Tucker Carlson faces backlash from Tories

These weren’t the insults reserved for a CNN or MSNBC presenter on Friday. No, those were the insults directed at conservative media darling Tucker Carlson. In what appears to be the most serious backlash since the premiere of his Fox News show in 2016, Carlson faces criticism from the right.

Carlson angered some of his audience on Thursday when he called Sidney Powell, President Trump’s lawyer who peddled savage conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Carlson was careful not to stray too far from the party line, opening his show with deference to the fraud allegations made by Rudy Giuliani. He also offered reasons why his audience should trust him. He explained to his viewers that he contacted Powell for supporting evidence with an open mind. And he pointed out his coverage of the Russia investigation and how he never rules out anything – even UFOs.

Now I am not bringing up this to suggest that Carlson deserves praise for recognizing the truth on the matter in his program. Injecting a dose of reality into its cover shouldn’t be complimentary. And that’s not where I’m going with this.

But what’s remarkable is that since calling Powell, Carlson has been the subject of denunciation by some on the right. His Twitter mentions were inundated with disappointed viewers who said they felt betrayed by him. Right-wing websites have focused on the controversy. And pro-Trump internet figures have criticized him for having the courage to challenge Powell.

Powell herself retweeted accounts attacking Carlson, including one that said Carlson threw “one of his Fox Globalist-led tantrums” and that he “belonged to the Syndicate.” In a Friday morning appearance on Maria Bartiromo’s show, Powell criticized Carlson as “insulting” and “rude.”

All of this to say that we are in a place – a bad place – where some Trump supporters won’t believe any information contrary to Trump’s narrative, even if it is Tucker carlson deliver it. Dare to dissent from the Trump camp – even politely and over a deranged conspiracy theory – and even someone like Carlson will be attacked and called a traitor.

As I pointed out before: Carlson and the other hosts and personalities in his network are responsible for this culture on the right, without perhaps imagining that it would come back to bite them. But now, to an extent, it is, although it won’t hurt Carlson in the long run.

What Carlson said

Carlson made it clear on his Friday night show that he was aware of the controversy caused by his segment on Powell. “Over the past 24 hours, we’ve heard a lot of people talking about this segment, including people in the White House and people close to the president,” Carlson said. Carlson went on to say that he and the White House both agreed that the election was “not fair” – but he also said that, “like us,” they “saw no evidence showing that the software changed the votes “.

On the one hand, Carlson was appeasing his audience by fanning the flames of electoral fraud. On the other hand, he appeared to be trying to pour cold water on Powell’s even more absurd conspiracy theory that millions of votes were altered by an elaborate international plot to undermine Trump. “If Sidney Powell can prove that tech companies traded millions of votes and stole a presidential election, she will almost single-handedly have uncovered the greatest crime in this country’s history and no one will be more grateful for it than us. “Carlson said with the tone of someone who knows this will never really happen …

A Fox News spokesperson said Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell canceled scheduled appearances on Jeanine Pirro’s Saturday show. I polled the Trump campaign for more information, but did not receive a response.