Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an American conservative political commentator, reporter, author, and columnist who has hosted the nightly political talk show Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News since 2016.
Quotes
Date unidentified
- I love women, but they're primitive. They're not hard to understand. [1]
- I think Michael Moore is loathsome, though, not because he dislikes Bush, but because he seems to dislike America.
- source needed
- Don't take a leak on my shoes and tell me it's raining.
- source needed
- STEWART: No, this [CrossFire], it's theater. Like, take this for example. How old are you?
- CARLSON: I'm 35.
- STEWART: And you're wearing a bow tie. See my point? Now, I'm not saying you're not a smart man, because those are hard to tie.
- Jon Stewart on CrossFire
1990s
- Grover Norquist is a mean-spirited, humorless, dishonest little creep… an embarrassing anomaly, the leering, drunken uncle everyone else wishes would stay home… [He] is repulsive, granted, but there aren't nearly enough of him to start a purge trial."
- Slate magazine, 17 July 1997
2000s
- "I think it’s a total nightmare and disaster, and I’m ashamed that I went against my own instincts in supporting it (the U.S. war in Iraq). It’s something I’ll never do again. Never. I got convinced by a friend of mine who’s smarter than I am, and I shouldn’t have done that. No. I want things to work out, but I’m enraged by it, actually."
- New York Observer, 12 May 2004
- Maybe in fact it was better to have Saddam in there. Maybe Saddam, as bad as he was-was not the worst we could get. Maybe chaos was the worst we could get. That's the truth.
..
I mean, look, no matter how you feel about Bush, watching him speak is difficult. It's like— it's like watching a drunk man cross an icy street.- Real Time with Bill Maher, 1 October 2004
- There may be countries worth invading, but I don't think we'll be invading them.
..
It's almost impossible to make the case that Bush is a conservative. That may be good; that may be bad.
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I think [Pat] Buchanan is far too easily and glibly dismissed.
..
The Republican Party of 2005 bears no resemblance to the Republican Party of 1994- Hardball with Chris Matthews, 11 February 2005
- From the 15 December 2005 edition of MSNBC's The Situation with Tucker Carlson:
- CARLSON: Here's the problem, [radio host] Max [Kellerman]. Here's the problem with telling Canada to stop criticizing the United States: It only eggs them on. Canada is essentially a stalker, stalking the United States, right? Canada has little pictures of us in its bedroom, right? Canada spends all of its time thinking about the United States, obsessing over the United States. It's unrequited love between Canada and the United States. We, meanwhile, don't even know Canada's name. We pay no attention at all.
- [...]
- CARLSON: Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice, but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada.
- You know what gets women going is arguing with them,
It's true. It's true. You debate politics with a woman and just go—just full blown out there, especially feminism. If you're talking to a feminist, and she's giving you, ‘Well, men really need to be more sensitive,’ (say) ‘no, actually, men don't need to be more sensitive, you just need to be quiet and kind of do what you're told.’
..
I love women, but they're primitive. They're not hard to understand. And one of the things they hate more than anything is weakness in a man.- 2006 then 2007 on Bubba the Love Sponge, unearthed 10 March 2019
- BUBBA THE LOVE SPONGE: Fine people of Canada, please understand that Tucker is a very good friend of mine, but I in no way, shape, or form share his views of how he feels about people from Canada. I love Canada. They're great people up there. Tucker feels that you guys are a bunch of assholes.
TUCKER CARLSON: I totally disagree. If I didn't like Canada, I wouldn’t consider it worth invading. I mean, Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys -- that’s why it wasn't worth invading.
THE LOVE SPONGE: Keep burying yourself.
CARLSON: But Canada's a solid place with good-looking women and good fishing. We should invade.- 2008 (either July 10 or October 7) on Bubba the Love Sponge, unearthed 11 March 2019
2010s
2018
- Hazleton's population was 2 percent Hispanic. Just 16 years later, Hazleton is majority Hispanic. This is more change than human beings are designed to digest. This pace of change makes societies volatile, really volatile, just as ours has become volatile. That's happening all over the country. No nation, no society has ever changed this much, this fast. Now before you start calling anyone bigoted, consider and be honest: how would you feel if that happened in your neighborhood?
