice against abortion and Planned Parenthood.'
'On core conservative issues, not political issues like legislation before the Congress, but on foundational questions about life and children and what happens when you die, no one with a national platform has been more honest or sincere or effective than Kanye West has been,' Carlson said.
'Maybe in generations.'
West famously met Trump in the Oval Office in October 2018, and launched into a lengthy explanation of his views.
'Much like someone else who comes to mind, West may be precisely crazy enough to think for himself, and that's a valuable quality right now,' Carlson said.
'But listen carefully to what he said. Sprinkled throughout his ramblings are flashes of truth, real insights into the way the world actually is rather than the way they tell us it is.
'And that makes him dangerous to a system that is based almost entirely on piety and lying.
'If you're benefiting from a system like that, Kanye West must be crushed.'
In 2017, Carlson - living in Washington DC at the time - said he never voted in presidential elections.
'I never vote so that's the truth. I didn't vote this time, I never do,' he said. 'I'm registered with a party that I sincerely despise because I think it's really a force for bad in this country and it's the Democratic Party. But I'm registered because I live in the district, it's a one-party state and the one election I always vote in is the mayor's race because it matters. I own property there, I raised four children there.'
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