Republican Senators rolled their eyes at Tucker Carlson’s Russian propaganda and let him know that he doesn’t make any decisions.
Politico talked to Republican Senators about Carlson’s pressure campaign for Russia against them:
“I don’t agree with those views,” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said when asked about Carlson’s monologues. “[It’s] the U.S. interest not just in Europe but around the world in not having countries decide, ‘That belongs to us, we’re going to go ahead and take it.’”
Some GOP senators rolled their eyes when asked about Carlson’s attacks and indicated that the far-right Fox host isn’t impacting their calculus on an emerging legislative path, even as his views are picking up steam among the base.
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“He’s obviously not in a position of being responsible for those decisions. And we are,” (Sen. John) Cornyn said in a brief interview.
Tucker Carlson Is Not As Powerful As He Thinks He Is
Carlson can mobilize his audience to fill the phone lines, and he can lob insults at Republican Senators, but it doesn’t matter to them. It is clear that the Republicans interviewed for the story don’t view Carlson as someone to be taken seriously.
Carlson has admitted that he lies on his show, so that might have something to do with their dismissiveness.
The response to Carlson’s campaign was the equivalent of Republicans telling the little boy to go back to talking on television and let the grown-ups handle the Russian threat to Ukraine.
Tucker Carlson may have the top-rated cable news show, but one suspects that he is viewed among a section of the Republican Senate caucus as a clown who can’t do any real damage to them. The GOP senators aren’t bowing down to Carlson as they do for Trump.
There are real fractures in the Republican Party, and those fault lines are becoming more apparent each day.
Tucker Carlson is a threat to American democracy, but Republican Senators do not view him as a threat to their incumbency.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
