Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969) is an Americanconservative political commentator who hosted the nightly political talk showTucker Carlson Tonight onFox News from 2016 to 2023. Since his contract with Fox News was terminated, he has hostedTucker onX andThe Tucker Carlson Show. An advocate ofPresidentDonald Trump, Carlson has been described as a high-profile proponent ofTrumpism,[3] and an influential voice in right-wing media.[4]
Carlson began his media career in the 1990s, writing forThe Weekly Standard and other publications. He was aCNN commentator from 2000 to 2005 and a co-host ofCrossfire, the network'sprime-time newsdebate program, from 2001 to 2005. From 2005 to 2008, he hosted the nightly programTucker onMSNBC. In 2009, he became apolitical analyst for Fox News, appearing on various programs before launching his own show. In 2010, Carlson co-founded and served as the initial editor-in-chief of the right-wing news and opinion websiteThe Daily Caller, until selling his ownership stake and leaving in 2020.[5] In the 2021Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News Networkdefamation lawsuit, Carlson was among the hosts named for broadcastingfalse statements about theplaintiff company'svoting machines.[6][7] In April 2023, Fox News canceledTucker Carlson Tonight,[14] leading Carlson to launch his own program,The Tucker Carlson Show.
Carlson's paternal grandparents were Richard Boynton and Dorothy Anderson, who were teenagers when they placed his father atThe Home for Little Wanderers orphanage, where he was fostered by Carl Moberger ofMalden, near Boston, atannery worker of Swedish descent, and his wife Florence Moberger.[64][57][65][66] Carlson's father was adopted at the age of two byupper-middle-class New Englanders, the Carlsons, an executive at the Winslow Brothers & Smith Tannery ofNorwood (the oldest tannery in America) and his wife.[65]Carlson's maternal great-great-great-grandfather wasHenry Miller, the "Cattle King".[67] Carlson's maternal great-great-grandfather Cesar Lombardi immigrated to New York fromSwitzerland in 1860.[68][69] Carlson is also a distant relative ofMassachusetts politiciansEbenezer R. Hoar andGeorge M. Brooks.[61] Carlson himself was named after his great-great-great-grandfather J. C. Tucker and his great-great-grandfather George W. McNear.[70][71] Carlson is of one thirty-second Italian-Swiss ancestry.[69][72]
In 1976, Carlson's parents divorced after the nine-year marriage reportedly "turned sour".[61][73] Carlson's father was granted custody of Tucker and his brother. Carlson's mother left the family when he was six and moved to France. The boys never saw her again.[1][59]
In 1979, Carlson's father married Patricia Caroline Swanson, an heiress toSwanson Enterprises (founded byCarl A. Swanson), daughter of Gilbert Carl Swanson and niece of SenatorJ. William Fulbright.[59][78] Though Patricia remained a beneficiary of the family fortune, the Swansons had sold the brand to theCampbell Soup Company in 1955 and did not own it by the time of Carlson's father's marriage.[79] This was the third marriage for Swanson, who legally adopted Tucker Carlson and his brother.[78][80]
In 1999, Carlson interviewed then-GovernorGeorge W. Bush forTalk magazine. He quoted Bush mockingKarla Faye Tucker, who was executed in Bush's state ofTexas, and frequently using the word "fuck".[90][91] The piece led to bad publicity for Bush's2000 presidential campaign. Bush claimed that "Mr. Carlson misread, mischaracterized me. He's a good reporter, he just misunderstood about how serious that was. I take the death penalty very seriously."[82][92] Among liberals, Carlson's piece received praise, with Democratic consultantBob Shrum calling it "vivid". Carlson said of the interview, "I thought I'd be ragged for writing a puffy piece. My wife said people are going to think you're hunting for a job in the Bush campaign."[82]
In 2000, Carlson co-hosted the short-lived showThe Spin Room on CNN.[59] In 2001, he was appointed co-host ofCrossfire, in which Carlson andRobert Novak represented thepolitical right (alternating on different nights), whileJames Carville andPaul Begala, also alternating as hosts, represented the left.[59]
In October 2004, comedian andThe Daily Show hostJon Stewart appeared onCrossfire, ostensibly to promoteAmerica (The Book), but he instead launched into a critique ofCrossfire, saying the show was harmful topolitical discourse in the U.S.[59][105] Carlson was singled out by Stewart for criticism, with Carlson in turn criticizing Stewart for being biased toward the left.[59] Carlson and Begala later recalled that Stewart and one of the book's co-authors,Ben Karlin, stayed at CNN for more than an hour after the show to discuss the issues he had raised on the air, with Carlson saying, "It was heartfelt. [Stewart] needed to do this."[106][107] In 2017,The New York Times referred to Stewart's "on-air dressing-down" of Carlson as an "ignominious career [moment]" for Carlson, leading to the show's cancellation.[108]The Atlantic suggested that Stewart's appearance was a turning point leading to how Carlson remade himself.[109]
On January 5, 2005, CNN chiefJonathan Klein told Carlson the network had decided not to renew his contract.[110] CNN announced that it was ending its relationship with Carlson and would soon cancelCrossfire.[111][112] Carlson later said: "I resigned fromCrossfire in April [2004], many months before Jon Stewart came on our show, because I didn't like thepartisanship, and I thought in some ways it was kind of a pointless conversation."[113]
2004–2005: PBS
Carlson was hired to helm a new program forPBS in November 2003,Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered, which ran concurrently with Carlson'sCrossfire gig on CNN.[114] The show launched on June 18, 2004, and was, according toThe New Yorker, "part of a broader effort to push PBS further to the right ideologically".[115][116]
Carlson announced he was leaving the show roughly a year after it started on June 12, 2005, despite theCorporation for Public Broadcasting allocating money for another show season.[117] Carlson wanted to focus on his newMSNBC showTucker and said that although PBS was one of the "least bad" instances of government spending he disagreed with, it was still "problematic".[117]
Tucker was canceled by the network on March 10, 2008, owing to low ratings;[124] the final episode aired on March 14, 2008. He remained with the network as a senior campaign correspondent for the2008 election.[125]Brian Stelter, writing forThe New York Times, reported that, "during Mr. Carlson's tenure, MSNBC's evening programming moved gradually to the left. His former time slots, 6:00p.m. and 9:00p.m., were subsequently occupied by two liberals,Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow." Carlson said the network had changed a lot and "they didn't have a role for me".[126]
Carlson was a contestant onseason 3 of the reality showDancing with the Stars, which aired in 2006; he was paired with professional dancerElena Grinenko. Carlson took four-hour-a-dayballroom dance classes to prepare. In an interview a month before the show began, he lamented that he would miss classes during a two-week-long MSNBC assignment in Lebanon, saying, "It's hard for me to remember the moves."[127] Carlson said he accepted ABC's invitation to perform because "I don't do things that I'm not good at very often. I'm psyched to get to do that."[127] Carlson was the first contestant eliminated, on September 13, 2006.[59]
On January 11, 2010, Carlson andNeil Patel (a former aide toDick Cheney, and former college roommate of Carlson)[5] launched a political news website titledThe Daily Caller. Carlson served as editor-in-chief, and occasionally wrote opinion pieces with Patel.[131] The website was funded by the conservative activistFoster Friess.[59] By February 2010,The Daily Caller was part of theWhite House rotating press pool.[132] Carlson reportedly offered his employees free junk food, an unmonitored keg, provided them with a ping pong table, and allowed them to sleep under their desks.[1]
In interviews, Carlson saidThe Daily Caller would not be tied to ideology but rather "breaking stories of importance",[133] and "We're not enforcing any kind of ideological orthodoxy on anyone."[134] ColumnistMickey Kaus quit after Carlson refused to run a column critical of Fox News's coverage of the immigration policy debate due to his contractual obligations to Fox News.[135][59]
In June 2010,The Daily Caller published excerpts from e-mails sent between members ofJournoList, an invitation-only liberalforum, consisting of "several hundred journalists, academics and policy experts" launched in 2007 byEzra Klein.[136] The forum barred media reporters and conservatives.[137] Carlson had earlier attempted to join the forum on May 25, 2010, but was denied by Klein.[137] Klein offered to form a bipartisan forum with Carlson, but Carlson declined.[138]Daily Caller employees later impersonated an editor of theArkansas Times to gain entry into JournoList.[137] The e-mails leaked byThe Daily Caller, which detailed efforts to, according to Carlson, "formulate the most effective talking points in order to defeatPalin andMcCain and help electBarack Obama president",[139] also contained statements byThe Washington Post'sDave Weigel "wishing for the death ofRush Limbaugh" among other controversial remarks thatThe Washington Post considered "untenable", leading to his resignation.[138][136]
In February 2012,The Daily Caller published an "investigative series" of articles co-authored by Carlson, purporting to be an insiders' exposé ofMedia Matters for America, the liberal watchdog group that monitors and scrutinizes conservative media outlets, and its founderDavid Brock.Reuters media critic and libertarianJack Shafer, while commenting "I've never thought much of Media Matters' style of watchdogging or Brock's journalism", nevertheless sharply criticizedThe Daily Caller piece for relying on conjecture, absence of evidence, and inclusion of "anonymously sourced crap", adding that "Daily Caller is attacking Media Matters with bad journalism and lame propaganda."[140]
In June 2017, theCenter for Media and Democracy, a liberal watchdog organization, saidThe Daily Caller was paid $150,000 by Donald Trump's2016 presidential campaign for its list of subscribers, whom the Trump campaign then emailed at least 25 times. The watchdog said Carlson had a conflict of interest and had violated journalistic standards.[141][142]
In June 2020, Carlson sold his one-third stake inThe Daily Caller to Patel for an undisclosed amount and said "Neil [Patel] runs it. I wasn't adding anything. So we made it official".[143]
In May 2009, Fox News announced that Carlson was being hired as a Fox News contributor. He was a frequent guest panelist on Fox's late-night satire showRed Eye w/Greg Gutfeld, made frequent appearances on the All-Star Panel segment ofSpecial Report with Bret Baier, was a substitute host ofHannity inSean Hannity's absence, and produced and hosted a special entitledFighting for Our Children's Minds in September 2010.[144][145][146]
