Earlier this summer, Tucker Carlson opined about his frustration with U.S. foreign policy, specifically regarding President Donald Trump’s actions against Iran. Carlson asserted that both major parties were “in lock step solidarity” when it came to “war and finance.”

He further charged that the U.S. government was “a one-party state posing as a democracy” and that it “needs to be broken.” How? “There’s going to be a third party, and I’m going to do everything I can to bring that about. … I’m going to help build a third party. There should be a good-faith effort to figure out what benefits the country.”

Carlson is no dummy, so he likely knows that the history of successful third-party endeavors within America’s inherent two-party system is next to zero. The last time a “third party” saw victory was arguably back in 1860, with the election of Abraham Lincoln of the upstart Republican Party. Of course, the significant division between the northern and southern states over the issue of slavery, which split the Democrat Party, provided the opportunity for Republican success.

Every third-party effort since then has only weakened the party most closely politically aligned with one of the two major parties, such as Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party effectively handing the election to Democrat Woodrow Wilson, or Ross Perot’s Reform Party paving the way for Democrat Bill Clinton.

So, how are Carlson’s third-party efforts coming?

Well, not as well as Carlson claims. “We thought it’d be useful just to set down the goals of whatever comes next,” Carlson announced in a recent podcast. “Hopefully, it’s better than what we have. But we know it’ll be different from what we have because what we have literally doesn’t work.”

The comment demonstrates Carlson’s dismissive rhetoric rather than any genuine investigation of the facts. He’s projecting his own frustration with the Trump administration rather than objectively measuring the U.S. system of government.

What Carlson is doing is quite sneaky because he plays upon people’s genuine frustration with government. However, no matter what government exists, it will always lead to some frustration because no government or leader is perfect.

Rather than acknowledge its realist and nuanced perspective, which would actually benefit his viewers, he paints dubious and erroneous characterizations of the current Trump administration to smear it as an abuser of Americans’ trust.

For example, Carlson peddles the idea that America’s foreign policy is effectively being controlled by Israel. Not only is that view dripping with antisemitism, it is patently absurd given U.S. history, our foreign policy interests, and the fact that Iran has been the biggest problem in the Middle East for nearly 50 years.

Back to Carlson’s third-party efforts, he also laid out a 10-point plan for its “goals.” Carlson wants fairness, sovereignty, productivity, beauty, health, honesty, optimism, wisdom, decency, and unity.

Who doesn’t want a society undergirded by those values?

Carlson is not putting forth a party platform; he’s advancing platitudes. This is not the stuff of someone serious about establishing a legitimate third party. This is the equivalent of a schoolboy on the playground boasting that he can throw a ball farther than anyone else … if he only had a ball to throw.

Indeed, Carlson appears to want to throw off support for Trump and Republicans in the midterms, rather than put actual effort into a legitimate third party. In other words, Carlson is all talk. To be fair, all he’s ever been is a political pundit who makes a lucrative living offering political takes. He’s no politician.

Nor is he much of a political pundit these days, as he has fallen deeper into the conspiracy realm and, as a result, is increasingly losing his grip on political reality. Given this, don’t expect any genuine third-party creation steered by Carlson anytime soon.