Tag: Fox News

Tucker Carlson sounds increasingly frantic as Fox News refuses to corroborate his claim about the NSA

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Fox News host Tucker Carlson dropped a bombshell allegation on his Monday night show: The National Security Agency, he said, was “monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.”

He added: “We have confirmed that.”

Has it, in fact, been confirmed? Throughout the day Tuesday, many observers noted that the serious accusation seemed surprisingly absent from the dominant narratives on the rest of Fox News, even though it would seem to be a major story of interest beyond just the single hour Carlson hosts if it were true. But it appeared the news division of the network — traditionally considered separate from opinion shows like Carlson’s — couldn’t back up the claim. Continue reading.

Russian media uses Tucker Carlson to make propaganda about white Americans being subjected to ‘mass humiliation’

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Russian propagandists see a new opportunity to reach out to supporters of former President Donald Trump by pitching their country as the last refuge for besieged white people.

The Daily Beast’s Julia Davis reports that the Kremlin appears intent on “turning Russia into the land of ultimate political incorrectness, the world’s anti-woke capital” where aggrieved conservatives can escape to feel “normal” again.

Russian propagandists have found that Fox News host Tucker Carlson is particularly useful to their initiative, as his show portrays white Americans as under dire and persistent threat from minorities. Continue reading.

Fox News to pay a fine for ‘a pattern of violating’ human rights laws: report

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In 2021, Fox News’ legal troubles have included not only a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, but also, a human rights lawsuit. And Fox News, journalist Lloyd Grove reports in the Daily Beast, has agreed to pay a $1 million fine to settle that lawsuit.

Grove explains, “Despite Fox News’ claims to have repaired the company’s toxic workplace culture since the firing of founder and chairman Roger Ailes in July 2016, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has effectively admitted to ongoing misconduct that includes sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation against victimized employees, and has agreed to pay a million-dollar fine for what New York City’s Commission on Human Rights called ‘a pattern of violating of the NYC Human Rights Law.'”

According to Grove, “The settlement agreement, reached last week with the Human Rights Commission, contains the largest-ever financial penalty assessed in the agency’s six-decade history, and also requires Fox News to remove mandatory confidential arbitration clauses from the contracts of on-air talent along with other employees and contributors for a period of four years when they file legal claims under the city’s human-rights law outside of the company’s internal process.” Continue reading.

Conservative pundit slams Tucker Carlson as a ‘pampered man-child trust fund baby’

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Far-right Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson had a major hissyfit on Thursday night, June 24 in response to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley’s comments during a hearing on Capitol Hill. Gen. Milley told Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida that the history of racism is something that should be studied, inspiring Carlson to say that Milley is “not just a pig — he’s stupid.” And the following night, when Never Trump conservative Charlie Sykes appeared on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour,” he slammed Carlson’s anti-Milley diatribe without hesitation.

Sykes told “11th Hour” host Brian Williams and fellow guest Bill Kristol (another Never Trump conservative), “Think about this: You have this pampered man-child trust fund baby calling a decorated veteran a pig and stupid. And you would think that people would step back and say, ‘OK, I’m sorry. You can disagree with the man, but we are a party and a movement that has always prided ourselves on respect for the military, respect for what he’s accomplished.’ Those stripes on his sleeve are not, you know, Venmo accounts. Those stripes on the sleeve are, you know, places that he has served his country.'”

Carlson definitely comes from a background of privilege. His full name is Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson, and his stepmother is an heiress to Swanson Foods. Carlson’s father is a former U.S. ambassador. Continue reading.

On Fox News, ‘Concerned Parents’ Are Actually GOP Activists

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Nearly a dozen of the Fox News guests the network has presented as concerned parents or educators who oppose the teaching of so-called “critical race theory” in schools also have day jobs as Republican strategists, conservative think-tankers, or right-wing media personalities, according to a Media Matters review.

Critical race theory is an academic legal framework which examines the systemic impact of racism in the United States. But “critical race theory,” like “cancel culture” and “political correctness” before it, also functions as an umbrella term the right-wing movement uses to turn its mostly white adherents’ racial anxiety into political energy.

