Former Rep. Ron Paul said a new political party could help elevate neglected issues but argued that reforming one of America’s existing major parties may be more practical as Tucker Carlson and other America First figures discuss what comes after President Donald Trump leaves office in 2028.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Former Texas Rep. Ron Paul is weighing in on a growing debate over whether the political movement surrounding President Donald Trump should eventually evolve into a new party, arguing that the deeper problem may be that America’s two major parties have become too similar on fundamental issues such as monetary policy, foreign intervention and constitutional limits.
The discussion follows journalist Tucker Carlson’s recent presentation of a ten-point political framework intended to outline a possible path for America First politics after Trump leaves office in 2028. Carlson was joined this week by former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent as they discussed how the movement’s priorities could continue beyond Trump’s presidency. During those conversations, Carlson suggested Wednesday that a third party — or perhaps several parties — could eventually disrupt the existing political structure. “Is that the best system? I don’t know. It’s better than the one we have,” Carlson said. An X post circulated clips and discussion of the proposal.
Paul approached the idea from the perspective of someone who has already attempted third-party politics on the national stage. Before his later Republican presidential campaigns, he ran as the Libertarian Party’s presidential nominee in the 1988 election. That experience, he said, left him convinced that third-party campaigns can be valuable for raising issues and challenging entrenched assumptions, even if the practical obstacles to building a viable alternative remain formidable.
“I finally concluded it is good to talk about it and plan and debate it and bring out the issues, so there’s a lot of value to it. But, when they get down to the details, ‘We have to have this third party,’ I said, ‘Well, I just can’t get enthusiastic about it. It’s tough. The opposition is so powerful. And besides, why don’t we just start working on a second party?’” Paul said.
Paul’s argument was not that the existing two-party system is functioning well, but that voters seeking fundamental change may gain more by transforming one of the established parties than by building a third organization from scratch. He said Republicans and Democrats remain aligned on too many major questions and pointed specifically to the Federal Reserve, monetary policy, overseas military deployments and constitutional government as areas where he sees little meaningful separation.
“That’s where our problem is,” Paul continued. “The two parties are the same and it’s easy to list the things that they’re very similar on. Is one party known to want to get rid of the Fed and have sound money? No. Does one party say, ‘We’re for bringing the troops home?’ Sometimes one party will be more interested in bringing troops home than the other, but no, the troop stay in. Should we argue that we need a party that would restore the Constitution? No, you can get into trouble mentioning the Constitution.”
Paul’s remarks were also shared in another X post as debate grows over whether the post-Trump political landscape will produce a new party, an ideological realignment within the Republican Party or some other vehicle for voters who believe the current system does not adequately represent their priorities.
The discussion is unfolding against dissatisfaction among some members of Trump’s MAGA coalition who believe the president has failed to follow through on several campaign promises. Carlson’s effort, and the involvement of Greene, Massie and Kent, reflects an attempt to define what America First politics could look like after Trump’s constitutionally limited second term ends in 2028.
Whether that effort ultimately takes the form of an entirely new political party or an attempt to reshape an existing one remains unsettled. Paul’s position is that the debate itself can serve a useful purpose by forcing neglected issues into public discussion, but his own experience with the Libertarian Party left him skeptical that creating a third party is the most effective route. Instead, he argues that the larger challenge is creating at least one major party willing to distinguish itself clearly on issues such as sound money, overseas military commitments and adherence to the Constitution.
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