On November 14, 2016, Carlson began hostingTucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News. The premiere episode of the show, which replacedOn the Record,[152] was the network's most watched telecast of the year in the time slot, with 3.7 million viewers.[153]
Tucker Carlson Tonight aired at 7:00p.m. each weeknight until January 9, 2017, when Carlson's show replacedMegyn Kelly at the 9:00p.m. time slot after she left Fox News. In January 2017,Forbes reported that the show had "scored consistently high ratings, averaging 2.8 million viewers per night and ranking as the number two cable news program behindThe O'Reilly Factor in December".[154] In March 2017,Tucker Carlson Tonight was the most watched cable program in the 9:00p.m. time slot.[155]
On April 19, 2017, following the cancellation ofThe O'Reilly Factor, Fox News announced thatTucker Carlson Tonight would air at 8:00p.m.[156]Tucker Carlson Tonight was the third-highest-rated cable news show as of March 2018.[157]
In October 2018,Tucker Carlson Tonight was the second-highest rated cable news show in prime time, afterThe Sean Hannity Show withSean Hannity, with 3.2 million nightly viewers.[158] By the end of 2018, the show had begun to be boycotted by at least 20 advertisers after Carlson saidimmigration makes the country "poorer, dirtier and more divided". According to Fox News, the advertisers only moved their ad buys to other programs.[159]
In November 2018, a "Smash Racism D.C.", a localanti-fascist group, protested outside Carlson's home inWashington, D.C.[160] Carlson's driveway was vandalized with a spray-paintedanarchist symbol. Carlson alleged "someone started throwing himself against the front door and actually cracked the front door," though police observed no damage to the door, nor didWashington Post columnistErik Wemple when he visited the Carlson home the next day. Carlson was not home at the time of the incident.[161][162][163]
By January 2019, Carlson's show dropped to third with 2.8 million nightly viewers, down six percent from the previous year.[164] The show also lost at least 26 advertisers.[165][166]
In March 2019, there were calls to fire Carlson from Fox News afterMedia Matters resurfaced remarks he had made over several years to the radio showBubba the Love Sponge concerning women, calling them "like dogs" and "extremely primitive", andstatutory rape,[167][168]Iraqis, and immigrants.[169] His ratings rose eight percent that week despite the boycotts.[42]
By August 2019, Media Matters calculated that some companies had fulfilled theirmedia buy contracts and advertising inventory for the time slot and had now begun their purchases for other time slots on Fox News.[170][171] At the close of 2019, Carlson'sNielsen ratings among all viewers 25–54 placed him second only to Fox'sThe Sean Hannity Show among cable news shows.[172]
In December 2019,Playboy modelKaren McDougal sued Fox News after Carlson, in a 2018 episode of his show, accused her of extorting Donald Trump. In September 2020, federal judgeMary Kay Vyskocil[173] dismissed the lawsuit, citing Fox News' defense that Carlson's extortion claims were opinion based and not "statements of fact". The judge also agreed with Fox News' defense that reasonable viewers would have "skepticism" over statements Carlson makes on its show, as he often engages in "exaggeration" and "non-literal commentary", and that Carlson is not "stating actual facts" on its show.[173][174]
Beginning the week of June 8–14, 2020,Tucker Carlson Tonight became the highest-rated cable news show in the U.S., with an average of four million viewers, beating out the shows hosted by fellow Fox News pundits Hannity andLaura Ingraham. This came in the wake of Carlson's remarks criticizing theBlack Lives Matter movement, which had caused some companies to pull their advertising from the show, includingThe Walt Disney Company,T-Mobile, andPapa John's.[175]
In July 2020, Carlson's head writer Blake Neff resigned afterCNN Business reported that he had been using a pseudonym to post remarks that were widely described as racist, sexist, and homophobic onAutoAdmit, a message board known for its lack of moderation of offensive and defamatory content. The incident drew renewed scrutiny to Carlson's program, already under pressure from sponsors because of Carlson's remarks about Black Lives Matter.[176][177] Neff had also previously been a writer onThe Daily Caller.[178] Carlson condemned Neff's posts on the second episode ofTucker Carlson Tonight that aired after the posts were initially reported.[179]
By October 2020,Tucker Carlson Tonight averaged 5.3 million viewers, with the show's monthly average becoming the highest of any cable news program in history at that point. In the 25–54 demographic, the show maintained an average viewership of just over a million, with 670,000 being between 18 and 49.[180][181] Carlson's program saw a dip in viewership following the aftermath of the2020 election, losing out toAnderson Cooper 360° in the 25–54 demographic, which Carlson had maintained a hold of the prior month.[182] In 2020,Tucker Carlson Tonight andThe Sean Hannity Show became the first cable news programs to finish a full year with viewership in excess of four million.[183]
In the week followingthe inauguration ofJoe Biden as president,Tucker Carlson Tonight remained the only cable news program not to see a drop in viewership, slightly increasing from where it stood one week prior and reclaiming its lead among the 25–54 demographic.[184][185] It remained the most-watched news-related cable show as of mid-2021.[186][187][188] Through May 2022 it was a close second toThe Five, while leading in the 25–54 demographic.[44]
Tucker Carlson Today
In February 2021, Carlson announced a multiyear deal with Fox News to host a new weeklypodcast and series of monthly specials dubbedTucker Carlson Originals on sisterstreaming serviceFox Nation, which released on March 29.[189][190][191] In spring of 2021, he began hosting a show on Fox Nation calledTucker Carlson Today.[192]
Departure from Fox News
On the morning of Monday, April 24, 2023, Fox News dismissed Carlson and the executive producer of his evening show.[8][9] It does not appear that Carlson received advance notice of his dismissal, given that on Friday, April 21, in what became his final show's sign-off, he told his viewers that he would "be back on Monday". As of October 2023, a rotation of guest hosts fill Carlson's old slot until a permanent replacement is found.[193] On April 26, Carlson responded to his departure by tweeting a video that was watched millions of times.[194][195][196]
Fox did not provide a reason for Carlson's termination. TheLos Angeles Times wrote that Chairman ofFox CorporationRupert Murdoch was responsible for the firing, and that a pending lawsuit from former Fox producer Abby Grossberg and Carlson's coverage of theJanuary 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection both influenced the decision.[197]The Wall Street Journal wrote that Carlson was dismissed due to private messages in which he criticized Fox's management, using vulgar and offensive language.[198] In May,The New York Times reported that in one such message Carlson expressed racist views by criticizing three Trump supporters who were beating oneantifa activist: "It's not how white men fight."[199][200] Less than a week before his ouster Fox retained law firmWachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate Tucker over this and potentially other messages due to liability concerns.[201]The Washington Post wrote that the decision to oust Carlson was made by Murdoch's son,Lachlan, and Fox CEOSuzanne Scott.[202] Fox was reported to have a "stockpile" of damaging information that they would be ready to release in case of any retaliation made by Carlson; the network denied this, however.[203][204]
2023–present:Tucker on Twitter /Tucker on X
In a video on hisTwitter feed on May 9, 2023, Carlson said he would relaunch his show on Twitter.[205][206] Just before making the announcement, Carlson's attorneys sent a letter to Fox executives, alleging that Rupert Murdoch and other senior executives "intentionally" broke their promises to him, an alleged breach of contract that he says ought to free him from hisnon-compete clause.[207] Fox News reportedly sent him a cease and desist after the first episode aired.[208]
In June 2023, he was reportedly seeking funds to start a new media company withNeil Patel.[213][214]
On August 23, 2023, Carlson hosted Donald Trump onTucker on X, the re-branded name of Twitter, deliberately to conflict with thefirst 2024 Republican debate. On September 6, 2023, Carlson interviewed Larry Sinclair, who had a criminal record, largely for crimes of deceit and who claimed that he had "had a night ofcrack cocaine-fueled sex withBarack Obama" 24 years before. The interview was criticized by many, includingElon Musk, owner of X.[215][216]
In October, it was announced that1789 Capital had invested in Tucker Carlson's new media company.[217] According to 1789 Capital founderOmeed Malik, this was "one of [the] first investments" by the venture capital firm.[218] In December, Carlson launched the new streaming service, called the Tucker Carlson Network, with both ad-supported and subscription-based content. Initially planned for Twitter/X, Musk's company was unable to deliver the needed technology. Justin Wells, a former executive producer at Fox for Carlson, will oversee programming.[219][220]
Carlson interviewing Russian presidentVladimir Putin in February 2024
Carlson traveled to Russia in February 2024 to interview PresidentVladimir Putin. In the opinion of Tiffany Wertheimerher, Carlson "has been an outspoken defender of" Putin.[221] It was Putin's first one-on-one interview with a Western journalist since he launched theRussian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.[221] Carlson said that while Ukraine's presidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy had been given a platform, "not a single Western journalist has bothered to interview the president of the other country involved in this conflict, Vladimir Putin". This sparked backlash from some American and European journalists, who pointed out that they had repeatedly been denied interviews with Putin, and that some had been expelled. TheKremlin Press Secretary,Dmitry Peskov, said Carlson had been allowed an interview because "his position is different", saying, "It's not pro-Russian, not pro-Ukrainian, it's pro-American. It starkly contrasts with the stance of traditionalAnglo-Saxon media".[222]
Some independent Russian journalists were angered by Carlson's words, noting that at least 1,000 independent journalists had fled Russia due to new censorship laws that ban criticism of the war. They also highlighted that two American journalists were currently imprisoned by Russia:Evan Gershkovich ofThe Wall Street Journal andAlsu Kurmasheva ofRadio Free Europe.[222] Tucker raised this issue during the Putin interview.[223] Evan Gershkovich, Alsu Kurmasheva, andPaul Whelan were released on August 1, 2024, as part of a prisoner exchange.
