After Threatening Cop’s Career, Martin Hyde Tells Tucker Carlson He’s Running For Congress

SARASOTA, FL — More than two weeks after threatening a Sarasota police officer’s career over a traffic stop, Republican Martin Hyde indicated to Fox News host Tucker Carlson that he still intends to run for office.

In March, Hyde announced he is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, also a Republican, for the District 16 Congressional seat. His candidacy came into question after his Feb. 14 traffic stop in Sarasota made national headlines, though.

In a Thursday evening interview with Carlson, Hyde told the conservative news show host about “the reason (he’s) running for Congress.” It’s not “the wokesters,” he said, referring to liberals, but “establishment” Republicans like Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy or “RINOs,” which means Republicans in name only. (Watch his full interview with Carlson below.)

In police bodycam footage from his traffic stop, Hyde can be seen telling Officer Julia Beskin, who pulled him over for speeding and texting while driving, that she's "making career decisions."

Hyde also told her, "Go call the chief. Tell him how rude you've just been to me. Play him this (bodycam) video. Then call (City Manager) Marlon Brown. Then you call the mayor."

He later apologized to the officer, in person and on his Facebook page, for being "belligerent and rude" and paid the three tickets he received.

Related: GOP Candidate Threatens Sarasota Cop's Career Over Ticket: Video

After the incident, he took down his Facebook page and made his Instagram profile private. Sections of his website, including his store and donations pages, also no longer worked.

And at the end of an opinion piece for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, in which he apologized for how he treated the officer, he was described as "a former Republican Party candidate for Florida's 16th Congressional District."

Hyde later told Patch that while he authored the article, the Herald-Tribune wrote “the last line describing (his) status which they added.”

As for his campaign Facebook and Instagram pages, he told Patch “the social media was being inundated by trolls using all kinds of epithets, so we disabled them for a few days.”

He’s also received death threats, both in writing and left on his voicemail.

Hyde’s Instagram page was made public again following his interview with Carlson, though his Facebook page hasn’t returned as of Monday morning.

Before taking his campaign’s Facebook page down, he posted a lengthy apology, which Carlson spoke with him about on Thursday.

“'I behaved like a jerk, ‘cause I am a jerk sometimes. I’m sorry,’” said the Fox News host, paraphrasing Hyde’s apology. “Who says that?”

Carlson told the Sarasota candidate, “I thought your apology was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever read in my life.”

Hyde called his treatment of Beskin “a shocking thing to do” and said he was "horribly embarrassed" by the incident.

Despite this, Hyde said he stands out from other politicians.

“The people that are in there, in (Washington) D.C., not only are they very old, but they’re very dishonest and they can’t even be honest about their failings and their faults,” he told Carlson. “My failing and fault is very simple. I got a smart mouth. I got a bad temper, if you poke me, poke the bear, on occasion.”

Hyde added, “The worst thing is I knew there was a camera there, right? And I still did it.”

The candidate told Patch he has registered to run against Buchanan in the Aug. 23 Florida primary through the Federal Election Commission. He said that he’s filed all required paperwork, including campaign reports from the past year. According to his FEC financial summary, he’s raised more than $181,000 for his campaign, including $164,000 of his own money and more than $17,000 in donations.

Watch Hyde's full interview with Carlson: