There’s never a shortage of ginned-up outrage for the purposes of political gamesmanship. The latest outrage finds a Fox News Network prime-time host, Tucker Carlson, in the barrel. The opinionated Libertarian is not one to shy away from a battle, so when the liberal mob came gunning for him on social media last weekend, he immediately responded in kind. Then he took to the airwaves Monday night during his opening monologue.
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 12, 2019
I didn’t see the show but I can only imagine the cheering that must have been going on in conservative households across the country after that aired. Carlson’s position of no surrender is not a surprise, it is a welcome relief. This tweet caught my eye Sunday night and I wondered what the back story would turn out to be.
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 11, 2019
Media Matters for America is a non-profit organization formed solely to monitor Fox News programs and “expose” conservatives. Heaven forbid there should be one cable news channel that includes conservative-leaning opinion shows in prime-time programming. As Carlson reminds us, liberals demand groupthink at all times. The allegation against Carlson is that he made “numerous misogynistic and perverted comments” during his time as a regular call-in guest on a radio show hosted by a shock jock. The timeframe is 2006 to 2011. Suddenly in 2019, we are to believe this is a relevant discovery. I am not linking to their website.
To quote a famous jacket worn by Melania Trump, I don’t care, do you? If anything, I applaud Carlson’s determination to stand up for himself and fight back. His comments, if the transcripts are correct, were raunchy and obnoxious. They are not, however, out of the ordinary for that kind of radio show. Shock jocks shock, hence the title. Guests are expected to be shocking, too. It is what listeners expect.
CBS News reports that an advertising boycott is being called for by the liberal mob. That’s the playbook. In their world, there is simply no room for different opinions. The only freedom of speech protected is the speech delivered by liberals. It’s groupthink,
On Monday, consumers posted lists of his show’s advertisers, citing Allstate and AstraZeneca among them. Some wrote to Carlson’s advertisers directly on Twitter, asking why they were supporting the conservative host. Allstate didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
AstraZeneca said it stopped advertising on Carlson’s program earlier this year. “We will not be advertising on this program in the future,” the company said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
This isn’t the first time they’ve called for a boycott against Carlson’s show.
The comments sparked new calls for an advertising boycott of Carlson’s show. The controversy comes only months after his show lost sponsors following the conservative host’s comments about immigrants making the U.S. “poorer and dirtier.” At the time, advertisers including personal finance website NerdWallet and Pacific Life insurance pulled spots from the show.
The important part of all this is that Fox News is standing behind Carlson and neither are backing down. He announced he will not surrender to the mob. That’s exactly what has to happen in conservative circles. Remember how Brett Kavanaugh stood up for himself as the liberal members of the Senate Judicial Committee lied about his activities in high school and college? He firmly (and emotionally) defended himself in a statement to the committee that caught them by surprise. Liberals are not accustomed to conservatives sticking up for themselves. Conservatives cave and apologize, as a rule. It is as though conservatives actually believe liberals are our intellectual and moral superiors. They aren’t and it needs to stop.
“Fox News is behind us, as they have been since the very first day,” Carlson said. “Toughness is a rare quality in a TV network, and we’re grateful for that.”
“We’ve always apologized when we’re wrong,” he continued. “And we’ll continue to do that. That’s what decent people do, they apologize. But we will never bow to the mob, ever. No matter what.”
Carlson and his family have experienced public harassment, too, as other conservatives have in places like restaurants. It sounds like he’s had enough.
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