- March 20, 2018 on Tucker Carlson Tonight (Coaston, Jane (March 21, 2018). "Watch: Tucker Carlson rails against America’s demographic changes". Vox Media.; Nguyen, Tina (August 10, 2018). "“The America We know Doesn't Exist anymore”: Fox's Dog Whistle Becomes an Air Horn". Vanity Fair.; Darby, Luke (August 11, 2019). "How white supremacy went mainstream in the US: 8chan, Trump, voter suppression". The Guardian.)
- It’s obvious we need more scientists and skilled engineers. What we’re getting instead are waves of poor people with a high school education or less. They’re nice people; nobody doubts that. But as an economic matter, this is insane. It’s indefensible, so nobody tries to defend it. It’s indefensible, so no one even tries to defend it.
Instead, our leaders demand you shut up and accept it. We’ve got a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer, dirtier and more divided. Immigration is a form of atonement. Previous leaders of our country committed sins. So, we must pay for those sins by welcoming an endless chain of migrant caravans.
- December 13, 2018 on Tucker Carlson Tonight (Carlson, Tucker (December 14, 2018). "Tucker Carlson: Why no one ever makes the economic case for mass immigration". Fox News.; Hsu, Tiffany (August 20, 2019). The New York Times.; Wemple, Erik (December 15, 2018). "Tucker Carlson said immigration makes America ‘dirtier.’ So an advertiser took action". The Washington Post.; O'Neil, Luke (December 18, 2018). "Advertisers recoil as Tucker Carlson says immigrants make US ‘dirtier’". The Guardian.; Stelloh, Tim (December 17, 2018). "Advertisers bail on Fox News' Tucker Carlson over immigration comments". NBC News.; Taylor, Kate; Relman, Eliza (January 7, 2019). "Red Lobster stops advertising on Tucker Carlson's Fox News show after he made controversial comments about women's pay and immigrants". Business Insider.; MacDougald, Park (September 17, 2019). "Is Tucker Carlson the Most Important Pundit in America?". New York.)
Ship of Fools
- But is diversity our strength? The less we have in common, the stronger we are? Is that true of families? Is it true in neighborhoods or businesses? Of course not. Then why is it true of America? Nobody knows. Nobody’s even allowed to ask the question.
- Carlson, Tucker (2018). Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution. Free Press. ISBN 978-1501183669.; Robinson, Nathan (August 10, 2019). "Guess who said it: Tucker Carlson or a far-right shooter". The Guardian.
- Thanks to mass immigration, America has experienced greater demographic change in the last few decades than any other country in history has undergone during peacetime. If you grew up in America, suddenly nothing looks the same. Your neighbors are different. So is the landscape and the customs and very often the languages you hear on the street. You may not recognize your own hometown. Human beings aren’t wired for that. [W]e are told these changes are entirely good. We must celebrate the fact that a nation that was overwhelmingly European, Christian, and English-speaking fifty years ago has become a place with no ethnic majority, immense religious pluralism, and no universally shared culture or language.
- Carlson, Tucker (2018). Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class Is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution. Free Press. ISBN 978-1501183669.; Robinson, Nathan (August 10, 2019). "Guess who said it: Tucker Carlson or a far-right shooter". The Guardian.
2019
- I want to say to you — why don’t you go fuck yourself, you tiny brain — and I hope this gets picked up because you’re a moron, I tried to give you a hearing but you were too fucking annoying.
- To Dutch historian Rutger Bregman in an unaired segment taped for Tucker Carlson Tonight (Wolfson, Sam (February 20, 2019). "Historian who confronted Davos billionaires leaks Tucker Carlson rant". The Guardian.; Matthews, Dylan (February 20, 2019). "Tucker Carlson had a total meltdown when a guest criticized Fox News". Vox Media.; Goodkind, Nicole (February 20, 2019). "Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Tells 'Tiny Brain' Historian to 'Go F*** Himself' in Unaired Interview". Newsweek.; Embury-Dennis, Tom (February 21, 2019). "Tucker Carlson berates historian who criticised Fox News in leaked footage: 'Go f*** yourself, you tiny brain'". The Independent.; Wemple, Erik (February 20, 2019). "Dutch historian exposes Tucker Carlson’s fraud". The Washington Post.)
