POLITICUSUSA
In the post-Trump reality, many things have changed. The GOP is no longer the party that backs the blue. Instead, Republican lawmakers have refused to meet with injured police officers and Conservative talking heads question their actions.
The hosts of the Fox News network are a bit all over the place on the vaccine. A few hosts have admitted to getting inoculated. Bret Baier took a ton of heat from Fox viewers after posting a picture of him getting the shot. Steve Doocy pleaded with viewers on Monday to get vaccinated.
Anyone who listened to his show over the last 4 years would assume that Tucker Carlson was a big fan of Donald Trump. Over the last couple of months, though, a number of stories have come out about the Fox host not being as enthusiastic about the former president.
Democratic leaders in every state are focused on getting as many people vaccinated as possible. Unfortunately for them, the issue has been deeply politicized.
Viewers of the Fox News network hear conflicting messages about the COVID vaccine on a nightly basis. Of course, they tell you that only Donald Trump should be given credit for the rapid development of the inoculation. At the same time, though, people should be cautious about getting their shot.
The two biggest anti-Vaxx personalities on Fox News are Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. Illinois senator Dick Durbin called both lawmakers out by name during a Monday floor speech.
“There are two hosts of programs on Fox primetime that can only be characterized as anti-vaxx quacks,” Durbin began. “I’m referring of course to Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. They have been spreading what I consider to be irresponsible information about vaccines across America, and about the effort of this nation to deal with them. Here’s the reality. We have millions who’ve died across the world by this vaccine [sic]. We may never have an accurate count. We have hundreds of thousands who have died in the United States, and now it is said repeatedly that those who are headed to the hospital with the most serious strains of Covid-19, 99.5% of them were not vaccinated. So the facts are obvious here.”
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1414672568871575553
Tucker Carlson has always been one of the more extreme anchors on Fox News. But since Donald Trump lost the election, he’s gone even further off the deep end. Whether is has to deal with white supremacy or COVID-19, no conspiracy theory has been out of bounds for the personality.
In the last few weeks, Carlson has been claiming that he is being spied on by the NSA. And in a recent segment, he claimed that it has something to do with his attempts to interview Vladimir Putin.
During a recent appearance on MSNBC, Frank Figliuzzi said that the Fox host is playing a dangerous game. And the former FBI agent said that Carlson may even get his whistleblower arrested.
First, Figliuzzi said that he’s not sure the whistleblower is even real. He then continued, “There’s something much larger going on here. Another page in the playbook of folks like Tucker Carlson and the GOP who want to continue to erode the public’s trust in their institutions. If you keep doing that enough the objective is you can’t trust your institutions and the career professionals and then the only people you can trust are us. And you get to reshape the truth into your own version of reality. That’s what’s going on here.”
Frank Figliuzzi says that he doesn't think Tucker Carlson's whistleblower exist, but if they do, they're getting arrested. pic.twitter.com/udIbU2H9E0
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) July 9, 2021
Joe Rogan happily tells his viewers that he is not a Republican or a Democrat. His favored candidate during the run-up to the 2020 election was Bernie Sanders.
At the same time, the popular host has platformed many alt-right figures. This includes multiple appearances from Alex Jones. And this week, Rogan defended both Jones and Tucker Carlson.
Rogan was critiquing Brian Stelter’s recent comments on the two men. The host began, “Both men were saying things that are logical. They’re both saying … there was most likely agent provocateurs that at least had some part in that January 6th invasion of Capitol Hill. Like, that’s not an outrageous thing to say. Just by connecting him to Alex Jones, he’s trying to dismiss Tucker Carlson.”
The podcaster continued by discussing Carlson’s spying claims. “None of that is outrageous,” he said. “We know from Edward Snowden the NSA has been monitoring emails and everything. So that’s fact. … The idea that they’re not monitoring Alex Jones is insane. Whether or not they’re monitoring Tucker Carlson, I don’t know. But we know they have the ability to do so.”
As Jen Psaki recently explained, the NSA investigates people they worry are collaborating with foreign powers. Snowden had interactions with both Hong Kong and Russia.
Rogan has a legion of followers and it will matter to them that he is supporting Carlson and Jones.
Donald Trump‘s rise to power couldn’t have happened without Fox News. Host like Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and the hosts of Fox and Friends helped legitimize the businessman as a candidate. And Tucker Carlson certainly played a sizeable role as well.
