Fox News chief disinformation host Tucker Carlson sparked ridicule on Twitter after he pretty much summed himself up during a rant about California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
“You’ll say literally anything,” the right-wing host said of Newsom. “Words have no connection to reality. There’s no expectation that you’re describing something real. You’re merely using words as a tool to gain power. That’s terrifying.”
“It’s dishonest to its core,” added Carlson, who Fox News’ own lawyers have argued “any reasonable viewer” should take with a grain of salt.
Carlson was attacking Newsom over a wide-ranging interview he gave to MSNBC, during which he discussed, among other subjects, gun reform and attacks on LGBTQ+ people and abortion rights.
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Carlson’s attack on Newsom came after the California Democrat criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for signing a law allowing Floridians to carry a concealed gun without a permit, days after a mass shooting at a school in Nashville, Tennessee, last month.
Fox News is being sued for $1.6 billion by Dominion Voting Systems. The company accuses the network and its top hosts of giving airtime to Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy lies, including that its voting machines were rigged, despite knowing them to be false.
In private texts revealed in Dominion court filings, Fox News hosts and executives effectively lamented that honesty about the 2020 election was driving viewers away. That belief appeared to prompt some hosts ― including Carlson ― to push vastly different views on air to the ones they voiced privately. Carlson, for example, said privately that he hated Trump.
That, according to Twitter users, sounds a lot like saying “literally anything” to “gain power.”
Watch Carlson’s rant and some of the reactions below.
Tucker: You'll say literally anything. Words have no connection to reality. There's no expectation you're describing something real. You're merely using words as a tool to gain power. It's dishonest to its core. pic.twitter.com/nrh4P4rxCd
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 11, 2023
Seems like a confession.
— Machine Pun Kelly 🇺🇦 (@KellyScaletta) April 11, 2023
This guy says other people will say anything for power https://t.co/E8KnZVlbAd pic.twitter.com/8G0ftX9Y8U
— Uncle Buck (@BuckyBuck2001) April 11, 2023
He just described himself!🙄😆
— Ms.Lopez💙 (@LopezResists) April 11, 2023
https://t.co/bQyYuAydoN pic.twitter.com/rNWQiTKWyl
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) April 11, 2023
Translation…
"We are very afraid of Gavin"
— Chevron 🇺🇦🌈🌊 (@lachevron) April 11, 2023
Not an iota of self-awareness. https://t.co/T2rBmsfvv1
— RazzLi (@razzli_) April 11, 2023
— Trish (@trishtra3) April 11, 2023
Projection is a powerful force.
— Republicans against Trumpism (@RpsAgainstTrump) April 11, 2023
Heh, funny Tucker would say that, considering Fox settled one of its massive defamation lawsuits today… just one week before the $1.6 Billion Dominion defamation trial is scheduled to begin. Jury selection starts on April 17 in Delaware.
— Jessica Rosengard (@JRosengard) April 11, 2023
— STASH ✌🏻❤️🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@WEMUSTOKE) April 11, 2023