After thedeath of prominent Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison days after the interview, Carlson faced fresh criticism for holding the interview with Putin and saying that "leadership requires killing people".[224] Carlson called Navalny's death "barbaric and awful" in a statement toThe New York Times.[225]
In May 2024, Carlson launched the weekly commentary podcastThe Tucker Carlson Show. At its launch,Slate wrote that Carlson had diminished popularity. Quickly, though, Carlson regained his popularity, andThe Tucker Carlson Show soon became one of the highest-rating political podcasts; it was the #1 most popular onSpotify in July 2024.[226][227][228]
Three days after the interview, White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates condemned Carlson for "giving a microphone to a Holocaust denier who spreads Nazi propaganda".[230] On September 9, all 24 DemocraticJewish members of Congress issued a joint statement saying that they were "appalled that Tucker Carlson hosted and promoted Nazi apologist and Holocaust denier Darryl Cooper on his podcast".[231][232] Republican congressmanMike Lawler said in his own condemnation of Carlson that "platforming known Holocaust revisionists is deeply disturbing."[233]
In 2023, a biography of Carlson titledTucker was released. The book was written by Chadwick Moore with the help of Carlson, who had given the author more than 100 hours of interviews.[245] Moore had stated that the book was intended to tell the story of Carlson's exit from Fox News from the former host's perspective. The book performed poorly, with just over 3,000 copies sold during the first week after its release.[246][247]
Carlson is aRepublican.[263][264][265] He was previously registered as aDemocrat in Washington, D.C., from 2006 to 2020.[263][266] In 2017, Carlson said his registration as a Democrat was to gain the right to vote in the primaries for mayoral elections in the district, and that he nevertheless "sincerely despise[s]" the Democratic Party and "always vote[d] for the more corrupt candidate over the idealist" in order to favor the status quo and stemprogressivism.[267] Carlson campaigned for Republicans and Republican-affiliated causes during his time as a Democrat.[268][269]
In public correspondence inSlate withTexas Monthly'sEvan Smith on November 29, 1999, Carlson agreed with Smith's low opinion of Donald Trump,[270] who was thenrunning for president with theReform Party. Carlson wrote that Trump was "the single most repulsive person on the planet" and that the Reform Party consisted of "a bunch of wackos".[271][272] Separately, he criticized the party'seventual nominee,Pat Buchanan.[273] In his 2018 book,Ship of Fools, Carlson wrote that he had adopted some of Buchanan's views.[272][274]
Carlson voted forGeorge W. Bush in the2000 election.[275] Carlson toldSalon in 2003 that some Washington conservatives suspected he was "secretly liberal" because he likedJohn McCain.[276] Carlson said in an interview, "by my criteria, Bush isn't much of a conservative".[18] Carlson did not vote in the2004 election, citing his souring on theIraq War, his disillusionment with the oncesmall-government Republican Party, and his disappointment with Bush and like-minded conservatives.[18][19]
Writing forPolitico in January 2016, Carlson expressed his support for Donald Trump's candidacy and his positions, such as his proposed "Muslim ban", and criticized the other Republican candidates for not similarly making immigration a core issue.[280][269][c] During theTrump presidency,[c] Carlson was described inPolitico as "perhaps the highest-profile proponent of 'Trumpism' – a blend of anti-immigrant nationalism, economic populism andAmerica First isolationism".[3] Carlson's commentaries did not uniformly praise Trump, but he had frequent scorn for Trump's critics; some commentators called Carlson an exemplar of "anti-anti-Trump" arguments.[1][281][282][283] In March 2023, Carlson defended Trump after he wasindicted in New York, calling the indictment "election interference".[284] Despite his praise for Trump, he has at times been critical.[285][286] Carlson criticized theassassination of Qasem Soleimani, ordered by Trump in January 2020[285] and said in June 2020 that Trump had letBlack Lives Matter protests go too far.[286] In private correspondence, he referred to Trump as a "demonic force" and wrote, "I hate him passionately".[287][288][289][290]
Following the2020 election, Carlson reportedly told people he had voted forindependent candidateKanye West, thoughPolitico points out that it was unclear whether Carlson "was serious or merely joking".[263] In July 2021, Carlson toldTime magazine that the Republican Party is "inept and bad at governing" and "much more effective as an oppositional force than it is as a governing party".[31][291]
Carlson supportedJD Vance in the2022 Republican U.S. Senate primary in Ohio and privately persuaded Trump to endorse him despite Vance's past anti-Trump comments.[292] Former Hawaii congresswoman and Democratic presidential primary contenderTulsi Gabbard was a substitute host onTucker Carlson Tonight in 2022; she appeared on the show the night she left the Democratic Party in October 2022, to Carlson's praise.[293]
Abortion
Carlson opposes abortion and has said it is the only political issue he considers non-negotiable.[1][294][295] Carlson has describedRoe v. Wade as "the most embarrassing court decision handed down in the last century".[296]
In 2024, Carlson dismissed the link between climate change and the increased frequency and intensity of hurricanes, attributing it instead to abortion. Explaining his rationale, he has compared abortion to ritual sacrifice, saying that one "can't participate in human sacrifice without consequences".[297]
Death penalty
Carlson wrote in 2000 that capital punishment "deserves more vigorous debate",[298] and in 2003 toldSalon, "I'm opposed to the death penalty as I am adamantly opposed to abortion".[276] After saying on Fox News in 2010 thatMichael Vick "should have been executed" fordog fighting, Carlson stated that he is "not comfortable with the death penalty under any circumstances".[299][300]
Since 2018, he has promoted morepopulist economics,[59] attackinglibertarianism, saying "market capitalism is not a religion" and portraying some Republicans as "controlled by the banks".[322][17] In an interview, he said that economic andtechnological change that occurs too quickly can cause widespreadsocial andpolitical upheaval, and praised PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, saying hisintervention in the economy in the early 1900s may have prevented acommunist revolution in the United States.[323] In 2019 onTucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson said America's "ruling class" are, in effect, the "mercenaries" behind the decline of the American middle class, and "any economic system that weakens and destroys families is not worth having. A system like that is the enemy of a healthy society."[322][324] He cited parallels between the problems ofinner cities andrural areas as evidence that the "culture of poverty" cited by conservatives as the cause ofurban decline "wasn't the whole story", and that "Certain economic systems allow families to thrive. Thriving families make market economies possible."[325][326][327] In January 2019, Carlson used aThe Washington Postop-ed by Romney to criticize what he described as the "mainstream Republican" worldview, consisting of "unwavering support for afinance-based economy.[325]
Carlson has criticizedhedge funds (singling out the Republican donorPaul Singer in 2019) andprivate equity (in criticizingMitt Romney, former CEO ofBain Capital).[328][325] He described the business model of firms like Bain as: "Take over an existing company for a short period of time, cut costs by firing employees, run up the debt, extract the wealth and move on, sometimes leaving retirees without their earned pensions. ... Meanwhile, a remarkable number of the companies are now bankrupt or extinct."[325][329] He attackedpayday lenders, saying they "loan people money they can't possibly repay" and "charge them interest that impoverishes them"[325][322][330] He praised Democratic presidential candidateElizabeth Warren's economic plan and called her bookThe Two Income Trap "one of the best books I've ever read on economics".[331][332]
Environment
On his show, Carlson frequently hosts guests who downplay thescientific consensus on climate change,[333] and disagreed withBill Nye on the subject.[334][335][336][337] Carlson has also said that he does not consider climate change a threat.[338] Carlson argues that global warming will have many positive effects on Earth, namely "more arable land in places like Canada and northern Europe".[339]
Carlson said he does not consider Russia a serious threat to the United States,[353] and called for the United States to work with Russia in theSyrian Civil War against a common enemy like theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).[354][355] He asserts that Putin does not hate the United States as much asAmerican liberals do,[356] and suggested there is no reason to dislike Putin, asking his viewers to consider whether Putin has ever called them racist or threatened to get them fired for disagreeing with him. Carlson said it is "not treason, it is not un-American" to support Putin.[346]
In 2019, while discussing U.S. military aid to Ukraine during theDonbas War, Carlson said on his show: "Why shouldn't I root for Russia? Which Iam".[349][350] At the end of the show, he claimed to have been joking. Afterwards, he explained: "I think we should probably take the side of Russia if we have to choose between Russia and Ukraine".[350]
Carlson's views of Putin's Russia have changed markedly since the 2000s. Back then, he agreed that Russia was becoming a "police state" where "freedom of the press is disappearing", and said that Putin was "in league with our enemies".[350]
