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November 28 - December 8, 2023
Anne Applebaum, the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian, was right when she said that “sometimes the point isn’t to make people believe a lie—it’s to make people fear the liar.” Other times, the point is, in the immortal words of former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, to “flood the zone with shit”—to overwhelm the press and the public with so much misinformation and disinformation that democracy can’t function.
As the historian Jon Meacham put it, “the American Right has become unmoored from reality because of their devotion to this singular figure.”
Carlson could have offered a counterpoint instead of a polemic; he could have encouraged a debate. Instead he chose to lie about Yellen’s words. That made for more impact, more rage, not informed discussion. It was paradoxical, because just a few moments later, Carlson claimed “they,” the people in charge, “don’t want a debate.” When he worked at Heritage, he said, the idea was that “just because the other side was rotten didn’t mean you could be rotten.” But he had stopped applying that principle many, many years—and many, many rotten words—ago.
This is sad. I lready feel A VERY TINY bit sad for Tucker, becauss this is pathetic. Do better.
Carlson’s critics explained the appeal more plainly: racism. Derek Black, the son of a Ku Klux Klan grand wizard who turned against his racist family, said Carlson mainstreamed white nationalism more than anyone else in public life. “My family watches Tucker Carlson’s show once and then watches it on the replay,” he told CNN, “because they feel that he is making the white nationalist talking points better than they have and they’re trying to get some tips on how to advance it.” Carlson mocked this type of criticism by claiming that liberals always tried to shut down conversation by saying
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Fox needed Lindell; Lindell needed Fox. But if a MAGA pillow and blanket and slipper brand was the best ally Fox had, well, that was a sign of serious trouble.
“When he wins the state, it’s legitimate,” Tapper said, ridiculing the president. “When he loses it’s because the vote is being stolen from him. It’s not true. It’s ugly. It’s frankly pathetic.”
Bartiromo and Trump chatted after the broadcast and Trump said he was happy with how it went. But Bartiromo was doubting herself. She texted Abby Grossberg and said “I hope I didn’t blow it by not asking about Biden,” then wondered if they should have “just stayed the extra 5 minutes and talked about peaceful transition.” “To be honest,” Grossberg told her, “our audience doesn’t want to hear about a peaceful transition. They still have hope. And the vouchers”—I think she meant vultures—“would have declared it a concession.” “Yes agree,” Bartiromo replied. One more time the ghost of “Do the
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No more. By the early 2020s, the channels no longer covered the same topics, save for rituals like elections and certain emergencies like mass shootings. This was the single greatest change I tracked in twenty-plus years covering cable news. It’s tempting to say this was a positive development—less duplication and more diversity across the dial—or to turn it into a punch line—hey, while Fox was hyperventilating about Dr. Seuss, CNN was interviewing actual doctors about Covid. But it wasn’t funny at all. It was a serious transformation, a symptom of a country coming apart, a country full of
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The House committee members, particularly Cheney, pointedly and repeatedly hit on Fox’s role in the Big Lie. “We cannot abandon the truth,” she said, “and remain a free nation.”
Carlson said police officers had “acted as his tour guides.” He left out the context that the police were outnumbered 58 to 1 that afternoon, leaving de-escalation as the only realistic option.