But a new story shows that, at least among friends, Carlson is trying to somewhat distance himself from the former president. Politco reports that the Fox personality has been saying that he voted for Kanye West rather than Trump in 2020.
Daniel Lippman writes:
“Shortly after the presidential election, the Fox News host started telling some program guests that he had cast his ballot for West, according to two people familiar with those conversations. Given Carlson’s fierce on-air commentary in favor of Trump, the guests were left wondering if Carlson was serious or merely joking.”
Alex Jones may have been largely deplatformed at this point, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to make wild claims. He recently told listeners that he was in regular contract with the White House in the run-up to the 1/6 insurrection.
This week Tucker Carlson said that he was being spied on by the NSA. While Jen Psaki explained why the Fox host’s claims were dubious, Jones believes them completely. In fact, the InfoWars host alleged that the government monitors his text exchanges with Carlson.
Jones began the segment, “Tucker Carlson has basically the highest ethics I’ve seen in journalism. He’s incredibly smart, he’s grown up, he’s woken up to things being very sinister and he’s come a long way, and he’s surpassed really the work I’ve done.”
The conspiracy theorist continued:
“We know that they spy on my text messages, my email, everything, and it’s all given to Democrats, law firms, universities, think tanks. I mean, this is a major criminal operation, and that’s exactly what Carlson talked about. That’s exactly what Carlson talked about is how they are passing his information around, trying to find something he said unethical or racist, and of course, they can’t. And that means they’re reading my text messages to Tucker Carlson and our conversations and they’re listening to conversations. And I’m gonna stop right there. We already know that.”
Last week, General Mark Milley infuriated Conservatives by talking about white rage. And no one personifies the idea of white rage better than Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Carlson often talks about the persecution of white Americans during his show. On on Monday night, he said that he himself is a target of the government.
The Fox host told his audience, “[a whistleblower told us the NSA is] monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.”
Carlson, as he usually does, gave no proof or evidence to support his accusations
This morning Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked, “Tucker Carlson said that the NSA is spying on him. Is the administration aware of any espionage or listening efforts on US citizens by the NSA, and is Tucker Carlson one of them?”
She responded, “Well, the NSA has, I think you are well aware, everyone’s aware, everyone on this plane is aware, I should say, is an entity that focuses on foreign threats and individuals who are attempting to do us harm on foreign soil. So that is their purview, but beyond that I would point you to the intelligence community.”
Psaki’s answer made it pretty clear that Carlson’s conspiracy theory isn’t all that well thought out. Even if the government was looking into the Fox host, the NSA would not be the agency doing so.
Listen to the comments below:
LISTEN: Psaki addresses Tucker Carlson's claims that the NSA is "spying on him." pic.twitter.com/mUVBs1znfl
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 29, 2021
On Thursday, embattled lawmaker Matt Gaetz attempted to incorporate Fox News into a congressional hearing. The Florida congressman asked General Mark Milley about Critical Race Theory as it relates to the United States military.
Milley went viral when he took the Fox talking points apart. This takedown enraged many at the Conservative network, especially Tucker Carlson who dedicated a segment to the General last night. CNN’s Brianna Keilar ripped into the Fox host calling him the personification of white rage.
Carlson said during his Thursday night show, Hard to believe that man wears a uniform. He’s that unimpressive.
An enraged Keilar began, “Unimpressive, he calls him. What does he mean? You know, setting aside any disagreements he has with Milley – Milley’s not immune from criticism – but look at the stripes on his sleeve. Ten of them, we counted.”
The CNN host continued, “Each one of those overseas service bars is six months deployed. That is five years. That is more time than Tucker Carlson spent at his probably third-choice boarding school.”
Brianna Keilar on Tucker Carlson's "anti-white mania" segment: "That isn't just a dog whistle, it's a white whistle … He pretends white rage doesn't exist, he is white rage. Don't sell yourself short, pal." pic.twitter.com/dafo3BO3rk
The presidency of Donald Trump featured a number of truly awful moments. But the worst or the worst was the January 6th insurrection inspired by Trump’s false election claims.
Rather than taking responsibility for what happened on that day, the anchors of Fox News are looking to blame anyone but Trump. Last night, Tucker Carlson claimed the insurrection was an FBI inspired false flag operation.