Peter Beinart ofThe Atlantic said Carlson has been an "apologist for Donald Trump on theRussia scandal".[353] Carlson described the controversy over revelations thatDonald Trump Jr. waswilling to accept opposition research about Hillary Clinton from a Russian government official as a "new level of hysteria" and said that Trump Jr. had only been "gossiping with foreigners".[353]
After thedeath of prominent Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny in a Russian prison days after the interview, Carlson faced fresh criticism for holding the interview with Putin and saying that "leadership requires killing people".[224] Carlson called Navalny's death "barbaric and awful" in a statement toThe New York Times.[225]
Iraq
Carlson initially supported the Iraq War. A year after theinvasion of Iraq, he began criticizing the war, tellingThe New York Observer: "I think it's a total nightmare and disaster, and I'm ashamed that I went against my own instincts in supporting it."[366] In 2004, Carlson wrote a commentary inEsquire accusing Bush of weakness after theSeptember 11 attacks and in theinvasion of Iraq.[275] Carlson said "Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semi-literate primitive monkeys, that's why it wasn't worth invading.".[367]
Iran
In July 2017, Carlson said that "we actually don't face any domestic threat fromIran". He askedMax Boot to "tell me how many Americans in the United States have been murdered by terrorists backed by Iran since 9/11?"[353] According toThe New York Times, Carlson played an influential role in dissuading Trump from launching military strikes against Iran in response to theshooting down of an American drone in June 2019. Carlson reportedly told Trump that if he listened to hishawkish advisors and went ahead with the strikes, he would not win re-election.[46] In 2019, Carlson lobbied Donald Trump to fire his national security advisor,John Bolton. Carlson said Bolton was "demented" for seeking a military strike against Iran and accused him of undermining Trump by disagreeing publicly with Trump's decisions.[368][50][49] Trump fired Bolton on September 10, 2019.[49]
Carlson called the2020 assassination ofQasem Soleimani a "quagmire". He criticized the "chest-beaters" who promote foreign interventions, particularly SenatorBen Sasse (R-NE), and asked, "By the way, ifwe're still in Afghanistan, 19 years, sad years, later, what makes us think there's a quick way out of Iran?"[285]
Syria
Carlson opposed overthrowing Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad and has downplayed some of the Assad regime'shuman rights violations in theSyrian Civil War.[353][369] In April 2018, Carlson questioned whether Assad was responsible for theDouma chemical attack that had occurred a few days earlier and killed dozens.[370][371] In November 2019, Carlson repeated this claim and queried whether the attack had happened at all.[372] Carlson suggested that a similar attack that occurred the year before (theKhan Shaykhun chemical attack), which was attributed to Assad's forces and which theOPCW JIM indicated was carried out with sarin that bore the regime's signature, was afalse flag attack perpetrated to falsely implicate the Assad government. Carlson compared Assad's war crimes during the Syrian Civil War toSaudi Arabia'swar crimes in Yemen.[370]
Israel
In 2006, Carlson appeared live from Israel during the2006 Lebanon War between Israel andHezbollah in southern Lebanon.[373][374] Early on in the conflict, Carlson proposed that Lebanon fight and push out Hezbollah instead of going to war with Israel.[375] During the conflict, he criticized Syria's involvement in the conflict in supporting Hezbollah and later expressed some support for theIsrael Defense Forces.[376][377] However, he also criticized the tactics used by the Israel Defense Forces in fighting Hezbollah.[376]
During theGaza war, Carlson criticized both President Joe Biden and Republican House speakerMike Johnson for their supportfor military aid to Israel and called for American neutrality during the conflict.[378][379] He declared Israel guilty ofwar crimes.[380] Commentators have described him as part of a growing faction within the Republican Party that is either indifferent, ordirectly opposed, toZionism.[381]
In June 2025, Carlson criticized President Trump's support forIsraeli strikes against Iran and opposed the possible involvement of the United States in a war with Iran.[382][383] Carlson said: "I think this can be stopped. But it's going to require a really tough step which is to say to our client state which is to say, 'We love you, we want to help you, we don't think you're acting in your own interest. We're not going to … imperil American national security, the American economy, or America itself on your behalf."[384]
Carlson was accused of making antisemitic comments at thememorial service of Charlie Kirk by suggesting that he supported the conspiracy theory that Jews or Israel were responsible for the assassination. Carlson said that thekilling of Kirk reminded him of thedeath of Jesus Christ, who was killed by powerful people for telling the truth.[387][388] Carlson claimed that Charlie Kirk loved Israel, but he disliked Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu and was "appalled by what was happening in Gaza," and most of all, he disliked that Netanyahu was using the United States to wage wars on Israel's behalf.[389]
Hungary
Tucker at MCC Fest After
In August 2021, Carlson traveled toHungary, broadcasting fromBudapest. He praised the country and its prime minister,Viktor Orbán, for rejecting asylum seekers on its border, and ridiculed the idea that Orbán was authoritarian.[60][347][390][391] He spoke at a conference sponsored by theMathias Corvinus Collegium.[392] In January 2022, Carlson released the filmHungary vs. Soros on Fox Nation. According toVox, it promoted conspiracy theories aboutSoros and suggested that criticism of the Hungarian government was a function of jealousy from the political left.[393] TheOpen Society Foundations, a group founded by Soros, called the film "anti-American propaganda", and its Vice President Laura Silber stated that "Carlson appears to prefer authoritarian rule,state capture of media and the courts,crony corruption and rigged elections."[348][394]
In a July 2018 interview aboutRussian involvement in U.S. elections, Carlson claimed that Mexico had interfered in U.S. elections "more successfully" than Russia by "packing our electorate" through mass immigration.[396] This assertion was disputed by journalist Philip Bump, who wrote that the number of Mexicans in the U.S. had decreased since 2009 and asked rhetorically: "What good has it done Mexico to have a number of its citizens move to the United States and gain the right to vote?"[397]
In May 2019, Carlson defended Trump's decision to placetariffs on Mexico unless Mexico stoppedillegal immigration to the United States. Carlson said, "When the United States is attacked by a hostile foreign power it must strike back, and make no mistake Mexico is a hostile foreign power."[398]
El Salvador
Carlson has visited El Salvador on three occasions, twice underNayib Bukele's administration, and routinely defended hisstrongman policies to reduce crime and combat theMS-13 gangs.[399][400][401]
North Korea
In June 2019, when President Trump met North Korean leaderKim Jong-un at theKorean Demilitarized Zone, Carlson, who was touring with Trump, defended Trump's friendship with Kim. Carlson toldFox & Friends that the North Korean regime was "monstrous" and North Korea was a "disgusting place" but "On the other hand, you've got to be honest about what it means to lead a country. It means killing people".[402] Carlson went on to argue that "a lot of countries commit atrocities including a number that we're closely allied with".[403][404][405][406]
On November 20, 2020,The New York Times reported thatSteve Bannon and Chinese businessmanGuo Wengui had broughtLi-Meng Yan to America to promote theCOVID-19 lab leak theory, a theory that states COVID-19 was made in a Chinese laboratory and then escaped from the lab. Bannon and Guo set up appearances for Yan on Carlson's show to promote the theory. Carlson would later say that he did not endorse her theories. Nonetheless, Carlson still hosted her on his show for a second appearance.[410]
After the death ofQueen Elizabeth II in September 2022, Carlson opined that theBritish Empire, although "not perfect", had brought civilization to regions it occupied with "decency unmatched by any empire in human history". He was criticized in India by figures including the politician and historianShashi Tharoor, who had written a book detailing atrocities by theBritish Raj.[414][415][416]
Carlson at the Immigrants' Rights rally inWashington Mall, 2006
Carlson is a frequentcritic of immigration,[15] and has been described by multiple writers as demonizing both documented and undocumented immigrants.[418][419][420]White grievance politics is a persistent theme in Carlson's commentary.[272] Sources such as CNN andThe Washington Post have said Carlson promotes racism,[421][420][41][422][423] a charge he denies, saying in 2018, "I'm not a racist. I hate racism."[59] Carlson has repeatedly promoted aconspiracy theory that Democrats are seeking "demographic replacement" to increase their voter base, and in 2021 he described this as "theGreat Replacement", usingwhite nationalist terminology.[424][30][425][423][426] Carlson has describedwhite supremacy as "not a real problem in America".[427] Heidi Beirich of theSouthern Poverty Law Center has said that "Carlson probably has been the No.1 commentator mainstreaming bedrock principles of white nationalism in [the U.S.]."[24] Terry Smith, a law professor at St. Thomas University, has called Carlson's rhetoric an example of whiteidentity politics.[428] University of Michigan professorAlexandra Stern has written that Carlson propagates demographic fear.[429]Neoconservative punditBill Kristol described Carlson's commentaries in 2018 as "close now to racism" and "ethno-nationalism of some kind, let's call it".[430]
