When it comes to right-wing populism, know that Boris Johnson is no fool, and the former British prime minister is also very familiar with aggressive tabloid media. But while Johnson recently toured the US, even he couldn’t believe how America’s right wing cringed at Tucker Carlson. “I am amazed and shocked how many people are afraid of a man named Tucker Carlson,” the former prime minister said. “What’s up with this guy? All these great Republicans seem a little scared of him and his perspective.”
Even Boris Johnson shakes his head
Johnson continued: “I wasn’t looking at what he was saying. But it amazes me how often he is mentioned over and over. He comes up with bad ideas and influences how Putin is perceived. That’s a disaster. It stands for war, aggression, systematic murder, rape and destruction.”
Fox News is a force in American politics. The conservative broadcaster brings together far more viewers than all other right-wing media combined. And within Fox News, Tucker Carlson has become the leading voice. That’s saying something, because Murdoch station has never had a shortage of right-wing screamers. Here’s just a short list: Bill O’Reilly – he had to resign because of sexual harassment – or Glenn Beck or Laura Ingraham and Jugde Jeanine Pirro.
Sean Hannity could bask in the role of chief ideologue at Fox News for a long time. Meanwhile, the somewhat stuffy buddy Trump has been dethroned, because while Hannity is still staunchly neoliberal and business-friendly, Carlson has no qualms about big business. He railed against the elite, the “Davos man,” accusing them of trying to set up a global dictatorship. He also attacks Big Tech and fuels capitalism head on and sees himself as an advocate of the little (white) man.
Even the elite of the Republican Party gets their fat from Carlson. Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham are regularly insulted. However, representatives of the far right such as Marjorie Taylor Greene or Matt Gaetz can count on a lot of understanding from the star moderator.
Logically, Carlson is an ardent Putin savvy – and is therefore regularly quoted on Russian state television. Almost daily, he urges President Joe Biden to take better care of the border with Mexico instead of spending billions on Ukraine’s defense. In addition to Putin, Carlson also worships prominent right-wing populists such as Viktor Orban – he even broadcast his show from Budapest for a week – and Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s deposed president.
Now Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, has given Carlson another stick. He has granted him exclusive rights to evaluate approximately 40,000 hours of video footage recorded by Capitol security forces during the events of January 6, 2021.
To say that McCarthy turned the farmer into a gardener is an understatement. In a three-part series, Carlson has already tried to support the preposterous proposition that the storming of the Capitol was in fact a “false flag” operation by the FBI, and that the vast majority of the Capitol stormers were ultimately just patriots who said the majority peacefully exercised the right to freedom of demonstration. Considering that about 1,000 of these “peaceful patriots” have now been charged with breaking the peace and some have already been convicted, this is a pretty steep proposition.
In addition, there are fears that Carlson will misuse the extensive video material to counter the findings of the commission investigating the events of January 6 and present the storming of the Capitol as a demonstration that got somewhat out of hand . by hand. He shouldn’t care that he might also betray police security measures.
Tucker Carlson has no moral compass. This is also evident from the internal emails of Fox News. They became widely known after Dominion, a maker of voting machines, filed a $1.6 billion lawsuit against the Murdoch broadcaster. The reason for the lawsuit is the allegation, also repeatedly by Fox News, that these machines had been manipulated in favor of Biden.
The Fox News investigation into the lawsuit revealed that leaders never believed Trump’s Big Lie and believed that the proponents of this absurd lie, specifically Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, were insane. Nevertheless, they repeated their accusations over and over in their programs.
Carlson also joined in this cynical game, even demanding that a reporter covering the facts be fired without notice. He doesn’t care about the truth, he cares about the company’s image and share price.
David French, a columnist for The New York Times, has long been traditionally conservative. He describes Fox News’ role as follows: “It’s more than a news source. It’s where “Red America” (conservative America) goes for emotional validation. For every major event, it goes to Fox News first.”
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