During her Thursday night show, Erin Burnett slammed Carlson and all the GOP lawmakers going along with that line of reasoning. She told her audience:
“Tucker Carlson is now saying the FBI was part of the riot guilty of assaulting America’s Capitol? This is an incredible thing to say. It is incredibly irresponsible. Of course, members of Congress who refuse to admit their actions and Trump actions leading up to January 6th, were the real cause of the insurrection that day, and they have picked up on this new, baseless theory, rushing to it.”
Fox News has always been far right. But the network has taken an even more dramatic turn since the election of Joe Biden. Leading this charge is Tucker Carlson who recently claimed that the Trump insurrection this January was actually a false flag operation conducted by the FBI.
Newsmax likes to present itself as an alternative to Fox. And in order to compete, the channel has to be even more extreme than it’s massive competitor.
Eric Salcedo tried to do just this on Thursday afternoon when he claimed that states will soon be ‘rebelling’ against Joe Biden. The Newsmax host began:
“As socialist Democrats show their hatred for our Constitution, the rule of law, and our country, as they show their hatred for our people, an awakening is occurring. It’s an awakening that the Biden Press can’t hide. Despite the left-wing media’s best efforts, the American people — Blacks, Latinos, Whites, and Asians — they’re starting to connect their misery to the socialist Democrat policies that are causing that misery.”
In June of 1865, slaves were emancipated from slavery in the state of Texas. The next year, African Americans began to celebrate the anniversary of this occasion by celebrating Juneteenth.
This week, American lawmakers voted on whether or not to make the day a national holiday. Many Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy were behind the measure. But Tucker Carlson wasn’t. The Fox News host blasted Republican leadership for supporting the bill.
Carlson took particular issue with Texas’ John Cornyn. On Tuesday, the senator tweeted, “Happy that my bill to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday just passed the Senate. It has been a state holiday in Texas for more than 40 years. Now more than ever, we need to learn from our history and continue to form a more perfect union.”
Happy that my bill to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday just passed the Senate. It has been a state holiday in Texas for more than 40 years. Now more than ever, we need to learn from our history and continue to form a more perfect union. https://t.co/EpcJCUmfmn
The events of January 6th were broadcast live on all cable news channels. Supporters of
Donald Trump
Soon after the 2020 election, Fox News seemed to be softening its edges. Facing competition from extremist competitors like Newsmax and OAN, the long-time Conservative network may have been looking to appeal to a more moderate base.
That all ended after the insurrection. Fox has gone all in on Trump and his lies. Jim Acosta, a frequent critic of Trump, has become a fierce critic of the competing network. During a recent podcast interview with Mediaite, Acosta blasted Fox and especially Tucker Carlson.
Acosta told Aidan McLaughlin, “
What they’ve decided to do since [the election] is double down on being what I call the bullshit factory. They churn out segments that gin up outrage that they know is going to piss off their viewers and so on — even if it’s cockamamy made up nonsense. And they do it for the simple reason of attracting viewers, and ginning up the ratings.”
Last summer a group of Black Lives Matters protesters marched through a tony St. Louis neighborhood. The demonstrators were headed to the house of St. Louis Mayor Lydia Krewson who had recently doxxed citizens who were calling for police reform.
As they marched down the street, Mark and Patricia McCloskey went out in front of their house and waved guns at the protesters. Not surprisingly, the couple became infamous in liberal circles and heroes in conservative ones.
The McCloskey’s were indicted on charges of exhibiting weapons during a protest and tampering with a weapon. The Republican governor of the state, Mike Parson vowed to pardon the couple if they were to be convicted.
And now Mark McCloskey is attempting to turn his infamy into fame. According to sources, he will announce a run for the United States senate. He will be running for the Missouri seat that will be open upon the retirement of Republican Roy Blount.
The lawyer announced on his Twitter page, “I’m joining Tucker TONIGHT at 7pm CT/8pm ET to make a huge announcement. Tune in. This is one you won’t want to miss…”
I’m joining Tucker TONIGHT at 7pm CT/8pm ET to make a huge announcement.
Tune in. This is one you won’t want to miss… pic.twitter.com/wA7rj7js2g
— Mark McCloskey (@Mark__McCloskey) May 18, 2021
The internet has already begun to bash the looming campaign. In his ads, McCloskey appears on a farm in front of a tractor. But when he accosted the protesters, he was clearly standing in front of his massive mansion. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Tal Kopan noted, “Didn’t he live in the Central West End? Not many tractors driving through Forest Park.”
