Tucker Carlson, the prominent conservative host, formerly on Fox, now on X, is gaslighting us on many levels. Recent comments Tucker made, including his interview with Putin, his visit to Moscow, and an interview he did in the Middle East, raise many flags. What I see now is someone who claims to love America but appears to be undermining the country.
Tucker On The Vaccine Issue
When Carlson was on Fox News, one of the things I and many others appreciated was his exposure to the COVID tyranny and the problems with the vaccines. I subscribed to Fox Nation, the paid service, to get his one-hour in-depth interviews with many of those speaking out against the disastrous vaccines. He had people such as Dr Peter McCullough, Dr Harvey Risch and Edward Dowd who reinforced what we knew to be true.
Then, when Tucker left Fox, something changed.
On the same day, August 23, 2023, as the Republican primary debate—in which Trump refused to participate—Tucker sat down and interviewed him. There were several times when the discussion centred around inane issues. He spent more than a minute and a half talking about Chris Wallace during the 2015 debate with Biden, which happened eight years earlier. He also discussed things like Biden on the beach with quips like, "I think he looks terrible on the beach." What is the relevance of that?
One thing not discussed was one of the most significant issues of our lifetime; the COVID-19 pandemic, Operation Warp Speed, the thousands who died or were injured by the shots, and Fauci. There was no critical questioning of Trump's assertion that Operation Warp Speed saved 100 million lives. Today, Trump fails to acknowledge the serious problems with the vaccines and continues to tout their success.
Tucker also should have mentioned the debt the U.S. incurred under Trump's tenure. The illusion is that Trump is fiscally responsible.
During Trump's four years, the U.S. debt increased from $19,937 to $27,784 trillion. That is a 39% increase. During Biden's first three years, debt went from $27,784 trillion to $34,001 trillion, a 22% increase. If you average it out yearly, Trump increased the debt by 9.75%, while for Biden, it's been 7.33%.
Source: Statista
Why wouldn't a reporter question the rationale for what Trump did? After all, Tucker kept bringing up the debt and the devaluation of the U.S. dollar when he was on Fox. The answer, of course, is that he is on the Trump team, where critical questioning is not allowed.
Objectively, one has to acknowledge that the Trump presidency was highly successful up to 2020. Then, it turned disastrous when he rescinded his presidency to the likes of Fauci. Trump had no insight into the damage the lockdowns would do, and he supported handing money to people and businesses who should have never been locked down in the first place. The buck stops with the person at the top.
Accountability is not allowed if it goes against your self-interest. Is Tucker being groomed for a position? It's funny how you can sell out your principles in the name of self-interest.
You can read a transcript of Tucker's interview with Trump here.
America's Policy in the Israeli/Hamas Conflict
It gets worse with Tucker Carlson. He got entangled in the Israeli-Hamas conflict at the World Governments Forum. Oh, the irony. Tucker had no time for world governments before. However, what was really stunning was the content of his viewpoints.
"The United States is for this moment the most powerful country in the history of the world, so if you were to frame this in terms we're all familiar with, which are the most basic terms, the terms of the family, the United States would be Dad, it would be the father, and the father's sacred obligation is to protect his family and to restore peace within his walls."
If I come home and two of my kids are fighting, what's the first thing I do, even before I assess why they're fighting, before I gather the facts and know what's happening? 'Stop the fighting,' So if I come home and I have two kids fighting and I say 'Go, go, beat the crap out of him!,' I'm evil, because I've violated the most basic duty of fatherhood, which is to bring peace."
He also stated he was "distressed and concerned that we are entering an era where this awesome force for good is instead being used for evil."
Are you distressed, Tucker? Just imagine the horror of those civilians slaughtered by Hamas and how their families have suffered. That is real distress. Tucker is basically saying that America should force Israel to stop its killing of Hamas members and its attempts to defend its own borders. Wow, if I didn't know any better, I would say Tucker is antisemitic. Nowhere did I hear him condemn the brutality perpetrated by Hamas.
Then he used this ridiculous analogy comparing America to Daddy, with Israel and Hamas, two kids in the family fighting. In fact, he further suggests that America is evil for not stopping the war.
Tucker contradicts himself to no end. By suggesting that America is the most powerful country in the world, it should intervene to stop the fighting. That is precisely the neocon position that he has been railing against for years.
Now, let's take Tucker's family analogy. A father comes home to find his son brutalizing his daughter, raping her, chopping off a breast and then setting her body on fire. So would he say, "Boys and girls, let's stop the fighting"? No, quite the contrary; if you want to talk about evil, he would be evil for not restraining his son if not shooting him.
It's actually evil to promote a ceasefire when a terrorist group has slaughtered 1200 of your citizens, and you sit by allowing them to remain adjacent to your border, only to do it once again. I question Tucker's mental acuity when he thinks Hamas is part of the family of nations. No, Tucker, they are a terror group whose charter preaches the extermination of Jews. The only other explanation is that Tucker is antisemitic, and I don't see much evidence for his love of America. Giving moral equivalency to Israel––the only democratic nation in the Middle East––and Hamas, which is akin to ISIS, is pretty stunning.
Russia and Moscow
There is quite a bit of irony in Tucker's lovefest interview with Vladimir Putin. The same week, in Dubai, he praised Russia for Moscow's clean and beautiful subway system. Also, the same week, the former Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, died in prison.
You may remember that Navalny was poisoned in 2020 and was taken to a facility in Germany where it was determined that he was exposed to Novichok, a highly toxic nerve agent. When he returned to Russia, he was arrested, and now he is dead at the young age of 47. This is not the first time those opposed to the Putin regime have either disappeared or turned up dead.
Also, now Putin is hosting a summit for Palestinian terror groups, undoubtedly providing more weaponry for them to pursue their attacks on Israel.
Where is Tucker on all this? Silent.
Praising Moscow as a city to emulate while American cities implode is like a fly on the Mona Lisa. It can only see one bit of the painting; it can't see the whole picture. Tucker is playing people for fools, or he is indeed naive to portray Moscow as some city to emulate.
What is the reality about Russia? Its GDP is one-fifth that of America. When you go outside the major cities, it's Third World. One of my family members worked in Russia for several years, and he confirmed that the people are poor outside Moscow.
In rural Russia, almost two-thirds have no access to indoor toilets
Yes, outhouses are a feature of rural life in Russia. Overall, 20% of Russians have no indoor plumbing. It's easy for Putin and his oligarchs to beautify Moscow. That's what autocrats do.
An example is Bucharest, Romania, which has beautiful wide boulevards, including the second-largest building in the world, the People's Parliament. There was nothing parliamentary about Romania under the control of Nicolai Ceaucescu, one of the worst tyrants of the 20th century.
To build these grand boulevards and buildings, Ceaucescu tore down several city blocks.
We don't have to go to a previous communist country. Singapore is beautiful, clean, and safe. However, it is a city-state run by autocrats. You don't have the freedoms that we accept in the West. If you spit on the street, it can land you in jail.
Tucker conflates a nice train station in Moscow and contrasts that with what is wrong with America.
Another metric where Russia is way down on the list is life expectancy. It currently stands at 100th globally. Alcoholism, though not as bad as it used to be, is still an issue in Russia.
Tucker went on to essentially act as a propagandist for Vladimir Putin in Russia. Vladimir Putin has killed journalists, oligarchs who cross him and dissidents who oppose him in any way. He has no qualms about killing within Russia or overseas.
On one level, I respect Putin because he cares about his country, though he is a killer. However, I have lost respect for Tucker because it appears he's just another media grifter.
"[...Know your enemy as yourself, survive 100 battles...]" - let Tucker be. There is no such thing as bad-information, there is only information. It's what you do with it that matters.
Calm down, Eli. Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump are not our enemies.