New York Times Digs Deep Into Tucker Carlson's World

Three-part series explores how he came to create what 'may be the most racist show in the history of cable news'
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted May 1, 2022 7:31 AM CDT
New York Times Digs Deep Into Tucker Carlson's World
Tucker Carlson, in a 2017 photo.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

The New York Times has given Tucker Carlson plenty to vent about on his Fox show. The newspaper is out with a three-part deep dive into Carlson's life and career. As you might expect, it is not exactly flattering, and the main headline gets to the point: "How Tucker Carlson Stoked White Fear to Conquer Cable." The gist of it, as written by Nicholas Confessore:

  • "Carlson has constructed what may be the most racist show in the history of cable news—and also, by some measures, the most successful. Though he frequently declares himself an enemy of prejudice ... his show teaches loathing and fear. Night after night, hour by hour, Mr. Carlson warns his viewers that they inhabit a civilization under siege—by violent Black Lives Matter protesters in American cities, by diseased migrants from south of the border, by refugees importing alien cultures, and by tech companies and cultural elites who will silence them, or label them racist, if they complain."

The story tracks Carlson's career path, noting that while he always has worked for conservative outlets—or began his own, as with the Daily Caller—former colleagues now regularly accuse him of embracing the fringe. The stories explore that point—whether Carlson's Fox show is "merely lucrative theater or an expression of his true values." Confessore's conclusion: A "close reading of Mr. Carlson’s decades in television and journalism, and interviews with dozens of friends and former colleagues, show that Tucker Carlson Tonight is both." Here is the first part, the second part, and the third part. One key takeaway: Carlson has embraced Trumpism while keeping a careful distance from Donald Trump himself. (More Tucker Carlson stories.)

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