Tucker Carlson outdid himself in the self-owning and projection departments Wednesday night as he accused CNN of copying Fox News’ playbook of parroting a political party’s talking points “and pretending that it’s news” in reporting on Donald Trump's impeachment.
Carlson chuckled maliciously after he played a clip of CNN’s Dana Bash calling Trump’s impeachment “momentous” and “grave” and “not something that this speaker wanted to do.”
“Did you just hear that?” Carlson sneered. “Imagine doing that! Imagine reading a political party’s talking points verbatim every day of the year and pretending that it’s news! That’s what it’s like to be an anchor over on CNN or for that matter an NBC employee.”
Yes, if only Bash had called Trump's impeachment a witch hunt targeting the greatest president of all time!
Well, to be fair, Carlson favors white power talking points more than those from the RNC. So maybe he thinks Bash should have accused the Democrats of trying to open borders and grant citizenship for every non-English speaking brown person.
While he was at it, Carlson figured he’d whip up some more hatred and division against a network that doesn’t salute Dear Leader in nearly every broadcast: “These are the same people, of course, who are trying to repeal the First and Second Amendments.” With a face full of venomous sarcasm, he added, “But seriously, they tell you, they love the founders. It’s a tough argument to make.” With his trademark frat boy "humor," the 50 year-old Carlson went on to call MSNBC’s Chuck Todd “a trained seal” for buying that argument and being “happy to repeat it again and again.”
But let’s take a stroll down memory lane to recall how Carlson responded when Fox's own senior judicial analyst, Andrew Napolitano, opined to Fox host Shepard Smith that Trump had committed a crime and an impeachable offense in his behavior with Ukraine – which is what triggered yesterday's impeachment. Carlson allowed his guest, Joseph diGenova, to attack Napolitano as “a fool.” When Smith stood up for Napolitano, Carlson attacked Smith as dishonest and promoting opinion, “not news.” Instead of standing behind its own expert and host, Fox News reportedly responded by threatening to fire Smith. According to The Washington Post, that incident was was at least part of the reason Smith abruptly resigned a few weeks later.
As for the guy Carlson presented as a more credible truthteller than Napolitano? Why, it turns out diGenova is very much personally involved in the Ukraine scandal he maligned. A December 6, 2019 article from Media Matters explains (my emphases added):
DiGenova’s last Fox News interview came just the day before the arrests of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, and amid the revelation that the Soviet-born con men had been working alongside diGenova, [diGenova’s wife, Victoria] Toensing, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and conservative columnist John Solomon in a sprawling disinformation plot in Ukraine -- a massive ethical breach for the Fox regulars.
Oh, and I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that diGenova has also come under fire for an anti-Semitic attack on George Soros – used to smear the impeachment proceedings.
I have yet to see Carlson apologize for presenting diGenova as an unbiased analyst, have you?
It’s tempting to laugh at Carlson’s charade. But it’s too pernicious and these times are too precarious not to take seriously.
Watch Carlson’s dangerous propaganda above, from the December 18, 2019 Tucker Carlson Tonight, h/t Media Matters.
Published with permission from News Hounds.
