Since Fox News severed ties with the popular prime-time host, fans and foes alike have wondered about Tucker Carlson’s next move.
After an initial video hinted at his belief that the media landscape needs a place for big issues to be debated honestly, he posted another clip on Tuesday that offered more context about his future plans — and they involve retooling his familiar show to be broadcast on Twitter.
Almost immediately, mainstream media critics engaged in public hand-wringing over the concerns that he might now have even more freedom to share his unvarnished views with the public.
The corporate press seem to be taking the news well. They don’t seem panicked at all. pic.twitter.com/7TYuo8ExCG
— a newsman (@a_newsman) May 10, 2023
Carlson, however, is billing the new format as a way to combat the misleading and manipulative nature of many news stories, which he stopped short of referring to as flat-out lies.
“Much of what you see on television or read in The New York Times is, in fact, true in the literal sense,” he said. “It could pass one of the media’s own fact checks, lawyers who would be willing to sign off on it. In fact, they may have, but that doesn’t make it true. It’s not true. At the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie — a lie of the stealthiest and most insidious kind. Facts have been withheld on purpose, along with proportion and perspective. You are being manipulated.”
He went on to use an example of a man arrested for armed robbery to illustrate his point, noting that it is “not strictly” a lie for a media outlet to report that he has been “unjustly arrested” for the crime.
“He may have been framed,” Carlson continued. “At this point, there’s been no trial, so no one can really say. But if I don’t mention the fact that the same man has been arrested for the same crime six times before, am I really informing you? No, I’m not. I’m misleading. And that’s what the news media are doing in every story that matters every day of the week, every week of the year.”
After decades within that “filthy” and “utterly corrupting” system, he said he is looking forward to taking his show to Twitter, calling it “the only” platform left that allows free speech.
While early reports characterized Carlson’s plan as a partnership with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, the latter issued a statement clarifying the arrangement.
“On this platform, unlike the one-way street of broadcast, people are able to interact, critique and refute whatever is said,” Musk wrote. “And, of course, anything misleading will get [Community Notes]. I also want to be clear that we have not signed a deal of any kind whatsoever. Tucker is subject to the same rules & rewards of all content creators.”
