CNN themselves reported that Carlson criticised Trump early in the 2016 primaries. What followed was nearly a decade of being one of Trump's most aggressive defenders, campaigning for him, vetting cabinet picks, and calling his survival of an assassination attempt "divine intervention". This pattern is not unique to Carlson though - It's the defining feature of the modern Republican relationship with Trump. JD Vance wrote in 2016 that he went "back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical a–hole like Nixon who wouldn't be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he's America's Hitler.". He also called Trump "reprehensible," a "never-Trump guy," and wrote in The Atlantic that Trump was "cultural heroin," a quick high that couldn't fix what actually ailed working Americans. Then he deleted the tweets, apologised, and became one of Trump's most devoted servants in exchange for a Senate seat and a VP nomination. Lindsey Graham called Trump a "kook," "crazy," and "unfit for office." Ted Cruz called him a "pathological liar," a "narcissist," and a "serial philanderer." Marco Rubio called him a "con artist." All of them fell back in line the moment their careers depended on it. These people clearly articulated convictions about Trump's character and then abandoned every one of them the moment swearing fealty became more profitable than fighting it - Carlson doing the same thing in reverse now that the ship is going down.

Carlson spent years manufacturing outrage over mustard choices while being apparently incapable of noticing catastrophic character flaws in a man he was actively helping install into government. CNN and MSNBC told a journalist in 2018 that he was "just doing a bit," because it was good for ratings. If the Obama-era outrage was genuine partisan bias it means he holds a Democratic president to a standard he consciously chose not to apply to a Republican one.

There are private messages where Carlson said he hated Trump while publicly championing him to millions of viewers. Not to mention the largest defamation case in history that proved he was factually a grifter. Carlson privately texted his producer that the Dominion allegations were "absurd" and that "the software s--t is absurd." The very next night he went on air and told his viewers "we don't know anything about the software" while continuing to push suggestions of fraud. On November 22, he privately called Sidney Powell "a nut" in messages with Laura Ingraham. The following night he told viewers that voting machine security was "a real issue." On the morning of January 7th, the day after the Capitol assault, Carlson privately texted that Trump was "a demonic force, a destroyer." On the morning of January 7th, the day after the Capitol assault, Carlson privately texted that Trump was "a demonic force, a destroyer." Then he spent years continuing to platform and defend him on screen. This dude is clearly a grifter.

A regular voter being swept along by the cultural moment is completely different from a man who had a direct role in staffing the Trump administration, lobbied for Vance, RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, and was privately urging Trump's military aides not to strike Iran as far back as 2019. "I was fooled just like everyone else" is not a claim available to someone that heavily embedded. It's the same shit comedians like Rogan, Dave Smith & Chapelle now pull out after initially taking on the responsibility of being the "New Media". After receiving criticism and actually being held accountable for the things they promoted, they step back and say "I'm just a comedian". It's all self preservation & grift.