Tucker Carlson praised Elizabeth Warren's economic plan, and said many of her ideas 'make obvious sense'

Fox News

In the opening monologue to his show Wednesday, Carlson was full of uncharacteristic praise for Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

• Fox News host Tucker Carlson Wednesday praised the economic plans of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic contender for the presidency in 2020.
• "Yesterday, Warren released what she called her 'Plan for Economic Patriotism.' Amazingly, that's pretty much what it is: economic patriotism," Carlson said in the opening monologue to his Wednesday show.
• "She sounds like Donald Trump at his best," he added.
• Warren's economic plan involves focuses on American manufacturing, signaling a break with traditionally Democratic free-trade policies.
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In a shock opener to his Wednesday show, Fox News host Tucker Carlson took time out from attacking liberals to offer uncharacteristic praise for one of the leading Democratic contenders for the presidency in 2020 - Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

"Yesterday, Warren released what she called her 'Plan for Economic Patriotism,'" Carlson said in the opening monologue to his show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," on Wednesday.

"Amazingly, that's pretty much what it is: economic patriotism," Carlson said, adding that her policies made "obvious sense."

"She says the US government should buy American products when it can. And of course it should," Carlson said. "She says we need more workplace apprenticeship programs because four-year college degrees aren't right for everyone. Well, that's true. She says that taxpayers ought to benefit from the research and development that they pay for."

Here's what Warren says in her plan, published Tuesday:

"'American' companies show only one real loyalty: to the short-term interests of their shareholders, a third of whom are foreign investors. If they can close up an American factory and ship jobs overseas to save a nickel, that's exactly what they will do - abandoning loyal American workers and hollowing out American cities along the way."

Carlson also noted approvingly that "there is not a word" about identity politics, gun control, or climate change in the document.

His characterization of Warren's plan as having no mention of climate change appeared misleading, however, because a central part of her economic policies involves a massive boost for federal government funding to expand green manufacturing and green energy.

Read more: Elizabeth Warren is running for president in 2020. Here's everything we know about the candidate and how she stacks up against the competition.

AP Photo/John Minchillo

Warren is running to be president in 2020. She has slammed Fox News as a "hate for profit" organization in the past.

Carlson even said that Warren's embrace of American products echoed President Donald Trump's economic policies.

"She sounds like Donald Trump at his best," the Fox News host said, though he tempered the praise describing her as also a "race hustling, gun grabbing, abortion extremist."

President Donald Trump's "America First" economic nationalism - involving a combination of tariffs and aggressive anti-immigrant policies - helped him seize traditionally Democratic Midwestern states in the 2016 presidential election.

Warren's ideas appear to show her moving away from free-trade policies traditionally embraced by the Democrats.

Agence France-Presse/Sandy Huffaker via Getty Images

A Trump supporter displays an "America First" sign at a rally in San Ysidro, California, in December 2018.

It's likely that Warren may not welcome Carlson's praise though, as the Democrat has been a fierce critic of Fox News.

In May she rejected an invitation to take part in a Fox town hall debate, and described the network as a "hate for profit" organization.

"I won't ask millions of Democratic primary voters to tune into an outlet that profits from racism and hate in order to see our candidates - especially when Fox will make even more money adding our valuable audience to their ratings numbers," she said at the time.