Regarding the white supremacist Tucker Carlson. you do not, under any circumstances, “gotta hand it to them”
By
I am a huge fan of the Prospect and its editors, and they have been very good to me for many years, and I trust this is a completely anomalous outlier, but to paraphrase Greil Marcus…what is this shit?
After starting his career as a fact-checker and magazine columnist, Carlson went on to occupy many roles as a talking head. His style rankled adversaries but often freed up his show to entertain controversial subjects that other mainstream shows wouldn’t touch. Carlson’s incessant mockery of first lady Jill Biden’s insistence on being called “Dr. Biden,” for example, bordered on the absurd while subtly exposing an elite obsession with credentials and meritocracy.
Tucker, as his enormous fan following knows him, was adored by viewers and reviled by critics for his signature incredulous stare—the slack-jawed expression he wears when he simply can’t believe what he’s being told.
That look of smirking disbelief is deliberately theatrical. But Carlson’s insistent distrust of his powerful guests acts as a solvent to authority, frequently making larger-than-life figures of the political establishment defend arguments they otherwise treat as self-evident.
Right, the frozen food heir who begged Hunter Biden to help his kid get into Georgetown mocked Jill Biden using an accurate title because of his principled opposition to credentialism and meritocracy. Congratulations on purchasing the 10-year extended warranty!
Anyway, what is authentically progressive and anti-elitist about Tucker Carlson is…literally nothing at all. Nuke all these takes from orbit just to be sure.
…as a commenter notes, obligatory in this context:
Tucker Carlson always looks like he just walked in on his prom date blowing his best friend pic.twitter.com/fVCT7ORd1Q— Lindsay Goldwert 👑 (@lindsaygoldwert) August 31, 2017