- These are the people who write our movies and our sitcoms,
They are not shocked by naughty words. They just pretend to be when it’s useful. It’s been very useful lately
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Since the day we went on the air they’ve been working hard to kill this show
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we will never bow to the mob. Ever.
- You’ve got to be honest about what it means to lead a country, it means killing people.
- Tucker Carlson: Leading a Country ‘Means Killing People’, June 30 2019
- Ilhan Omar has an awful lot to be grateful for, but she isn't grateful, not at all. After everything America has done for Omar and for her family, she hates this country more than ever....
Omar isn't disappointed in America, she's enraged by it. Virtually every public statement she makes accuses Americans of bigotry and racism. This is an immoral country, she says. She has undisguised contempt for the United States and for its people. That should worry you, and not just because Omar is now a sitting member of Congress.
Ilhan Omar is living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country. A system designed to strengthen America is instead undermining it. Some of the very people we try hardest to help have come to hate us passionately.
Maybe that's our fault for asking too little of our immigrants. We aren't self-confident enough to make them assimilate, so they never feel fully American. Or maybe the problem is deeper than that, maybe we are importing people from places whose values are simply antithetical to ours. Who knows what the problem is, but there is a problem, and whatever the cause, this cannot continue. It's not sustainable.
No country can import large numbers of people who hate it and expect to survive. The Romans were the last to try that, with predictable results. So, be grateful for Ilhan Omar, annoying as she is. She's a living fire alarm, a warning to the rest of us that we better change our immigration system immediately, or else.
- July 9, 2019 on Tucker Carlson Tonight (Wemple, Erik (July10, 2019). "Tucker Carlson embraces hateful nativism in attack on Rep. Omar". The Washington Post.; Friedersdorf, Conor (July 10, 2019). "Tucker Carlson Has Failed to Assimilate". The Atlantic.; Touchberry, Ramsey (July 11, 2019). "Tucker Carlson Says Fox News Has 'Got Our Back' After Ilhan Omar Calls for Host to Be Fired". Newsweek.; Levitz, Eric (July 10, 2019). "Tucker Carlson’s Latest Attack on Ilhan Omar Is a Pack of Racist Lies". New York.; MacDougald, Park (September 17, 2019). "Is Tucker Carlson the Most Important Pundit in America?". New York.)
- We noted at the beginning of this show that Ilhan Omar is trying to take this show off the air. Shut us up. Silence us. We want to reassure you that’s not going to happen. Why? Because we work at Fox News, and they’ve got our back, and we’re thankful for that.
- July 10, 2019 on Tucker Carlson Tonight (Visser, Nick (July 10, 2019). "Tucker Carlson Taunts Critics After Racist Rant: Fox News Has My Back". HuffPost.; Touchberry, Ramsey (July 10, 2019). "Tucker Carlson Says Fox News Has 'Got Our Back' After Ilhan Omar Calls for Host to Be Fired". Newsweek.)
- If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, problems this country has, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia probably. It’s actually not a real problem in America. "White supremacy, that's the problem." This is a hoax, just like the Russia hoax. It's a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power.
- August 6, 2019 on Tucker Carlson Tonight (Stelter, Brian (August 7, 2019). "Tucker Carlson wrongly tells his viewers the country's white supremacy problem 'is a hoax'". CNN.; Rueb, Emily S; Bryson Taylor, Derrick (August 8, 2019). "Tucker Carlson of Fox Falsely Calls White Supremacy a ‘Hoax’: Fact check". The New York Times.; Beauchamp, Zack (August 7, 2019). "Tucker Carlson’s claim that white supremacy is a “hoax” is false — but revealing". Vox.; Helmore, Edward (August 7, 2019). "Fox News host Tucker Carlson dismisses white supremacy as 'a hoax'". The Guardian.; Elfrink, Tim (2019). "‘It’s not actually a real problem in America’: Tucker Carlson calls white supremacy a ‘hoax’". The Washington Post.; Rodriguez, Adrianna (August 8, 2019). "Fox News host Tucker Carlson says white supremacy is ‘not a real problem in America’". USA Today.; Bauder, David (August 7, 2019). "Fox’s Carlson calls white supremacy ‘a hoax.’". Associated Press.; MacDougald, Park (September 17, 2019). "Is Tucker Carlson the Most Important Pundit in America?". New York.)
- How exactly is diversity our strength?
