Tucker Carlson sits down with 2024 candidates in Iowa after once calling Mike Pence ‘delusional’

Republican candidates for president will descend on Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday to take part in “fireside chats” with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson at The Family Leadership Summit, an annual gathering of social conservatives and evangelicals in a state that will see its first votes cast six months from Saturday.

“I think there’s a lot of people coming because they want to see Tucker again,” said Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader group, which is hosting the event. “They miss him on TV. And I believe Tucker’s got just a great following, great regard and a conservative face. It’s a great feather in our hat that Tucker would agree to do something like this.”

But for at least one candidate, the choice of Carlson as the event’s moderator may make for some tense moments.

Ever since Carlson, when he was still with Fox News, presented cherry-picked clips of the Jan. 6 attack from security footage handed to him exclusively by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, former Vice President Mike Pence has been highly critical of Carlson and his prime-time portrayal of rioters he described as “sightseers.”

Republican presidential candidate and former Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a Celebrate Life Day rally outside the Lincoln Memorial, on June 24, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

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“I was there at the Capitol, and let me assure you it was not, as some would have us believe, a matter of tourists peacefully enjoying our Capitol,” Pence said in March at the annual Gridiron Club dinner for journalists in Washington, before he launched his campaign for president. “Make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it in any other way.”

While Carlson was one of the strongest defenders of the Trump administration, he has mocked Trump’s former vice president in the aftermath of Jan. 6.

Last August, he called the idea of Pence running for president “delusional” in an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.” Host Laura Ingraham played a clip of Pence urging Republicans to stop attacking the FBI during a “Politics and Eggs” breakfast gathering at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, which Carlson commented on.

“What is Mike Pence doing in New Hampshire? I mean, if Mike Pence doesn’t have a summer house in New Hampshire, then he’s delusional. Mike Pence, very nice guy, or seems like a nice guy, but he spent four years getting bossed around by Donald Trump like a concubine,” Carlson said. “He’s not in a position to lead anything.”

Tucker Carlson speaks during 2022 FOX Nation Patriot Awards at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, Nov. 17, 2022, in Hollywood, Fla.

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He didn’t want to “beat up” on Pence, he claimed, but deemed his appearance “super embarrassing.”

Carlson and Fox News “agreed to part ways” in April, less than a week after a $787.5 million settlement agreement between the network and Dominion Voting Systems, but his public questioning of Pence hasn’t stopped on his new show on Twitter.

“Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, Lindsey Graham and the Congress,” Carlson said last month in his third episode. “They all called Trump a visionary genius up until the moment he lost power, and then they unsheathed their real agenda, as always the neocon war agenda, and they piled on with maximum force.”

And while Pence has been amplifying his support for Ukraine since traveling there last month, Carlson has advocated for stopping U.S. aid — another point of sharp division.

Tucker Carlson, left, and former Vice President Mike Pence

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An aide to Pence declined to comment on what the former vice president makes of the forthcoming encounter, but Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Sen. Tammy Duckworth wasn’t shy about blasting Carlson, whom she called “a notable extremist.”

“It’s no surprise that these MAGA Republicans are rushing to cozy up to someone who spent his time on air pushing conspiracy theories spreading lies about the 2020 election, sympathizing with Vladimir Putin and fanning the flames of division in this country,” discussing the event on a press call Thursday. “This is exactly the kind of extremism that has become commonplace in the Republican presidential primary.”

Asked about Carlson sitting down with Pence after mocking his presidential bid, The Family Leader’s director of communications, Drew Zahn, said the summit “isn’t about personalities or policy clashes.”

“We expect the conversations instead will focus on seeking an insightful look into these national voices and their vision for America’s future. This is a unique stage. It’s about education and inspiration, not conflagration,” Zahn told ABC News in an email.

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the FAMiLY Leader summit, July 16, 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa.

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Zahn also commented on the significance of Iowa GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds signing a six-week abortion ban at the summit — a detail Pence is expected to applaud, should his conversation with Carlson allow for it.

The measure is raising alarms among Democrats and abortion rights supporters who argue the majority of Iowans don’t agree with the restrictive legislation passed in a special session this week.

“If this law goes into effect, women will die. And Iowans will understand the grave consequences of this abortion ban and we will let them know that it was Republicans who put this into place,” said Iowa House Minority Leader Jennifer Konfrst in the same press call as Duckworth.

While Trump is skipping the summit — his team cited a “scheduling conflict” — Carlson will sit down for 25 minutes each with six presidential contenders, including some former favorite guests on what was his hit Fox News program, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — all who often appeared to be passed over when Carlson had his prime-time slot — will also face him on Friday.

ABC News’ Isabella Murray and Kendall Ross contributed to this report.