Last month, The New York Times ran a story on Tucker Carlson’s support for Abdul El‑Sayed, a progressive Democrat running for Senate in Michigan, and his attacks on former Rep. Mike Rogers. The paper called Carlson an “influential far‑right podcaster” known for nativist rhetoric, citing his claim that immigrants were making the U.S. “poorer and dirtier.” A few days later, NPR named Carlson a “Newsmaker” and aired an hour‑long interview with him. Host Steve Inskeep introduced him as a commentator who has “commanded an audience for decades” and now runs an independent network from a barn in Maine. During the interview, Carlson argued that President Trump should be removed for starting a war in Iran and threatening nuclear annihilation. He also railed against Israel, denied being antisemitic, and called the Trump‑Russia scandal “totally absurd.” Inskeep ended by calling him “thoughtful.”
Both the Times piece and the NPR segment downplayed Carlson’s bigotry and conspiracy‑mongering, presenting him as a respectable opinion leader. The Times noted he has embraced conspiracy theories, been accused of antisemitism, and once gave a friendly interview to Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, but that doesn’t capture the full picture.
In recent years, Carlson has become a major promoter of right‑wing racism and fringe ideas. He has pushed the “great replacement” theory, which claims elites are replacing white Americans with darker‑skinned migrants—some adherents blame Jews for this plot. While at Fox, he repeated the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen, even though he privately mocked election deniers. He also suggested the January 6 riot was a false‑flag operation by the Deep State and said the rioters were right to believe the election was rigged.
Carlson’s ideological thuggery knows no bounds. Two years ago, he hosted Nazi apologist Darryl Cooper, who argued that Winston Churchill, not Hitler, was the chief villain of World War II and that the Holocaust was merely a result of poor planning. Carlson called Cooper “the most important popular historian working in the United States today.”
He has also been an ardent fan of Vladimir Putin. Before Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, he said he would root for Russia over Ukraine. After the invasion, he spread Kremlin disinformation claiming the U.S. was running biological weapons labs in Ukraine.
On RT, Carlson proclaimed that dark forces within the U.S. government were using “mass migration” to destroy “the English‑speaking West” and trying to provoke a war with Russia because it’s “the last big white Christian country on the planet.” He didn’t identify who was behind this scheme—could it be the Jews?
During that RT appearance, he never mentioned Putin’s invasion, war crimes, or the kidnapping of Ukrainian children. He called Ukraine a “client state of NATO and the United States” and praised Putin’s restraint. He even said Russia was “a beautiful country, an amazing country, my favorite country I’ve ever visited,” ignoring Putin’s repression.
Earlier this month, Carlson again waded into Hitler apologia while talking with far‑right British politician Jacob Rees‑Mogg. He questioned why Britain entered World War II, and when Rees‑Mogg pointed out that otherwise they’d be speaking German, Carlson replied, “Who cares? There are a lot of people in Britain who can’t speak English. So it would be nice to have at least a European language spoken in your country.” He later claimed Hitler repeatedly said he didn’t want war with the UK, as if the Nazi dictator could be trusted. Rees‑Mogg observed that Carlson was “verging on defending Hitler.” Carlson snarked, “Yeah, I guess I’m just a secret Nazi.”
He may not be a secret Nazi, but he’s an overt racist, conspiracy monger, Hitler defender, Putin supporter, and far‑right extremist. Because he has an audience and influence, the media should cover him—but they should also remember that viewership doesn’t equal legitimacy. He poses as a thoughtful fellow, but he peddles false, bigoted, and dangerous nonsense. Journalists who fail to characterize and contextualize him accurately are enabling his malignant agenda.
