Fox News host
Tucker Carlson went on a rant a few nights ago that deserves to be ignored, but because it has become a
widely applauded cause celebre on the Right, it must be countered. Carlson engaged in incendiary demagoguery with overtones of ideological purges of the sort no real conservative should encourage.
The first minutes of Carlson’s monologue sounded promising. He made the morally correct point that violent riots must be stopped because they hurt innocent people. He provided example after example, complete with distressing videos, of innocents being brutally terrorized. He condemned political and media leaders for making excuses for the violence. He expressed righteous outrage, justly so.
Alas, Carlson didn’t use that scene-setting to say anything constructive. Instead, he went full Franco, or perhaps preppie Peronist, while painting an apocalyptic picture without a single shade of gray. Calling for a crackdown of epic energy, excoriating everybody who uttered a single word of sympathy for peaceful protesters or racial understanding, Carlson promoted grievance against grievance, escalation upon escalation, violent rage against violent rage.
In Carlson’s telling, it is weakness to acknowledge racism, pray for healing, or promote mutual understanding. He attacked by name numerous conservative leaders who did just that, often in the very course of denouncing the violent riots. Taking remarkably anodyne statements completely out of context, he made it sound as if everyone from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to Vice President Mike Pence were justifying domestic terror. He even directly attributed to Haley words she never said to make what she actually said sound worse.
Against Kay Coles James, president of the strongly conservative Heritage Foundation, Carlson unleashed a viciously dishonest attack:
“Meanwhile, Kay Coles James, who is the president of the Heritage Foundation — that’s the largest conservative think tank in the country. You may have sent them money, hopefully for the last time. Kay Coles James wrote a long scream denouncing America as an irredeemably racist nation: ‘How many times will protests have to occur?' Got that? ‘Have to occur.’ Like the rest of us caused this by our sinfulness. The message from our leaders on the Right, as on the Left, was unambiguous: Don’t complain. You deserve what’s happening to you.”
Carlson’s characterization of James’s statement was villainously dishonest. “I do not condone the violence spreading across this country in response to Floyd’s horrific killing,” said James, who is herself black. “Rioting tearing apart Minneapolis and cities coast-to-coast will never lead to anything but more suffering.”
Carlson said James painted America as “irredeemably racist.” No. Her whole point was that while anti-black racism persists here, it
can be counteracted and we
can be redeemed.
“Individually, we can make a difference by promoting peace and prosperity for all people, knowing that life is better for everyone when we as Americans succeed together,” James said. “It will take courage to speak up, but it is the only way we can overcome racism and the problems plaguing our nation. Simple acts like starting a dialogue with a neighbor or teaching your children the difference between right and wrong can have a profound impact now and for generations to come.”
If Carlson thinks there’s something wrong with that, he needs help. Meanwhile, to portray James, Pence, Haley, and others as sending the message of “Don’t complain. You deserve what’s happening to you” is garbage. It’s not careless misrepresentation; it’s just a lie.
Yes, Carlson did offer one, only one, note of caution: “We are not animals, we are Americans. In the face of such indecency, we must resolve to be decent.”
Carlson is failing his own resolution.