Racism and white supremacy
Carlson has compared theObama administration's stance on anti-police protests toNazism for "[categorizing] people by race",[431][432] and he has alleged that theGeorge Floyd protests were about "ideological domination" rather thanpolice brutality. The latter comment prompted several advertisers to boycott his program.[433][434][435][436] Carlson has falsely claimed that Floyd was not killed by officerDerek Chauvin[437] and that Chauvin was only found guilty because the jurors felt threatened by rioters.[438]
WhenMitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president,denounced Trump in March 2016, saying Trump made a "disqualifying and disgusting response" by evading questions about formerKu Klux Klan Grand WizardDavid Duke's support,[439] Carlson criticized Romney and dismissed his speech by suggesting "Obama could have written this."[440][441]
After Neff, his head writer, was fired for hateful blog posts in 2020, Carlson said of the posts, "They have no connection to the show. It is wrong to attack people for qualities they cannot control."[442] Separately, Carlson said in 2017 that he does not approve of white supremacy.[281] In 2018, he criticized China's treatment of Muslims.[443][444]
In 2022, in response toThe New York Times publishing a report criticizing Carlson and his show, Carlson said that his show did not have a controversial opinion on race, saying: "Our view of race is really simple. We believeMartin Luther King Jr. We don't think your skin color is the most important thing about you. We think all people were created by God and should therefore be judged by what they do, not by how they look."[445] Carlson has also offered praise forMalcolm X, saying that unlike other civil rights leaders, Malcolm X "didn't talk like asharecropper. He spoke dignified standard English. He wasn't running a shakedown racket to fleece guilty white liberals."[446]
Islam
Carlson iscritical of Islam and has hosted guests on his program that criticize Islam.[447][448] He has described the existence of an "Islamic cult" and an "Islamic problem", describing it as a threat to the United States.[447] He was critical of the Obama administration's terrorism policy, arguing that it should have considered Islam as a cause of terrorism.[447] In 2019, advocacy groupMedia Matters for America released recordings of racist comments that Carlson made in 2006 including that Iraq was not worth invading because he believed it to be a country made up of "semi-literate primitive monkeys" and "lunatic Muslims who are behaving like animals".[449]
Immigrants and the Great Replacement conspiracy theory
In 2018, Carlson described the effects of mass immigration on the United States using the termsdirtier,poorer, andmore divided[450][451] and said it "has badly hurt this country's natural landscape".[452] On another 2018 episode, Carlson criticizedmulticulturalism in the United States, skeptically asking "how, precisely, is diversity our strength?" and whether any other institutions benefitted from a lack of commonalities.[453][454] Talking aboutHazleton, Pennsylvania, where Hispanics had quickly become a majority of the population, Carlson said it was "more change than human beings are designed to digest".[420] In May 2019 he said, "The flood of illegal workers into the United States has damaged our communities, ruined our schools, burdened our healthcare system and fractured ournational unity."[398] In December 2019, he falsely claimed that immigrants were responsible for making thePotomac River "dirtier and dirtier".[455][456]
Carlson has accused Democrats of supporting increased immigration to change the racial demographics of the United States to increase the Democratic voter base. Commentators and organizations such as theAnti-Defamation League (ADL) have described these views as endorsement of theGreat Replacement conspiracy theory.[30][69][457][458] Carlson has also accused President Joe Biden of engaging ineugenics and "Great Replacement" through a policy of increased immigration.[425][459] Despite this, Carlson has challenged accusations that he believes the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, describing it as a "voting rights question".[30] He has also questioned the popularity of the conspiracy theory after it was invoked by multiple white supremacistmass shooters, including the2019 El Paso shooting and the2022 Buffalo shooting, contradicting his previous endorsement of the conspiracy theory and calling its existence a "hoax".[424][460][427][261]
Following the Carlson segment, President Trump tweeted that he had instructed Secretary of StateMike Pompeo to "closely study the South Africa land and farm seizure and large scale killing of farmers".[461][462][463] The South African government responded that Trump's tweet was "misinformed" and said it would address the matter through diplomatic channels.AfriForum, a South African non-governmental organization focused mainly on the interests ofAfrikaners, took credit for Carlson's and Trump's statements, saying it believed that its campaign to influence American politics had succeeded.[463]
The evening after the segment, Carlson acknowledged that the proposed amendment was still being debated and added that no farms had yet beenexpropriated, though he did not admit to having made errors. Carlson later said in an interview that his South Africa segment made "an argument againsttribalism".[465]
Ilhan Omar
Carlson concludedTucker Carlson Tonight on July 9, 2019, with a three-minute monologue about RepresentativeIlhan Omar (D-MN), who was born inSomalia and immigrated to the United States as arefugee as an adolescent. Carlson accused Omar of being ungrateful to the United States, and called her "living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country". His monologue was described byThe Guardian as "racially loaded" and "full of anti-immigrant rhetoric".[470] Omar responded on Twitter, saying that "advertisers should not be underwriting this kind of dangerous, hateful rhetoric".[471]The Daily Beast commented that Carlson had devoted numerous segments to criticizing Omar, and that largely due to "right-wing attacks that have then been amplified by members of Congress and the president", Omar had been receivingdeath threats since her election to Congress.[472]
On the October 6 and 7, 2022 episodes ofTucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson aired an edited version of an interview with rapper and fashion designer Ye, also known by his birth nameKanye West. West and conservative commentatorCandace Owens had recently been photographed atParis Fashion Week wearing matching shirts that read "White Lives Matter", a phrase often associated withwhite supremacist groups. In his interview with Carlson, West said he had worn the shirt because he found it "funny" and agreed with the message. When Carlson asked West about a badge West was wearing on alanyard around his neck, West stated that it was an image from anobstetric ultrasound, and added, "It just represents life. I'mpro-life"; he claimed without evidence "that there are more Black babies being aborted than born inNew York City at this point."[473]
On October 11, 2022, theVice websiteMotherboard published leaked unaired footage from the interview. In the unaired footage, West expressedBlack Hebrew Israelite views, stated he had received aCOVID-19 vaccine, and claimed that paidchild actors had been "placed into [his] house to sexualize [his] kids"; in one instance, referring to aKwanzaa celebration at his children's school, West said, "I prefer my kids knewHanukkah than Kwanzaa [sic].At least it will come with some financial engineering."[474][475][476][477] The leaked footage was heavily scrutinized in light of other antisemitic statements West had made on social media in the days after theTucker Carlson Tonight interview aired, including an October 8 tweet in which he threatened to go "death con 3 [sic]" on Jewish people.[474][475] Philip Bump ofThe Washington Post wrote that Carlson had presented "a very specific version" of West's remarks that "mirrored Carlson's rhetoric on race and politics".[477] Ben Samuels ofHaaretz wrote that the episode "brings Carlson's history of providing a platform for antisemitism further into focus".[475]
Gender and sexuality
Carlson is anopponent of feminism.[272][192] In a December 2021 segment despairing the fallinglabor participation rate of U.S. men, Carlson said, "Men and women are very different, extremely different. Society is built on their differences."[478] He has alleged that feminists want girls to make gains at the expense of boys.[192] He was rebuked by the U.S. military in March 2021 after he ridiculed maternity flight suits for U.S. women soldiers and described a decision by the Chinese military to build ships as "more masculine".[479] He used the wordspig andcunt to describe several individual women in remarks from 2006 to 2011 on the radio showBubba the Love Sponge.[167] In 2022, Carlson releasedThe End of Men, aTucker Carlson Original alleging a decline in American masculinity. The episode featuredRaw Egg Nationalist,[480] a pseudonymous author affiliated withneo-Nazi publishing houseAntelope Hill.[481][482][483][484]
Carlson has highlighted what he considers excesses ofLGBT people on the political left.[485] Some of his comments on air have been described ashomophobic, including a 2006 radio conversation in which he andBubba the Love Sponge used the wordfaggot to describe their affection for each other, and his 2007 description of an incident during high school of beating up a gay man who had made an advance on him in a public bathroom.[449][88] In the same year, he calledDemocratic primary contenders cowards for not pledging to legalize same sex marriage and stated that he would support that.[486] In 2021, Carlson belittled thepaternity leave taken by U.S. Secretary of TransportationPete Buttigieg, a gay man, joking that Buttigieg could be "trying to figure out how to breastfeed".[487] Carlson's promotion of inflammatory rhetoric about LGBTQ controversies[488] was scrutinized after theColorado Springs nightclub mass shooting in November 2022.[489] Carlson has strongly criticized thetransgender rights movement,[490] including saying hospitals that providegender-affirming healthcare to minors are criminals who harm children, and that they should not be surprised to receive threatening phone calls.[491]
