Tucker Carlson Says Republicans 'Clearly Hate Their Own Voters' in Wyoming Talk

Tucker Carlson accused Republican officeholders of holding their own voters in contempt in an interview with Rebecca Bextel, the Constitution Party's candidate for governor of Wyoming, arguing that the GOP routinely betrays the people who elect it.

Wyoming holds its general election November 3. Bextel is running against the Republican nominee, state Senator Eric Barlow, and near the end of the interview Carlson told her, "I'm rooting for you strongly." That is warm encouragement, not a formal endorsement.

Tucker Carlson's Break With the GOP

Carlson set his complaint against the Democrats, who he said "do pretty much what they say they're gonna do. They represent their constituencies pretty faithfully."

"And you have Republicans who clearly hate their own voters," he said. "Make no effort to represent their own voters, have contempt for them and lie to them and then do the opposite once they get elected."

"Make no effort to represent their own voters, have contempt for them and lie to them and then do the opposite once they get elected." — Tucker Carlson

He said Republican voters across the Plains states end up "governed by someone who's in the pocket of like developers and green energy billionaires and just like the worst human beings on the planet," and that conservatives are left with "literally no options."

The criticism comes as the party struggles with voters generally. Republicans are viewed favorably by 36.3 percent of Americans and unfavorably by 61 percent, according to PolitiKool's polling average. That is a weaker showing than the Democrats.

Carlson did not spare the other side. He said Democrats "are not kidding at all. And there's malice in their hearts."

The Wyoming Primary Carlson Asked About

Partway through the interview, Carlson asked, "Did he get the Trump endorsement?" He did not. Barlow, a state senator from Gillette who served as speaker of the Wyoming House, won the August 18 Republican primary with 58,820 votes, Cowboy State Daily reported. Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, whom President Donald Trump endorsed in January, came second with 38,739. Retired Colonel Brent Bien, backed by Wyoming Freedom Caucus figures, took 30,843.

Bextel argued that the two conservative candidates split the vote and that Democrats crossing over helped Barlow win. She launched her campaign in May as what her website called "an insurance policy against Eric Barlow," and pledged to withdraw if Degenfelder or Bien won the nomination, WyoFile reported. Bextel, a Jackson business owner and former Republican state committeewoman, ran unsuccessfully for state GOP chair in 2025.

The general election also includes Democrat Ken Casner. Governor Mark Gordon, who cannot seek a third term, endorsed Barlow last Monday and called him "a leader, a doer and the one who has my most enthusiastic endorsement," Cowboy State Daily reported.

Bextel's Claims and the Record

Carlson did not challenge his guest's claims. Bextel said Barlow "has an R by his name, but by any stretch of the word, he's a Democrat," and called Gordon "a Democrat" too.

Bextel also said Democrats crossed over to help Barlow win and that he is funded by Democrats and "George Soros funded money." She offered no evidence for either claim, and Carlson did not press her on them.

On Medicaid, Bextel said Barlow "voted eight times in six years to expand Wyoming Medicaid." The 2021 House vote and Barlow's shift from no to yes are documented; the eight-vote count is Bextel's own. As House speaker in 2021, he backed an expansion bill that passed the House 32-28. "I voted no multiple times on this same issue … and I'm going to vote yes this time, because I haven't seen any other solution," Barlow said then, KOTA reported.

Barlow has also given money to the Wyoming Caucus PAC, a group that backs moderate Republicans and was set up as a counterweight to the Freedom Caucus, Wyoming Public Media reported.

What Happens Next

"Has anyone ever succeeded doing this?" Carlson asked. "I don't think anyone's ever succeeded doing this."

The Constitution Party also has a more modest target. Under Wyoming law, a party whose candidate for governor, U.S. House or secretary of state wins more than 10 percent of the vote gains major-party status. The Constitution Party last reached that bar in 2014, Cowboy State Daily reported, and wants to reach it again this year with Bextel.

Whether conservatives who backed Degenfelder or Bien in August follow Bextel, or return to the Republican nominee, will decide whether she reaches that threshold on November 3.