The Psychosis of Tucker Carlson - The dissemination of falsehoods in a post-truth conservative media

Analysis by Joelle El Sheikh, Featured Writer and Francesco Pitzalis, Contributor

May 1st, 2021

Our analysis of the Carlson comedy begins with his satirically schizophrenic approach to mask wearing. For an ardent conservative like Carlson, mask wearing seemed like an obvious choice: wear a mask, avoid “draconian” lockdowns and proceed safely living your life. This was bleated facetiously by Carlson last year - “Of course masks work, everyone knows that! Dozens of research papers have proved it.” Yet in recent days the Tuck has entirely upended his approval of masks in favor of direct confrontation. On the 27th of April he instructed millions of his prime-time viewers to oppose mask-wearing outside. “Ask politely but firmly,” Carlson lectures, ‘Would you please take off your mask? Science shows there is no reason to wear it. Your mask is making me uncomfortable.’” 

As if flagrantly undermining scientific consensus wasn’t enough, he contended that children wearing masks was tantamount to child abuse. “Our response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different than your response to seeing someone beat a child in Walmart: call the police immediately… What you’re seeing is child abuse, and you’re morally obligated to try to prevent it.” In other words, if, God forbid, you see a child wearing a mask in public, your first instinct should be to call child services, or better yet, go straight to 911. 

Carlson’s direct opposition to individual freedoms is an exception to the “libertarianism” he supposedly espouses. Thus, Carlson’s fury vis-a-vis masks is entirely symbolic. A culture war on a science-based approach that fuels support within his post-truth, conservative cultural milieu. 

In addition to his U-turn on masks, Tucker has made similar contradicting statements concerning vaccines and the Coronavirus itself. For example, in January 2020 after President Trump imposed a travel ban on China; Tucker labelled the Coronavirus a “major event” and “definitely not the flu.” However, once it became clear that Covid-responses were contingent on more than travel bans and blatant anti-asian xenophobia, Tucker once again changed tune. “It’s dangerous to be an old person with coronavirus,” He says.  “It’s also dangerous to be an old person, period…We are all going to die.” Don’t forget to remind your grandmother of Tucker’s words next time you have an unmasked coughing fit.  

That brings us to the subject of vaccines. Tucker frequently asserts that he is “strongly supportive” of vaccines. Yet in recent weeks, he has somehow theorized that mask mandates must automatically disprove the vaccines’ efficacy. He conjectures, “If the vaccine is effective, there’s no reason for people who’ve received it to wear masks or avoid physical contact. So, maybe it doesn’t work, and they’re just not telling you that.” They… yes, they; the powers that be who audaciously trick the common American into receiving a bogus vaccine and mandating the wearing of ineffectual masks. Essentially, there is no winning in this argument. You are either vaccinated and consequently have no reason to wear a mask (protecting the community around you does not count). Or, the vaccine does not work and for that reason, you are still resorting to masks. Simple math, right? Not quite. What Tucker and others like him fail to comprehend is that the need for mask-wearing and mass immunization are not mutually exclusive when combating the coronavirus. Tucker’s alarmism thus constitutes the pinnacle of pandemic sofa virology pseudo-expertise. Alas, Tucker peddles conspiracy almost compulsively. Literally anything contrary to rigid American conservatism is fair game for Carlson’s falsehood-based demagoguery. 

Tucker Carlson is a champion of law and order. Following the murder of George Floyd he immediately condemned the Black Lives Matter protests. The Black Lives Matter movement, for Tucker, was “poison”, “mob rule” and “anarchy”. How dare the African American community protest against a violent and discriminatory police force, systemic racism and unequal economic opportunities? After all, police brutality against the African American community is barely evident. That is, if you exclude Daunte Wright, Rayshard Brooks, Daniel Prude, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Atatiana Jefferson, Aura Rosser, Stephon Clark, Botham Jean, and the list goes on. On the contrary, according to Tucker the movement was “definitely not about black lives.” Likewise the threat of the mob was impending, he warns - “remember that when they come for you - and at this rate they will.” 

You would think our champ would maintain a modicum of consistency. However, following the storming of the US capitol by Trump supporters, he took a more empathetic, defensive approach. Champ claimed that the insurrectionists who stormed the capital were “kind of Solid Americans”.  Tolerant Tucker also avowed that Ashli Babbitt, a woman shot whilst invading the senate “did not look particularly radical. She bore no resemblance to the angry children we have seen… wrecking our cities.” Meanwhile, Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man shot by a police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is depicted by not-so-tolerant Tucker as a thug. 

Tucker epitomizes the conservative dichotomy with respect to the BLM protests and the Capitol Hill riot. One represented by an amorphous, defaced mass of rioting anarchists; the other American citizens, voters and patriots with a legitimate grievance. BLM the face of innate black criminality, Ashli Babbit, whose virtue rests on the innocence of her white face. This disparity becomes ever more apparent when we dissect Tucker’s approach to other racial issues. Digging slightly deeper into Carlson’s ideology reveals that this rhetoric is heavily underpinned by white supremacist thought. When speaking of immigrants from the “third world” he postulated - “Immigrants make our country poorer, dirtier and more divided”. If that wasn’t shocking enough, he has often asserted the “superiority” of Western culture and European values over “lesser” cultures. This is no longer fringe politics or Victorian-era Klu Klux Klan grand wizardry. This is America 2021. 

Tucker Carlson has built a career confronting racial equality movements, progressive values and even science. His career is therefore a product of a post-truth, hate-based conservative mandate. What is clear also, is that this mandate sells. Carlson consistently tops prime-time viewer ratings in the US despite doubling down on his outrageous rhetoric on a multitude of levels. Advertisers have periodically withdrawn their support from Tucker but his viewership and notoriety have seemingly made him too big to fall. As the conservative political class gears up to confront the democrats in 2024, Tucker Carlson is emerging as a leading figure amongst conservative voters. Who knows? With his continued rise amidst an ever-polarizing American electorate, Tucker Carlson may be seen on an electoral ballot in the near future. 

Bibliography: 

Johnson, Ted. “A Tale Of Two Takes: Tucker Carlson Calls Coronavirus ‘A Major Event’; Trish Regan Sees An ‘Impeachment Scam.’” Deadline, Deadline, 10 Mar. 2020, https://deadline.com/2020/03/coronavirus-tucker-carlson-fox-news-trish-regan-fox-business-1202878058/

“Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Claims Making Children Wear Masks Is 'Abuse'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Apr. 2021, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/27/tucker-carlson-fox-news-masks-biden-cdc.

“Stelter: Tucker Carlson is the new Donald Trump” CNN, 14. March 2021,           https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuv1OQOrxR8