Update: Tucker Carlson Remains a Crank (as Does RFK Jr.)

Amplifying tinfoil hat discussions based on discredited Deep State conspiracy theories only makes our already awful politics worse

Although he’s been a focus of liberal animus for years, Tucker Carlson has never been in the news as much as over the last two weeks, since he was fired unceremoniously and unexpectedly by Fox News. It’s a big deal when any TV network drops its top draw, particularly without warning. Although some mystery surrounds the exact reason for Carlson’s defenestration, it cannot be disputed that Fox News ratings have taken a pronounced dive since Tucker was removed from the FNC studio.

Whether that ratings slump continues is a major question and answering it may have something to do with whatever Tucker (one of the few Americans who can be cited by first name and everybody knows who you’re talking about) does next. He’s enough of a draw that Tucker may be bigger than Fox News, but he needs to get back on air soon to keep his considerable fanbase on-side and sated. How and when that happens requires a legal boost, which is why Tucker has retained top legal talent, amid rumors that Carlson may be preparing to push back hard publicly on his former employer.

In the meantime, he’s keeping busy by saying outlandish things in a very Tucker way. Over the weekend, while appearing on a YouTube show hosted by Tulsi Gabbard, Carlson vented against the Intelligence Community again. The venue was apt, since Gabbard is the well-spoken, easy-on-the-eyes Army Reserve officer who represented Hawaii in the U.S. House for eight years as a Democrat, yet since leaving Congress she has become a right-wing favorite for her contrarian takes on a range of issues. Even when in the House, Gabbard broke the mold by taking foreign policy stands that sometimes matched Kremlin talking points, while executing stunts like her 2017 visit to Syria which included facetime with President Bashar al-Assad (her sojourn was hosted by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which is exactly what it sounds like).

Tucker didn’t hold back and during his interview with Gabbard he made an astonishing claim: “There are members of Congress who are controlled by the intel agencies. I’m not speculating on this, you know, I lived there for 35 years. I know this.” He bolstered his assertion with the explanation that a former high-ranking member (he implied it was the chair) of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, while drunk, told Tucker, “NSA reads my texts…they’re spying on me.”

Neither was this the first time that Tucker unleashed unsubstantiated vitriol at the Intelligence Committee. This rant seems familiar. In April 2022, he stated on air that he had “spoken directly to two sitting members of Congress” possessing IC oversight duties and Tucker asserted that they “were being spied on by the intel agencies, and they didn’t do anything about it,” while not presenting any evidence such as naming names. Last weekend’s claims went further, asserting that the IC “controls” certain members of Congress.