An attorney for Tucker Carlson sent a cease-and-desist letter to the “Draft Tucker PAC” to stop activities after it released a video that sought to encourage the former Fox News host to run for president in 2024, saying that Carlson will not make a 2024 White House bid “under any circumstances.”
“It has come to Mr. Carlson’s attention that you are soliciting contributions and donor contact information from the public by representing that the funds will be used to draft Mr. Tucker to run for President in 2024,” Carlson’s lawyer Harmeet Dhillon wrote in a letter, according to multiple news outlets.
The letter then declared that Carlson, who was let go by Fox News in late April, “will not run for President in 2024 under any circumstances, and therefore your misrepresentations are damaging to Mr. Carlson and defrauding his supporters.” The former host has made similar statements in public that he won’t seek public office, although those came before he and Fox parted ways.
“If you do not immediately cease and desist your efforts to solicit money to ‘draft’ Mr. Carlson, we will use every legal means at our disposal to vindicate his rights and protect his supporters from these misrepresentations,” the letter continued.
The letter was sent to the PAC’s executive director Charlie Kolean, a longtime Republican consultant, and other officials within the organization. It claimed the PAC is fraudulently using Carlson to fundraise and potentially collect data for users.
After the letter was sent, the Draft Tucker PAC told news outlets that it asked Newsmax to pull the “Draft Tucker PAC” commercials that are currently running on the channel.
“Tucker’s attorney has contacted us to let us know that Tucker is not a candidate for president nor has any intentions of running and asked us to cease all activities on his behalf. We are going to honor that request,” Kolean said in a statement to The Hill.
Chris Ekstrom, the PAC’s chairman, told the outlet that the PAC raised about $212 so far and that he put in $35,000 of his own cash into the effort. He said that the $212 will be given to a charity or back to the donors.
“I’d like to add that I am TOTALLY OPPOSED to SCAMPAC’s & have NEVER profited (unlike Harmeet) from my political activities,” Ekstrom told The Hill in a text message. “Indeed, I have spent a great deal of money exposing the narcissistic perfidy rampant in Republican politics. Especially at the so-called ‘top;’ which, in reality is a abysmal SEWER of losers, weaklings & liars.”
In the statement, Ekstrom appeared to criticize Dhillon and said she is a “ridiculous Wanna Be Failed Politician & TV lawyer,” adding she is a “failed politician that wouldn’t know or understand a good political move unless it’s the immediate gratification of grandstanding for fools & know-nothings on Twitter.”
Dhillon had attempted to unseat Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel earlier this year but came up short. Previously, she was a top official in the California Republican Party and also has represented a number of high-profile conservative clients, including former President Donald Trump.
But Dhillon’s letter Carlson “unequivocally disavows your activities” and “therefore, your efforts to raise money for a ‘draft’ committee are a waste of your time and the money of every donor to your committee, as you are on notice that these funds will not, in fact, be used for the purpose stated. Nor will the data you are collecting under false pretenses be used for the stated purpose.”
Carlson, Dhillon’s letter said, doesn’t want supporters to be duped into sending their money and information to the PAC with his name “that he does not support and that has no chance of succeeding in its stated aims, and thus will necessarily be using the funds and donor data for other, undisclosed purposes.”
“If you do not voluntarily stop your ‘Draft Tucker’ effort, we will use every legal option to prevent the misappropriation of Mr. Carlson’s name, likeness, and image, and to protect his supporters from fraud,” it said.
Although Carlson is a popular figure among conservatives and often held the highest-rated primetime cable news program, he’s frequently denied wanting to run for president or office. In 2020, he was asked by a reporter in an interview about running for president, and he again declined.
“No, I’m not running for anything … come on,” he replied.
In comments to the Hill, Ekstrom and Kolean said they wanted Carlson to enter the 2024 race because they believe that both Trump nor Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are flawed candidates and aren’t right-wing enough. If Carlson entered the race, it would push political discourse among Republicans further to the right, they suggested.
“We hoped that a Tucker candidacy would open the Overton Window to the Right,” Kolean said. “We wish Tucker the best & profoundly hope he will not be silenced in this crucial presidential cycle. We consider Tucker Carlson to be the heir of Fearless Rush Limbaugh who never backed down from defending his people.”
The Epoch Times has contacted Dhillon for comment.
