With an average audience of 4.33 million viewers each night, frozen dinner heir and political pundit Tucker Carlson consistently spews hate through misinformation and misdirection as the host of the highest-rated program in U.S. cable news history, “Tucker Carlson Tonight”.
A defining trait of the millionaire’s TV persona is his hatred for the American “elite.” He repeatedly discusses his distaste for the “pompous” rich, like Barack Obama, to an almost anti-capitalist degree; ironically, it’s estimated “Tucker Carlson Tonight” has sold $108.3 million in commercials alone this year, making up 16 percent of Fox’s billion-dollar ad revenue.
Yet Carlson still attempts to portray himself as a figurehead of America’s working class. A supposed patriot, he wants the best for the United States — or at least enough to relentlessly push Fox’s ultra-conservative narrative on their elderly white viewership.
These fearmongering tactics are nothing out of the ordinary in right-wing media. However, while personalities like Ben Shapiro and Kaitlyn Bennett bring some satirical entertainment to outside audiences, Carlson offers nothing but constant racism, homophobia and hate.
When it comes to appealing to his audience, Carlson’s most basic approach is to feed off people’s fear of the unknown. In June, for example, Carlson compared creators on the social media outlet TikTok to a literal cult. Showing a clip of a teenager lip-syncing Nicki Minaj lyrics, he manipulatively draws the conclusion that the child is brainwashed to disagree with and “attack” her poor parents out of a “loyalty” to Black Lives Matter.
In another feature, instead of talking about the 2017 Republican tax cuts that helped big businesses instead of the middle class as he’d endorsed, Carlson deliberately dedicated a majority of his show to a bogus segment on “racist trees.”
Carlson has deemed the rise of white supremacy in America a liberal conspiracy theory, all the while claiming that immigrants have made the country “poorer and dirtier.” He and his fans are able to dismiss any backlash he receives as toxic “cancel culture,” invariably resulting in a follow-up segment in which Carlson admirably stands by his original claims.
The consequences of Carlson’s extremism became most apparent following the recent Kenosha riots when the host defended the actions of murderer Kyle Rittenhouse.
“How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?” he said.
To Carlson, “maintaining order” apparently means murdering two innocent people, a crime even our current president refuses to condemn. This is the result of Carlson’s inability to distance himself from radical far-right rhetoric in turn for higher ratings and publicity.
It’s becoming more and more clear that Carlson is intentionally pushing a narrative that he himself is writing. While it’s humorous to acknowledge as an outsider, it’s dangerous to the people who actually take his word seriously and believe the liberal left wants to destroy the American way of life.
While the left advocates for race equality and climate change, Carlson somehow twists these movements into what he views as socialist corruption. Instead of acknowledging things as they are, Carlson falsely portrays himself as a heroic character trying to save America from ruin. This tactic only heightens dramatics to further divide the country along race and party lines.
What I want to know is, at what point will Carlson be satisfied with his job well done?
Gabrielle Martinez is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Gonzales, LA.
