With Fox News under fire after a damaging series of text messages were revealed in Dominion’s lawsuit against the network, Paul Ryan is opening up about his responsibilities on the board and whether or not he’s personally responsible for Fox turning on Donald Trump. Most notably, Ryan made it a point to make it clear that he does not subscribe to the wild conspiracy theories and rhetoric pushed by Tucker Carlson.
While talking to conservative writer Charlie Sykes, Ryan defended Fox News for having a variety of voices and hearing from other conservatives, but expressed that Carlson doesn’t exactly fall under that umbrella. Via The Bulwark:
I think it’s really important for the sake of pluralism that you have alternative voices that are readily accessible and are strong enough to stand up for for pluralism then get sort of pushed down. So, if only for that reason alone, I think it’s very important to have an institution like that. Do I disagree with Tucker on this stuff? Of course, I absolutely disagree with him.
Sykes took things further by calling out Carlson for pushing “toxic sludge, racism, disinformation, and attacks on democracy” and asked Ryan if feels responsible for that output. Instead, Ryan did his best to defend Fox News while also acknowledging that the conservative moment needs some work.
“This screed you just made on Fox — I think that was probably just Tucker,” Ryan said. “I can go four times as long about other stuff that I think are really good that are on there that are being advanced, and voices that are being heard on Fox News that are giving voice to what I would call proper conservatism properly understood. So it’s a long process, a big institution, but I do want to make sure that we get the conservative movement in a good place in America again.”
(Via The Bulwark)