- Darby, Luke (August 11, 2019). "How white supremacy went mainstream in the US: 8chan, Trump, voter suppression". The Guardian.
About Carlson
- We think Tucker Carlson had it right yesterday evening: “The very people — in some cases, literally the same people who lured us into the Iraq quagmire 16 years ago — are demanding a new war — this one with Iran. Carlson described you as “skeptical.” We believe ample skepticism is warranted... We are at your disposal, should you wish to discuss any of this with us.
- He has never been believable as a hatemongering brownshirt; his political ethnicity is probably closer to traitor than demagogue. You'd know exactly which side of the desert island to search for Carlson, if he were ever to be stranded on one with the Barnard French faculty and the Tuscaloosa chapter of the Klan – he'd be on the left bank, passionately misquoting Baudelaire.
- Carlson occupies the same role for conservatives in the media landscape that Colmes does for liberals. Colmes is a pale-faced, paint-by-numbers loser whose only job is to be a believable liberal for people who live in trailers. Carlson is CNN's idea of a conservative. His right-wing ideas come from his changeable, expensive brains instead of his stomach. In the same way that the helpless, ineffectual Colmes is a reassuring image to hardcore conservatives, Carlson puts a soothing face on conservatism for educated East Coast progressives – because even the biggest neo-Marxist wanker from Brown takes one look at Carlson and sees the one man in America he would feel sure of being able to kick the shit out of in a back alley.
- Matt Taibbi
- He is a patsy and a fraud – the kind of public personality totalitarian regimes used to nurture for years in order to execute for a lack of orthodoxy at some opportune historical moment much later on.
- Matt Taibbi
- Tucker Carlson is literally our greatest ally. I don’t believe that he doesn’t hate the Jews.
- Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, December 18, 2016 (Anglin, Andrew (December 18, 2016). Assault by Meme: Twitter Gave Kurt Eichenwald a Seizure. The Daily Stormer.; Bernstein, Joseph (November 28, 2018). "Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Is The Daily Stormer's Favorite Pundit". Buzzfeed News.; Gertz, Matt (January 5, 2017). "Fox News' New Prime-Time Host Tucker Carlson Is Beloved By Neo-Nazis And Misogynists". Media Matters for America.; Holmes, Jack (July 10, 2019). "Tucker Carlson's Disgusting Rant Against Ilhan Omar Is About One Thing". Esquire.; Darby, Luke (August 7, 2019). "Tucker Carlson Claims White Supremacy Is a "Hoax"". GQ.; Wemple, Erik (November 29, 2018). "Tucker Carlson, the Daily Stormer’s favorite: All those rants about diversity and demographic change are finding their audience". The Washington Post.; Beauchamp, Zack (August 7, 2019). "Tucker Carlson’s claim that white supremacy is a “hoax” is false — but revealing". Vox.; Robinson, Nathan (August 10, 2019). "Guess who said it: Tucker Carlson or a far-right shooter". The Guardian.)
- Tucker Carlson is basically "Daily Stormer: The Show." Other than the language used, he is covering all of our talking points.
- Andrew Anglin, founder of the neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, August 24, 2018 (Holmes, Jack (July 10, 2019). "Tucker Carlson's Disgusting Rant Against Ilhan Omar Is About One Thing". Esquire.; Darby, Luke (August 7, 2019). "Tucker Carlson Claims White Supremacy Is a "Hoax"". GQ.; Beauchamp, Zack (August 7, 2019). "Tucker Carlson’s claim that white supremacy is a “hoax” is false — but revealing". Vox.)
- God bless Mr. Carlson for focusing on these vital issues.
- David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, via Twitter (David Duke. Twitter (March 22, 2017).; Beauchamp, Zack (August 7, 2019). "Tucker Carlson’s claim that white supremacy is a “hoax” is false — but revealing". Vox.; Robinson, Nathan (August 10, 2019). "Guess who said it: Tucker Carlson or a far-right shooter". The Guardian.)
- Tucker is RIGHT! White Supremacy is a ZioMedia Conspiracy Theory! The term is itself a lie. Millions of White activists are NOT 'supremacists' We seek NOT to oppress or destroy any race! Human Rights for all - EVEN FOR WHITE PEOPLE! Stop antiWhite racism!