In September 2023, Tucker Carlson interviewed a man who claimed to have had sex withBarack Obama.[492]
Carlson differed with Trump and some of his colleagues at Fox News in early 2020 by saying COVID-19 should be taken more seriously in the U.S,[493][494] and he reportedly influenced then-President Trump to take the virus more seriously.[493][495][496] Carlson blamed China for causing the pandemic.[494] By May 2020, Carlson began to publicly question the severity of the virus.[497] Carlson criticizedstay-at-home orders brought on by the pandemic[498] and defendedprotests against lockdowns in rural areas.[499] In February 2022, he supported theCanada convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions and called it "the single most successful human rights protest in a generation".[500] He also claimed that some U.S. officials were overstating the deadliness of the virus – a claim thatPolitiFact called mostly false.[497] Carlson mentioned the anti-parasite medicationivermectin as a possible COVID-19 treatment, though theFDA warned against its use.[501][502]
Carlson has repeatedly misrepresented the safety ofCOVID-19 vaccines and asserted that U.S. officials were "lying" about them.[503][504][505][506][507][508] He has falsely suggested that COVID-19 vaccines suppress the immune system,[509] and he has misrepresented federal data to claim that 30 Americans died after receiving the vaccine each day,[510][511][512] misleading his audience by citing the unverifiedVAERS database that included deaths fromunrelated causes.[513][510][514][505][515] He has likenedvaccine passports to segregationistJim Crow laws,[516][517] and he claimed that avaccine mandate in theU.S. Armed Forces was designed to oust "the sincere Christians in the ranks, the free thinkers, the men with high testosterone levels, and anyone else who doesn't love Joe Biden".[518] He has also falsely claimed that the government was attempting to "force people to take medicine they don't want or need" through door-to-door vaccines.[519][520] Carlson says he has not been vaccinated against COVID-19.[521]
Carlson routinely criticizedNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases directorAnthony Fauci during Fauci's tenure.[498][522] This criticism included repeated false allegations that Fauci was responsible for the creation of COVID-19, with Carlson also falsely claiming that Fauci lied about the origin of COVID-19 to sell vaccines.[33][28][522] According toJon Cohen inScience, "Carlson took facts out of context and cited long-debunked studies or reports to attack Fauci".[28] Fauci responded to Carlson's remarks by calling them a "crazy conspiracy theory".[523]
Carlson was a vocal critic of the use offace masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling people wearing masks outdoors "zealots and neurotics".[524][525] He received significant public backlash for his claim that having children wear face masks was tantamount tochild abuse and that it warranted a response "no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart".[524][525][526] Carlson has pointed to the use of masks as evidence that vaccines do not work, falsely claiming that there would be no benefits to mask use with an effective vaccine.[527][523]
Ahead of the2020 election, in September, Carlson told viewers that Democrats were promotingmail-in voting to create "uncertainty over the outcome of the election, so they can manipulate the results".[528] After Joe Biden won the election in November, Carlson raisedfalse allegations offraud in the election.[529][530][531][532] On his show, he mentioned the names of purportedly dead individuals who voted inGeorgia; investigative reporting subsequently found that some of the individuals whom he claimed to be dead were in fact alive. Carlson apologized on his show for the error.[533] Carlson distanced himself from Trump'spost-election legal fights, in which Carlson said the election was "not fair" but acknowledged that it still would not produce a Trump victory.[534][535]
Later that month, Carlson cast doubt on unfounded conspiratorial claims made by former federal prosecutorSidney Powell, who alleged that Venezuela, Cuba and unidentified communist interests had used a secret algorithm to hack into voting machines and commit widespread electoral fraud.[536] Carlson said "what Powell was describing would amount to the single greatest crime in American history", but that Powell became "angry and told us to stop contacting her" when he asked for evidence of widespread voter fraud.[536] Prominent defenders of Trump criticized Carlson for his skepticism, though Powell was dropped from Trump's legal team shortly afterward.[537][538] Carlson later brought onMike Lindell on January 26, 2021, whose companyMy Pillow was the largest advertiser onTucker Carlson Tonight, to criticizeDominion Voting Systems and claim it had "hired hit groups and bots and trolls" to target him following his Twitter account's permanent suspension for promoting unfounded fraud claims.[539][540]
In July 2021, Carlson suggested that "there actually was meaningful voter fraud inFulton County, Georgia, last November" despite the state'selection results being validated via both hand and machine recounts. PolitiFact found that none of the evidence provided by Carlson substantiated his conclusion. For example, because Trump and Biden ballots were sorted into separate piles during the hand recount, tally sheets with votes exclusively for either candidate are not indicative of fraud.[541]
In August 2022, Carlson was deposed as part of alawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News over false claims of voter fraud made about the company.[542][543][544] The following February, Dominion's legal team released texts and other products ofdiscovery against Fox, revealing that Carlson privately doubted the false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and mocked Trump advisors, includingRudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. Carlson texted toLaura Ingraham, "Sidney Powell is lying by the way. I caught her. It's insane" and "Our viewers are good people and they believe it."[545] Carlson also textedSean Hannity, saying Fox News White House correspondentJacqui Heinrich should be fired for tweeting a fact-check of false claims Carlson and Trump circulated about Dominion. He wrote "Please get her fired. Seriously ... What the fuck? I'm actually shocked ... It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It's measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.", and said he "just went crazy on" a Fox executive over Heinrich's reporting. Heinrich's tweet was deleted by the next morning.[288][546]
Also published were texts of Carlson regarding Donald Trump, with Carlson stating: "I hate him passionately". About Trump's presidency, he texted: "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 really isn't an upside to Trump."[547] In March 2023, Carlson said in an interview that he was "enraged that my private texts were pulled" for the court case, and asserted: "I love Trump … I think Trump is funny and insightful."[548]
In February 2021, after attorney general nomineeMerrick Garland pledged at his confirmation hearing to supervise the prosecution of "white supremacists and others" involved in theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack, Carlson alleged, "There's no evidence that white supremacists were responsible for what happened on January 6. That's a lie."[549] PolitiFact rated Carlson's claim false, because several rioters had known ties to white supremacist groups, according to court records and congressional testimony by law enforcement leaders, and video and photos from the incident showed white supremacist symbols prominently displayed.[550][551] Philip Bump ofThe Washington Post wrote in an analysis that Carlson was blurring the lines between "being involved" and "being responsible for" to create astrawman in an effort to "undercut the public understanding of what happened and, by extension, to soften the implications for Trump and his supporters".[552] Carlson has also inaccurately stated that "[n]ot a single person in the crowd on January 6 was found to be carrying a firearm."[553]
In June 2021, Carlson promoted a conspiracy theory alleging that the Capitol storming was a "false flag"FBI operation intended to "suppress political dissent".[36][554][555] He alleged that unindicted co-conspirators in rioters' indictments were government agents, saying, "FBI operatives were organizing the attack on the Capitol on January 6, according to government documents".[556][36] Legal experts said Carlson's claim was unfounded because prosecutors cannot describe anundercover agent as an unindicted co-conspirator.[36][557][558] One of the unindicted co-conspirators was readily identifiable asStewart Rhodes, founder and leader ofOath Keepers, a far-right anti-government militia; another unindicted co-conspirator was likely the wife of an indicted alleged conspirator.[36][557][559] Carlson's guest,Darren Beattie of Revolver News,[d] whose writing the segment was primarily based on, had been fired as a Trump speechwriter in 2018 after CNN asked the White House about his attendance at a gathering of white nationalists.[36][557] Carlson also said Russian president Vladimir Putin raised "fair questions" when Putin mentioned the fatalpolice shooting of a rioter inside the Capitol while denying involvement in thepoisoning of a Russian politician.[560][561] Republican House membersMatt Gaetz andMarjorie Taylor Greene quickly embraced Carlson's story about FBI involvement in the Capitol attack, and Republican congressmanPaul Gosar entered the Revolver News story into theCongressional Record during aHouse Oversight Committee hearing.[554]