In this case, a sophisticated, nationwide network of conservative think tanks, advocacy groups, media outlets, and GOP officials have seized on the term and, in the words of Christopher Rufo — a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute and a key player in the effort — sought to render it “toxic” and apply to it “the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.” Republicans have proposed or passed a slew of legislation restricting “critical race theory” and hope to use it as a core part of their political strategy in upcoming local, state, and federal elections. Continue reading.

Poll: Fox’s Carlson Driving Republican Racial Agenda

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A recent survey by Punchbowl News and Locust Street Group found that 87 percent of GOP congressional aides considered Fox prime-time host Tucker Carlson to be “the most influential Republican voice” outside of lawmakers and former presidents or vice presidents. The survey highlights the conservative star’s meteoric rise in both right-wing media and Republican politics: The GOP has hitched its policy wagon to Tucker Carlson Tonight at the same time that Fox has gone all-in on branding Carlson as the face of the network. And the result is waves of culture war political posturing by Republicans that is informing everything from their tweets to legislation.

Fox has long been the communications arm for the GOP, and the revolving door between the Trump administration and the network laid bare the extent of the ties between the channel and Republican policymaking. With Donald Trump now out of office, the close relationship between Fox and the GOP continues — with Tucker Carlson’s monologues effectively becoming the party platform.

In April, the Republican Party released a memo outlining its intention to keep the party aligned with Trump and their mutual cheerleaders at Fox. The platform highlighted GOP priorities such as “anti-wokeness,” the threat of China, and anti-conservative bias in Big Tech. The “traditional” issues of conservative politics — taxes, deregulation, the national debt — had disappeared, replaced by a list that reads more like a teaser for an hour of Fox News prime time. Continue reading.

Fox News now has a conspiracy theory that vindicates both Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump

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Fox News personality Tucker Carlson on Friday returned to his debunked conspiracy theory that it was actually the FBI — not Trump and his supporters — who were responsible for the January 6th insurrection.

After Carlson interviewed Glenn Greenwald, the host wondered if maybe the FBI set up not just Donald Trump supporters, but also Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL).

“It does kind of make you wonder about Matt Gaetz, actually. Remember Matt Gaetz? He was engaged in child sex trafficking,” Carlson said with a mocking voice. Continue reading.

With Murdoch’s Encouragement, Carlson Promotes White Nationalist ‘Replacement’ Theory

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When Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch replied in April to the firestorm caused by his star Fox News host, Tucker Carlson, passionately invoking the “great replacement” conspiracy theory favored by white nationalists, Murdoch chose to lie. 

“A full review of the guest interview indicates that Mr. Carlson decried and rejected replacement theory,” Murdoch wrote. This was obviously and insultingly false. Carlson had explicitly endorsed its core tenets during the April 8 segment, saying that “the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.” White nationalists themselves knew better: They praised the Fox host for bringing their talking points to his massive audience.

His boss’ dishonest comment was a green light for Carlson to continue to promote that conspiracy theory — and the host took it as such. Over the past two months, as Carlson became the face of Fox, “replacement” has proven a dominant theme of his program. It also spread to other Foxpersonalities and, increasingly, to Republican political operatives and politicians as well. Given Carlson’s sway over both his network and the GOP, that trend is likely to continue. Continue reading.

Fox News guests battle over US history: ‘We treated slaves nicely — that’s not the truth!’

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Two Fox News guests argued on Sunday over whether critical race theory has corrupted the U.S. history curriculum in American schools.

Fox News host Mike Emmanuel began the discussion by suggesting that critical race theory is a “religion of division.”

“One complaint that I’ve heard is it divides our children based on their skin color,” Emmanuel said. Continue reading.

Liz Cheney clashed with Bret Baier over Fox’s responsibility in the stolen election claims

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In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Thursday, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), fresh off her removal from GOP House leadership for her criticism of former President Donald Trump, doubled down on her opposition to “big lie” conspiracy theories about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election — and told Baier that his own network had a responsibility to correct the record.

“Especially Fox News has a particular obligation to say that the election wasn’t stolen,” said Cheney.

Cheney was one of ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for incitement to insurrection. She survived an initial challenge to her leadership, but after continuing to vocally oppose the former president’s attacks on democracy, was removed as House Republican Conference chair. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is the frontrunner to take her place. Continue reading.