- David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, via Twitter, August 7, 2019 (Hutzler, Alexandra (August 7, 2019). "Former Head of KKK David Duke Supports Tucker Carlson After White Supremacy 'Hoax' Claims". Newsweek.; Tarlo, Shira (August 8, 2019). "Fox News alleges Carlson's vacation isn't related to racist claim that white supremacy is a "hoax"". Salon.)
- Not gonna lie, it’s kinda fun watching a racist fool like this weeping about my presence in Congress,
- Ilhan Omar, July 9, 2019, via Twitter (Cummings, William (July 10, 2019). "Ilhan Omar calls Tucker Carlson 'racist fool' after he says she proves 'immigration has become dangerous'". USA Today.; Horton, Alex (July 10, 2019). "Ilhan Omar calls Tucker Carlson a ‘racist fool’ after he describes her as a threat to U.S.". The Washington Post.)
- As much as people are rightly laying responsibility for much of the philosophy and rhetoric that clearly motivated the El Paso killer at the feet of the president, it's important to remember where Trump gets many of his talking points: Fox News.
Anyone who has tuned into their evening lineup over the past couple of years knows that the language in the shooter's online screed could have come from the mouths of any number of the network's stars. But the only one who has been spouting the specific ideological mix that motivated the killer is Tucker Carlson.
- Heather Digby Parton, August 9, 2019, in Salon (Digby Parton, Heather (August 9, 2019). "Tucker Carlson's white supremacy is no "hoax": How the Fox News star masks his hate in populism". Salon.)
- Of all the Fox News personalities who harp on immigration, he is the one with the most sophisticated white nationalist ideology. His ideas fall much more in line with the new strain of right-wing "populism" of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon than David Duke (although the latter is a big fan.)
- Heather Digby Parton, August 9, 2019, in Salon (Digby Parton, Heather (August 9, 2019). "Tucker Carlson's white supremacy is no "hoax": How the Fox News star masks his hate in populism". Salon.)
- He has no intellectual understanding of the white supremacist movement. He's simply an old-school racist without any need for an underlying philosophy to justify it.
- Heather Digby Parton, August 9, 2019, in Salon (Digby Parton, Heather (August 9, 2019). "Tucker Carlson's white supremacy is no "hoax": How the Fox News star masks his hate in populism". Salon.)
- Fox News host Tucker Carlson can congratulate himself for the sentiment coming from the White House. Last week, Carlson apparently decided that the discussion on immigration featured an insufficient amount of racism and hate. So he attacked Omar, who arrived in the United States at the age of 12, for having the temerity to point out that this country doesn’t always live up to its own lofty ideals.
Folks who go into the news business dream of leaving a mark....As for Carlson, he’s making his mark by inspiring racist tweets.
- Erik Wemple, media critic, The Washington Post, July 15, 2019 ("You happy now, Tucker Carlson?". The Washington Post. July 15, 2019.)
- He has used his platform to push out prejudice. I think it’s disgusting and I don’t think it deserves a place on a major news network....incredibly irresponsible to even make such a statement while we are still burying people who were gunned down by a white supremacist.
- Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer and national director of the Anti-Defamation League (Bauder, David (August 7, 2019). "Fox’s Carlson calls white supremacy ‘a hoax.’". Associated Press.)
- Tucker Carlson is attempting to stay the course amid an advertiser exodus from his Fox News program because of his racist commentary. Carlson had been a mouthpiece for white supremacy, and since being promoted to a prime-time slot on Fox, he has elevated fringe “alt-right” grievances into mainstream media.
- Media Matters for America, December 18, 2018 (Peltz, Madeline (December 18, 2018). "What happens when the No. 1 cable news channel is steeped in white nationalist rhetoric?". Media Matters for America.; Rosenberg, Eli (March 17, 2019). "Meet the 24-year-old who found the Tucker Carlson tapes". The Washington Post. Associated Press.; Rosenberg, Eli (March 14, 2019). "Meet the 24-year-old who found the Tucker Carlson tapes". The Independent. The Washington Post.; Relman, Eliza (March 14, 2019). "A 24-year-old on the nightshift unearthed the Tucker Carlson tapes that have engulfed the Fox News host". Business Insider.)