After Carlson criticizedSenator Ted Cruz for calling the Capitol storming a "terrorist attack", Cruz appeared on Carlson's show on January 6, 2022, the anniversary of the event, and apologized for his words.[563]
House SpeakerKevin McCarthy in early 2023 gave Carlson exclusive access to 44,000 hours of security surveillance video from the day of the Capitol attack. Carlson subsequently aired portions of it on his show to illustrate his own narrative concerning the event, painting it as "peaceful chaos" and condemning other media outlets as untruthful when portraying the attack as violent.[564][565] The family ofBrian Sicknick, aUnited States Capitol Police officer who died the day following the Capitol attack, and Capitol Police ChiefTom Manger condemned the segment,[566][567] which also received reproach from Democratic and Republican politicians, including from the Republican leader of the Senate,Mitch McConnell.[568] Carlson's presentation included video ofJacob Chansley — the "QAnon Shaman" — walking the halls of Congress, depicting him as a peaceful demonstrator being escorted by police who was unjustly prosecuted and incarcerated. Days after the presentation, Justice Department prosecutors stated in a court filing that the four minutes of video showed only a brief part of Chansley's activity and omitted his earlier incriminating behavior, concluding, "Chansley was not some passive, chaperoned observer of events for the roughly hour that he was unlawfully inside the Capitol."[569]
Carlson repeatedly promoted a conspiracy theory that pro-Trump protestorRay Epps was actually a federal agent engaged in a false flag operation to instigate the January 6 attack. Epps said he and his wife were subjected to threats and harassment, leading them to sell their home and business to go into hiding in another state. An attorney for Epps wrote Carlson in March 2023 demanding a public retraction of "false and defamatory statements."[570][571][572]
Patriot Purge program
In late October 2021,Patriot Purge, a three-part series produced by Carlson, was released on theFox Nation streaming service. Carlson broadcast a trailer that suggested the January 6 attack was a government false flag operation to implicate the right wing, with one speaker asserting that "the left is hunting the right". Carlson stated on-air that the government had "launched a new war" on American citizens and characterized his series as "rock-solid factually".[573] Fact-checkers found the series contained numerous falsehoods and conspiracy theories. Michael Jensen, a senior researcher at theNational Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, called it "political propaganda that is meant to rally a support base that has shown a willingness to mobilize on the basis of disinformation and lies. That's how we got Jan. 6 in the first place."[26][574] Conservative writersJonah Goldberg andSteve Hayes responded to the series by severing their ties to Fox News, declaring that the series was "a collection of incoherent conspiracy-mongering, riddled with factual inaccuracies, half-truths, deceptive imagery, and damning omissions".[575][576]Bret Baier andChris Wallace, prominent anchors in the network's news division, raised objections to the series to top executives of the Fox organization.[576]
Alleged surveillance
In October 2020, Carlson alleged on his show that someone was reading his text messages, after documents he claimed had compromising information on Joe Biden's son,Hunter, were lost by theUnited Parcel Service and then quickly located.[577][578][579] Carlson did not say what these documents contained.[579] In November 2021, theDaily Mail published emails from alaptop owned by Hunter Biden, which appear to demonstrate a friendship between himself and Carlson.[580]
On June 28, 2021, Carlson said on his program that "a whistleblower within the U.S. government" informed him that theNational Security Agency (NSA) was "monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air", adding, "The Biden administration is spying on us. We have confirmed that."[581] That same day, a producer for Carlson filed an unusually broadFreedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the NSA, seeking records, including "any communication between NSA officials regarding journalist Tucker Carlson", dating back to January 2019, before Biden became president.[582][e] On June 29, the NSA tweeted a rare statement of denial,[581][584] stating that Carlson has never been a target of its surveillance and it never had any intent to have his program taken off the air.[585] Carlson responded on-air that the NSA did not deny reading his emails.[586][f] House Republican leaderKevin McCarthy askedHouse Intelligence Committee ranking memberDevin Nunes to investigate.[587]
Axios reported on July 7 that, shortly before Carlson made his allegation, he had been in contact with U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries to arrange an interview with Vladimir Putin. The reporter of theAxios exclusive story,Jonathan Swan, later confirmed he had contacted Carlson seeking pre-publication comment, but said he had not told Carlson that anyone had shared the email contents with him.[588][589] On that night's program, Carlson said that he had contacted people about interviewing Putin, but did not mention it to anyone because he did not want to "rattle the Russians, and make the interview less likely to happen". He said that the NSA hadunmasked his identity and that "the contents of my emails left that building at the NSA and wound up with a news organization".[590][591] On July 23, cybersecurity news website The Record wrote that Carlson had not been targeted by the NSA but had been unmasked after he was mentioned by third parties who were under surveillance, citing two anonymous sources. Fox News called the reported act "unacceptable".[592]The New York Times observed there was a distinction between Carlson's communications being intercepted by the NSA and intercepts of foreigners who were discussing Carlson.[589] The NSA inspector general's office announced in August 2021 that it was examining Carlson's allegation.[593]
Presidential politics
There has been speculation that Carlson could attempt a run forPresident of the United States in 2024[594][595][596] and 2028.[597][598] In an episode of his podcast in 2024, Carlson stated that he would consider running for president in 2028, but also conceded that "I don't think I'd be very good at it."[599]
Rhetorical style
Carlson's rhetorical style and debating tactics have drawn close attention from writers and other public figures.[16][59][1][600][601]
In arguments, Carlson can quickly shift between personas as adevil's advocate and a moralizing truth teller, and simultaneously appear outraged and blasé – a use of contradiction that Lili Loofbourow, writing forSlate, referred to as a "joking/not-joking loophole" historically used by radioshock jocks.[600]James Carville, a Democratic strategist and friend of Carlson who has appeared on his shows, called Carlson "one of the world's greatcontrarians". Touching upon this, Kelefa Sanneh, writing forThe New Yorker said that one of Carlson's gifts is to make any position he takes on an issue "seem like a brave rebellion against someone else's way of thinking."[1]
Carlson has said he especially targets the "moral preening" of people he sees as having a sensibility of "I'm a really good person, and you're not."[16] According to Philip Bump ofThe Washington Post, Carlson presents his perceived opponents "as endlessly cynical and duplicitous", and agitates his audience against them bycherry-picking and misinterpreting information.[602][603] Charlotte Alter ofTime wrote that Carlson "sanitizes and legitimizes right-wing conspiratorial thinking, dodges when you try to nail him down on the specifics, then wraps it all in an argument about censorship and free speech".[31] Elaina Plott inThe Atlantic summed up Carlson's style as "a gleefulfuck you" to his opponents.[16]
During remote interviews, Carlson's producers will keep his face close-up onscreen so viewers can watch him react, often in disbelief.[1] His trademark scowl lets viewers "share his disdain" toward opposing views, foreshadowing a "scathing rebuttal".[601][604] Carlson is known to interrupt guests repeatedly with direct demands to answer questions he poses, sometimes focusing on an embarrassing episode or statement from a guest's past.[601] Jack Shafer wrote inPolitico that "When the host barks questions in your earpiece, you can't help but jolt to life like a puppet on a string", suggesting that successful guests on Carlson's show must match his quick-wittedness and unflappability.[601]Lyz Lenz of theColumbia Journalism Review wrote that this debate maneuver mirrors Jon Stewart's confrontation of Carlson onCrossfire in 2004, describing Stewart then and Carlson now as both "com[ing] out of the gate with an impossible line of questioning and a disingenuous defense".[59]
Charlotte Alter ofTime wrote in July 2021 that Carlson sometimes tells "outright falsehoods", but generally "avoids assertions that are factually disprovable, instead sticking toinnuendo". As an example, Alter wrote that Carlson did not endorseSidney Powell's specific claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, but he did say, "The people now telling us to stop asking questions about voting machines are the same ones who claim that our phones weren't listening to us".[31] In September 2020, onThe Rubin Report, Carlson said that, unlike TV newscasters who he said "systematically lie", he will only lie "if I'm really cornered or something", saying, "I lie. I really try not to. I try never to lie on TV. ... I don't like lying. I certainly do it, you know, out of weakness or whatever."[605] Bump argued in 2022 that compared with other television anchors, Carlson is loath to acknowledge factual errors in his commentary.[27]
