We’ve read David French’s New York Times column on Tucker Carlson, but the first ten or so paragraphs are just a retelling of President Donald Trump’s cruelty and dishonesty, which isn’t surprising. The Times hired a #NeverTrumper to be their “conservative” columnist, so just about everything leads back to Trump.
Carlson’s video he posted Wednesday night currently has more than 65 million views — and if Carlson’s audience was Fox News-watching ultra-MAGA Republicans, we severely underestimated their numbers.
In 2016 we did not yet know whether Trump would influence the GOP more than the GOP influenced Trump.
Tucker helped answer question; he helped drive the GOP to be just as cruel, just as dishonest, and sometimes even more populist than Trump himself. https://t.co/lVJdeKfJ7T
— David French (@DavidAFrench) April 27, 2023
French writes:
On Tucker’s program truth was optional, insults were mandatory, and racism was all but explicit. The narrative was consistent: “They” were after “you.” “They” were lying to “you.” And “they” were terrible, horrible people.
…
But Tucker’s influence went beyond substance and style. He gave a platform to a number of the Trump right’s most notorious and most fringe voices. If Trump could create a constellation of right-wing stars, so could Carlson. He helped mold the G.O.P. in his race-obsessed, conspiracy-addled image, helped perpetuate a culture of cruel and punitive Republican communication and helped build an infrastructure of new-right voices who copy his substance and style.
If all that is true, then what could possibly be unimportant about Carlson? The fact is that at the end of the day, he was not bigger than Fox. The secret of Tucker’s fame is that it was always rooted far more in his Fox News time slot than in his (or his ideas’) inherent appeal. His influence, while profound, was contingent and ephemeral, dependent on his access to an audience he did not create and that is not loyal primarily to him.
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Again, he drew about 3 million viewers on Fox News and 65 million viewers on Twitter. And as far as the audience being loyal to Fox News and not Carlson:
Fox News viewership at 8pm ET:
Tucker's finale: 2.65 million
Monday: 2.59 million
Tuesday: 1.70 million
Wednesday: 1.33 million— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 27, 2023
But Trump!
Jesus David this pathetic stuff is getting insufferable. https://t.co/kVvRpI0Faj
— J.D. Haltigan, PhD 🏒👨💻 (@JDHaltigan) April 27, 2023
Legacy media columnist who favored locking down children, mandating an experimental medical product, and permitting the chemical castration of children is really concerned about TV pundit being cruel.
— Amerigo Chattin (@AmerigoChattin) April 27, 2023
NYT hired French to wear a Republican hat and whip himself for their amusement. Cathartic for far-left readers, but completely non-productive…
— Will (@MoreStatsPlease) April 27, 2023
Prime movers were Democrats. Their radicalism and demonization of everything conservative caused the backlash.
Trump and Tucker were not the prime drivers. They were more like Ferris Bueller getting in front of an already ongoing parade.
If you can't see that you are blind.
— Wombat65 (@Wombat652) April 27, 2023
And what happened to the Democrats in the same time frame? The hypocrisy, lying, abuses of power, warmongering and nasty backbiting destruction of democratic norms is coming from both sides.
— Sherrilyn Jones (@SherrilynJ77881) April 27, 2023
We know that you hold your own truths separate from the real truths.
— Son of Liberty (@SonofLiberty56) April 27, 2023
Bruh….you work for the NY Times https://t.co/nYE7zmVyMz
— Awakened, Whig Party Leader (@BrandonHathaw12) April 27, 2023
So Carlson’s fame was rooted in his 8 p.m. time slot on Fox News. Guess we should stop talking about him, then.
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Related:
Tucker Carlson’s video now has reached about 3 times the audience of the Academy Awards https://t.co/oB7iW3iVDs
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 27, 2023
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