- One of my recent analyses contains more than 140 examples of when Tucker Carlson has relied on white nationalists and anti-Semitic tropes in his programming. One of the most prominent ways this manifests is an obsession with racial demographics, and how they are changing in the United States. Tucker Carlson is obsessed with "cultural preservation." There is an entire international far-right movement that echoes such sentiments. Carlson is also constantly fear-mongering about immigrants and blaming every possible problem on the individual choices of immigrants, as opposed to systemic institutions that perpetuate poverty and racism and which impact all people in the United States.
- Madeline Peltz, researcher with Media Matters for America, July 18, 2019 (DeVega, Chauncey (July 18, 2019). "Media expert: How Tucker Carlson and Fox News have mainstreamed "unfettered white nationalism"". Salon.)
- Tucker Carlson has built his career over the last decade on the inherent authority which comes with being on television. He can use his platform to mainstream white nationalist or white supremacist talking points and ideas that his audience otherwise would not be privy to. Tucker Carlson has managed to pervert the privilege with comes with being on television into an opportunity to mainstream white nationalism.
What Tucker is doing is not abstract. Mainstreaming these talking points puts vulnerable communities under direct threat of physical and material harm. The FBI has documented a rise in hate crimes since Trump's campaign and through to the third year of his presidency. There have been massacres targeting Muslims, black people and Jewish people in churches, mosques and synagogues. There is a real life-and-death consequence from the unfettered white nationalism on Fox News, the No. 1 cable news network in the country.
- Madeline Peltz, researcher with Media Matters for America, July 18, 2019 (DeVega, Chauncey (July 18, 2019). "Media expert: How Tucker Carlson and Fox News have mainstreamed "unfettered white nationalism"". Salon.; MacDougald, Park (September 17, 2019). "Is Tucker Carlson the Most Important Pundit in America?". New York.)
- Tucker Carlson began at The Weekly Standard. Tucker Carlson was a great young reporter. He was one of the most gifted 24-year-olds I’ve seen in the 20 years that I edited the magazine. His copy was sort of perfect at age 24.
He had always a little touch of Pat Buchananism, I would say, paleo-conservativism. But that’s very different from what he’s become now. I mean, it is close now to racism, white — I mean, I don’t know if it’s racism exactly — but ethno-nationalism of some kind, let’s call it. A combination of dumbing down, as you said earlier, and stirring people’s emotions in a very unhealthy way.
- Bill Kristol, January 25, 2018 (Harwood, John (January 25, 2018). "Bill Kristol takes on Fox News, Tucker Carlson: ‘I don’t know if it’s racism exactly – but ethno-nationalism of some kind’". NBC News. CNBC.)
- From his position in the 8 p.m. slot, Carlson has managed to become one of the most influential voices in conservative politics, often by refusing to adhere to Republican conventional wisdom. Only a few weeks before the Iran flare-up, he delivered a monologue in praise of Elizabeth Warren’s “economic patriotism” plan; in January, he launched an intra-conservative war over the virtues of capitalism with a monologue attacking Mitt Romney, private equity, and conservatives who “worship” the market. He is also perhaps the most reviled talking head in the country thanks to his frequent diatribes against diversity, immigration, and multiculturalism.
- MacDougald, Park (September 17, 2019). "Is Tucker Carlson the Most Important Pundit in America?". New York.
- Although Carlson flirts with white identity politics, particularly on the topic of immigration, his real ideology isn’t white nationalism or even conservatism, at least in the sense that conservatism has come to be defined in America. More than anything, he espouses the Middle American radicalism that John Judis, writing in 2016, identified as the ideological core of Trumpism. Middle American radicals (MARs) are neither fully liberal nor conservative but a blend of the two, mixing populist economics and a hostility to big business with intense nationalism, right-wing positions on race and immigration, and a desire for strong presidential leadership. Their animating idea is that the broad (and implicitly white) middle of American society — those Carlson referred to, in a podcast interview with Ben Shapiro, as people with “100 IQs making 80 grand a year” — is besieged on two sides, by a corrupt elite above it and a grasping underclass below.
- MacDougald, Park (September 17, 2019). "Is Tucker Carlson the Most Important Pundit in America?". New York.
References
External links
- Peltz, Madeline (October 28, 2018). "Tucker Carlson's descent into white supremacy: A timeline". Media Matters for America.