"anti-anti-Trump" arguments. Carlson criticized the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, ordered by Trump in January 2020 and said in June 2020 that Trump had let Black Lives Matter protests go too far. In 2021, in private correspondence he referred to Trump as a "demonic force". Following the 2020 election, Carlson reportedly told people he had voted for independent candidate Kanye West, though Politico points out that it was unclear whether Carlson "was serious or merely joking". In July 2021, Carlson told Time magazine that the Republican Party is "inept and bad at governing" and "much more effective as an oppositional force than it is as a governing party". Carlson supported J. D. Vance in the 2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary in Ohio and privately persuaded Donald Trump to endorse him despite Vance's past opposition to Trump. Former Hawaii congresswoman and Democratic presidential primary contender Tulsi Gabbard was a substitute host on Tucker Carlson Tonight in 2022; she appeared on the show the night she left the Democratic Party in October 2022, to Carlson's praise. Abortion and death penalty Carlson opposes abortion and has said it is the only political issue he considers non-negotiable. Carlson has described Roe v. Wade as "the most embarrassing court decision handed down in the last century". Carlson wrote in 2000 that capital punishment "deserves more vigorous debate", and in 2003 told Salon, "I'm opposed to the death penalty as I am adamantly opposed to abortion". After saying on Fox News in 2010 that Michael Vick "should have been executed" for dog fighting, Carlson stated that he is "not comfortable with the death penalty under any circumstances". Guns Carlson has opposed gun control and the assault weapons ban. He has debated several Democrats on gun control. In 2015 he said Australian gun laws were "insane" and "childish". In March 2018 he criticized Donald Trump for comments supporting gun control after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. In a 2019 interview Carlson said he owns a AR-15 style rifle and said "all my guns are working-class guns". He has a concealed carry permit in the District of Columbia. Carlson aired segments defending Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old who shot three protesters, killing two, in August 2020 in confrontations during unrest after a police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At trial Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges. Economics Early in his career, Carlson supported libertarian economics. He supported Ron