Didn’t he live in the Central West End? Not many tractors driving through Forest Park
Fox News has long referred to itself as a “fair and balanced” network. The joke is that nothing can be further from the truth. Even the networks “straight news” anchors are extremely conservative.
The networks opinion anchors, however are extremely right-wing. Sean Hannity appeared on stage with Donald Trump at a rally. Laura Ingraham demonizes immigrants and people of color on a nightly basis. And Tucker Carlson has been pushing white supremacist tropes on his show for years.
Fox’s CEO, though, believes that the anchors views are in line with what’s happening in Middle America. Lachlan Murdoch recently claimed that his opinion hosts are “center-right.”
The executive made the comments during a recent communications summit after he was asked about OAN and Newsmax.
“We compete every day with CNN, MSNBC, other news sources, so having competitors to the right of us is natural,” he said. “Opinion on our channel is center-right. That’s the right place for us to be. That’s where we think our audience is, that’s where middle America is. We’re happy with that positioning.”
Murdoch continued, “
That means there’s space to our left and to our right for competitors to come in. We’re confident in our journalism, confident in our reporting. We’re very happy with our opinion hosts. You have to be willing to have competition, and we see that very clearly.”
The United States is finally starting to beat back the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 60% of Americans have received at least one vaccination shot and businesses across the country are starting to reopen.
In the way of that success is anti-vaxxers and the right-wing media members that urge them one. Tucker Carlson has certainly done his part to make his viewers falsely question the safety of vaccines.
Alex Jones, as he is wont to do, has taken it a step father. During a recent episode of InfoWars, he called for Dr. Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates to be executed.
The conspiracy theorist began, “I don’t like death, I don’t like killing people, I don’t like starting a fight with these murderers. But they started a fight with us. And I’m just telling you like I said in the first hour, that we don’t want any violence against Fauci or Bill Gates or the New World Order from vigilantes.”
Jones continued:
“We want to take our governments and our countries back and we want to have them indicted with all the evidence, and we want to see them up on Nuremberg 2. And that’s what last weekend, I had — the weekend before last I had on Dr. Francis Boyle on, and he laid it all out as well, that the punishment for what they have done is death. And so I don’t say that to be dramatic. I don’t say that to stick my head in the mouth of a lion — these guys are hyenas, but still, they can bite. I do it because I will not be a coward.”
After months of waiting the COVID-19 vaccine is readily available nearly everywhere in the United States. The White House has been pulling out all the stops to urge Americans to get inoculated.
But there are also voices telling people that they don’t need to get vaccinated. Joe Rogan was one of them. The most prominent one, though, is Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson.
During a Sunday spot on CNN, Dr. Jonathan Reiner tore into the Fox host and demanded that he let viewers know what his vaccination status is. Anchor Jim Acosta began, “Tucker Carlson received blowback and rightly so over this anti-vaccine rhetoric he’s been engaging in.”
Reiner answered, “Yeah, so I think he’s really a saboteur. That’s what I think of Tucker Carlson.” The Doctor continued:
“Every night he has a million questions about this vaccine. Somehow, magically, he has no one on his show that can answer these questions — I’mwilling to answer these questions. I have two questions for Tucker Carlson,” he concluded. “Number one, you have been vaccinated? Number two, why won’t you tell your audience whether you have been vaccinated? I am tired of his nonsense.”
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1391517278290599936
Tucker Carlson has gone completely off the rails over the last few months. The Fox host was always controversial, but he’s recently gone deeper into anti-mask hysteria and white supremacist theories.
So it was fitting that he spoke with Marjorie Taylor Greene on Wednesday. The QAnon congresswoman is, by far, the looniest member of the House of Representatives. And she’s more than willing to blast any of her colleagues whether they be Democrats or Republicans.
Tucker Carlson is currently angry at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP pollster Frank Luntz. The Fox host dedicated a segment of his program to a story about McCarthy once renting a room in Luntz’s house.
On Wednesday, Carlson and Greene posited that the arrangement meant the two men were lovers. On his streaming show, the host asked, “Were you shocked to learn they share a toothbrush or are roommates or whatever?”
Tucker: Were you shocked to learn they share a toothbrush or are roommates or whatever?
Greene: I was more curious, like, who gets the top bunk and who gets the bottom bunk.
Tucker: Do we have any clarity on that?
Greene: Somebody should find out, right?