Carlson's use ofhyperbole as a rhetorical device was cited by Fox News in its successful defense in 2020 of a slander lawsuit byKaren McDougal, after Carlson incorrectly argued in 2018 that Donald Trump had been a victim of extortion by McDougal.[173][174][606]
Reception
According to theEncyclopædia Britannica, Carlson has been "recognized for his success in helping to bring far-right viewpoints and vocabulary into the mainstream of American politics" through his promotion of "extreme positions on a range of political and social issues, for his embrace of white nationalism, for his support of authoritarian leaders of other countries, and for his regular reliance on arguably false or misleading claims, including baseless conspiracy theories" and for "exert[ing] an unusual influence on Republican president Donald Trump, who was a regular viewer of Carlson's show."[22] In 2021,Time said that Carlson could be the most powerful conservative in America, with Republican strategistJeff Roe adding, "He doesn't react to the agenda, he drives the agenda."[31]Mediaite named Carlson the most influential person in news media in 2021.[607][608]
Tina Brown, the former editor ofVanity Fair and a former colleague of Carlson, said: "Tucker is a tremendously good writer and I always thought it was a real shame that he kind of got sucked into this TV mania thing."[59]
On February 23, 2017,The Atlantic wrote that "Carlson's true talent is not for political philosophizing, it's for televised partisan combat. His go-to weapons—the smirky sarcasm, the barbed comebacks, the vicious politeness—seem uniquely designed to drive his sparring partners nuts, frequently making for terrific television".[19]
On September 19, 2017, journalistStephen Rodrick wrote in aGQ profile of Carlson: "On his show, Carlson mocks and verbally body-slams those who disagree with him, a passel of easy marks such as Democratic politicians, well-meaning liberal activists, and young reporters. He shares with Donald Trump a deep reluctance to apologize for his mistakes, and he lobs insults that seem suspiciously like subconscious self-assessments: He loves to accuse his guests of 'preening', and he derides 'pomposity, smugness, and groupthink'."[95]
In an interview for a 2021Time profile of Carlson, a formerNewsCorp executive, Alex Azam, described Carlson as having some impunity within Fox News, "because of the signal that touching him would send to the viewers that Fox never wants to lose".[31] In 2021, he was included in theTime 100,Time's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[609]
In April 2022,The New York Times published a three-part 20,000-word investigative series on Carlson called "American Nationalist". The investigative series documents Carlson's rise to prominence and his rhetoric on immigration, race relations and the COVID-19 pandemic, describing Tucker Carlson Tonight as "what may be the most racist show in the history of cable news — and also, by some measures, the most successful."[21][610][611][262][612] Carlson responded by saying that he has not read "American Nationalist" and does not plan to. He also denied allegations from theTimes about obsessing over ratings, saying that "I've never read the ratings a single day in my life. I don't even know how. Ask anyone at Fox." He also claimed to have taken positions unpopular with his audience, saying, "Most of the big positions I've taken in the past five years — against theneocons, thevax and thewar [in Ukraine] — have been very unpopular with our audience at first."[610]
Personal life
Carlson is married to Susan Thomson Carlson (née Andrews).[59][613] They met at St. George's School, where she was the daughter of the school's headmaster and priest.[82][614] They were married on August 10, 1991, in the school chapel.[613] They have four children.[75][615] His son Buckley is Deputy Press Secretary to Vice PresidentJD Vance.[616]
Carlson was baptized and continues to identify as anEpiscopalian but has said he grew up with secular beliefs; he credits his wife for his religious faith.[614][617] In 2013, Carlson said, "We still go to the Episcopal Church for all kinds of complicated reasons, but I truly despise the Episcopal Church in a lot of ways," citing his opposition to the church'ssupport for same-sex marriage andabortion rights.[614] He has said he stays in the Church because he "loves theliturgy" and "likes the people".[614][1]
Carlson quit drinkingalcohol in 2002.[1] A few years earlier, he quit smokingcigarettes (a habit begun in eighth grade) and took upnicotine gum, which he "chews constantly", and nicotine pouches.[1] He is aDeadhead (a fan of the rock bandGrateful Dead) and has attended more than fifty Dead concerts.[618]
In 2011, a group of protesters gathered outside his house inKent, Washington, D.C.,[619] to protest Carlson. In 2017, Carlson sold his home and purchased another nearby.[620] In late 2018, protestors gathered in front of their home. In 2020, Carlson sold his home in Kent and bought a house onGasparilla Island, onFlorida's Gulf Coast, and in the summer of 2022, a second home next door.[621][622][623]
They now also live part of the year in Maine near his "favorite place in the world", Bryant Pond,Woodstock, Maine.[624]
In September 2022, Carlson spoke at the funeral ofHells Angels presidentSonny Barger. Carlson said that he had been a fan of Barger since his college years, quoted Barger as saying "stay loyal, remain free, and always value honor", and added "I want to pay tribute to the man who spoke those words".[625][626]
In 2024, Carlson shared with a documentary producer that he believes that he was mauled by a demon while he was in bed. The attack left him bleeding.[627][628] A few days later he claimed that nuclear technology was created by demons.[629]
See also
Seven on 7, fictional TV series inspired by Carlson
^Carlson has stated that he was a registered Democratic voter only to be able to vote in Democratic primaries in Washington, D.C.[1][2]
^Paleoconservative writerPaul Gottfried has objected to Carlson being described as a paleoconservative.[251]
^abCarlson has said he did not vote for Trump in either2016 or2020, not voting at all in the former election, and voting forKanye West in the latter.[263]
^Revolver has been promoted by Trump and his administration.[557]
^Details of the FOIA were obtained via a separate FOIA filed byThe Intercept'sKen Klippenstein; Carlson derided both the website and journalist in a segment on July 8.[583]
^By law, the NSA is prohibited from monitoring communications of Americans without aspecial court order based on concerns an American is a terrorist or an agent of a foreign power, though communications of Americans can be incidentally intercepted if they are communicating with a foreign person who is being monitored.
^Davis, Eric (March 31, 2023)."Summary Judgment"(PDF). Superior Court of the State of Delaware.Archived(PDF) from the original on March 31, 2023. RetrievedApril 20, 2023.
^abDougherty, Steve (November 6, 2000)."Meet Mister Right".People. Vol. 54, no. 19.Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. RetrievedJanuary 5, 2017.
^abBraun, Gerry (October 21, 1984). "Rites of Passage: Dick Carlson says he has proven himself".Times-Advocate. Escondido, California.
^Peters, Jeremy W.; Schmidt, Michael S.; Rutenberg, Jim (May 3, 2023)."Carlson's Text That Alarmed Fox Leaders: 'It's Not How White Men Fight'".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived from the original on May 4, 2023. RetrievedMay 3, 2023.A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living shit out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It's not how white men fight. Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they'd hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it. Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn't good for me. I'm becoming something I don't want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I'm sure I'd hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn't gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don't care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?
^abcMcCarthy, Bill (May 19, 2022)."Tucker Carlson feigned ignorance over 'great replacement theory,' despite talking about it often".PolitiFact. RetrievedMay 22, 2022.The New York Times reported that Carlson has "amplified the idea that Democratic politicians and others want to force demographic change through immigration" in more than 400 episodes of his showTucker Carlson Today, totaling over 50 hours devoted to that theme.
^abChait, Jonathan (April 28, 2020)."Tucker Carlson Thinks Lockdowns Have Nothing to Do With Flattening the Curve".New York.Archived from the original on May 24, 2020. RetrievedMay 19, 2020.Earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who we are apparently required by law to respect no matter what he says, suggested that in fact we may never be allowed to resume a normal life... That is the same Dr. Fauci – keep this to yourself because, as noted, you're not allowed to show any skepticism – that's the same Dr. Fauci who also announced that shaking hands, the ancient custom of shaking hands should be done away with forever, and then a week later, told Snapchat that actually it's fine to have sex with strangers you meet on Tinder.
^Bump, Philip (May 7, 2021)."Perhaps Tucker Carlson's data cherry-picking isn't limited to vaccines".The Washington Post.In a sense, it's been useful to have Carlson misinterpret bad data because it reveals how he approaches his job. It's a direct example of how he cherry-picks information to make a point centered on tearing down his perceived opponents and agitating his audience.
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