In American media, there are two kinds of on-air talent. The first group is the most obvious: the charismatic newsmen with a swagger. You can’t always put your finger on it, but these folks were blessed with a God-given gravitas that makes ‘em so compelling. Sure, on a local news level, their “swagger” may vanish the moment they open their mouths and unveil the vapidness of their minds, but for the most part, they have a natural charm — an undefinable twinkle in their eye — that got ‘em in the door. When they walk in a room, heads will turn.
During his prime, Bill O’Reilly was absolutely in this category. Same goes for Megyn Kelly.
The second category are the worker bees. They weren’t blessed with natural charisma; most of ‘em were actually quite dreadful when they first got on the air. But they worked at it. Day in, day out. And they refused to be denied.
If you’re a Gladwellian, they put in their 10,000 hours.
Ben Shapiro and Jesse Watters, for example, aren’t naturally charismatic. Nobody looked at their faces (or listened to their voices) and thought, “Dammit, we’ve gotta get these guys on the air ASAP!” But they’re smart, hardworking, disciplined people, and they figured out how to be successful.
Incredibly successful, too: Jesse Watters now has the #1 show on cable news, and Ben Shapiro has the #1 political podcast. It shows you the power of dogged determination.
Then there’s Tucker Carlson.
Previously known as “the most influential voice in right-ring media, without a close second,” Carlson’s path to fame and fortune was unlike any of his contemporaries. He was more akin to a pro wrestler in the 1970s, hopping from one territory to another, making a momentary splash — and then packing his bags with his tail between his legs after overstaying his welcome: He was still rockin’ the bowtie gimmick on CNN with “Crossfire” (and then his show was cancelled). He pivoted to “Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered” on government-funded PBS (and then his show was cancelled). Next was “Tucker” on MSNBC (and then his show was cancelled).
You detecting a trend?
But with Fox News, Carlson struck paydirt: “Tucker Carlson Tonight” became the network’s flagship program and legit “must see TV” for political news junkies. Long gone was the bowtie gimmick; this version of Tucker Carlson was a serious-minded, populist voice who called balls and strikes as he saw ‘em. Inquisitive and probing, he even out-O’Reilly’d Bill O’Reilly: Tucker’s writing was sharper, his insights deeper, his agenda far more ambitious.
And then… he was gone. Once again, his show was cancelled.
Now he lives on social media. The latest incarnation of Tucker Carlson is a committed pacifist who’s declared war on the “warmongers” within the MAGA establishment:
The real divide isn’t between people who support Israel and people who support Iran or the Palestinians. The real divide is between those who casually encourage violence, and those who seek to prevent it — between warmongers and peacemakers. Who are the warmongers? They would…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 13, 2025
Whatever you think of tariffs, it’s clear that now is the worst possible time for the United States to participate in a military strike on Iran. We can’t afford it. Thousands of Americans would die. We’d lose the war that follows. Nothing would be more destructive to our country.…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 7, 2025
Carlson’s enemies are all “warmongers,” and he, of course, is a “peacemaker.” (So brave and noble.) He just so happens to be a “peacemaker” who strongly objects to the dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear WMD program(!). He also seems oddly beholden to Russian foreign policy.
These days, the two are practically indistinguishable.
It’s ironic, because Carlson is focusing an awful lot of energy on Jewish conservatives, not-so-subtly accusing them of being more loyal to Israel than America. I doubt it was coincidental that, of the five conservative pro-Israel “warmongers” he listed, three were Jews.
Since Jewish conservatives are vastly outnumbered by Christian conservatives, it certainly seems, ahem, “statistically improbable” that he pulled those names out of the pure thin air. I think Carlson is a bit more self-aware than that.
Unfortunately, on both sides of the aisle, there’s a percentage of people who get very, very weird when it comes to Jews. Inside America; outside of America; it’s as close as you can get to a historical constant.
Some of ‘em — such as Nick Fuentes on the right and The Squad on the left — come right out and let their antisemitism freak flag fly. But most of ‘em mask their antisemitism, focusing instead on “Jewish influence” and various conspiracy theories about the Israeli lobby pushing poor ol’ America around. There are many more antisemites on the left than the right, but sadly, neither party has a monopoly on ancient hatreds. They’re a bit more universal than that.
Once again, the Jews are the canary in the coalmine.
Some contend that Carlson has always been duplicitous. Even during the heyday of his Fox News show, New York Times reporter Ben Smith claimed that Carlson was the media’s go-to “anonymous” source and the #1 anti-Trump leaker for a bevy of leftwing journalists, including Brian Stelter of CNN, Michael Wolff, and Michael Isikoff. And who could forget his anti-Trump text messages that were revealed in the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit:
The latest filings in the case suggest Mr Carlson expressed his dislike of the outgoing US president two days before Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol to derail lawmakers from certifying Joe Biden's election win.
"We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights," he wrote in a text sent on 4 January 2021. "I truly can't wait."
"I hate him passionately," he added.
Mr Carlson, the top-rated host on the conservative network, also appeared to denigrate the Trump presidency in these private messages, despite lauding his achievements on air.
"That's the last four years. We're all pretending we've got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it's been is too tough to digest. But come on. There isn't really an upside to Trump." [emphasis added]
Then there’s his shameless shilling of all things Russian. If you haven’t seen Tucker going gaga over old Russian bread, take a peek! It’s borderline astonishing (1:30): The drummer boy performing for Baby Jesus in the manger was less excited; it was the political equivalent of Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch:
Like most complex geopolitical realities, there’s an element of truth in Tucker’s take: Of course, war is bad. Of course, peace is preferable. My firstborn son is an 18-year-old in the U.S. Army (go Cavalry!), and I sure as hell don’t want him to risk life and limb in another country’s war.
YES, OF COURSE “America First” doesn’t mean “Israel First.” I know that. You know that. A child knows that.
But by the same token, if an American ally wants to take out an American enemy and strip them of their nuclear capabilities, you’re out of your flippin’ mind if you side with the enemy! That’s not “America First” either.
In this case, it’s “Russia First.”
Yet again, there’s absolutely nyet daylight between Tucker Carlson’s political opinions and Russian foreign policy. As we all know, Iran is one of Russia’s most critical international allies. Russia depends on Iran for military hardware, oil, deadly drones, and more. A weakened Iran is not in Russia’s national interests.
It’s a big reason why Putin phoned Trump yesterday, pleading with him to call off the Israelis.
And what do y’know, Tucker Tsarlson just so happens to agree 100% with Putin.
Again.
Yeah. Must be another one of those wacky coincidences.
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