tucker swanson mcnear carlson (born may 16, 1969) is an american paleoconservative television host and political commentator who has hosted "tucker carlson tonight" on fox news since 2016. he is a contributing editor for "the weekly standard". he started his television career as a political analyst for the cable news network (cnn) and also a host on that network, co-hosting the spin room and crossfire. he left cnn in 2004. he then started hosting a show on msnbc. carlson co-founded "the daily caller", funded by foster friess. he currently co-hosts a weekend morning talk show on fox news channel.