In a new, explosive, three-part report, The New York Times meticulously dissects how Tucker Carlson, in their words, “became Trump’s heir.” That is to say, the Fox News host was able to position himself to become a kind of de facto leader of the Republican party when the former president left office in disgrace and banned from most of social media. It’s an exhaustive study, reporting on about five years of his weekly nighttime show.
But there are also some juicy stories from anonymous Fox News sources. For instance, Carlson — who has occasionally criticized Trump but is more often there to do his bidding and even recommend he support certain politicians — reportedly acted differently when not on air.
“In private, Mr. Carlson mocked the president’s habit of calling to head off his on-air attacks,” a source told NYT, referring to how Trump would sometimes phone into his show to pre-emptively defend a sure-to-be-disparaged policy move.
But that’s not all Carlson did. At one point, he simply declined to take the then-president’s call.
Will this enrage Trump? Or will the partially exiled ex-president do what he did with House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and forgive him his trespasses, perhaps because he realizes even he can’t alienate big honchos in his party? In the meantime, the three-part report on Carlson details how the host has spent years poisoning the minds of his viewers, making them think they’re victims under attack and pitching them conspiracy theories, all while downplaying things like the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.