Tucker Carlson is being attacked because of an interview he had with a far-right political commentator named Nick Fuentes. Interestingly, Carlson is being criticized for using his free speech rights at the same time the Anchorage Press Club is defending journalists from alleged restrictions on their right to speak freely. Apparently, the left believes free speech must be defended when reporters defame a conservative, but when conservatives attempt to use free speech themselves, they must be attacked for doing so. This is called a double standard.
This explains why the Anchorage Press Club so strongly defended the four petulant journalists last week. These individuals quit their jobs when a controversial story written by one of them was edited, but did not do so in defense of free speech. Rather, they were unhappy that the bias verbiage was removed from the article, making the story more fair. The Anchorage Press Club defended the journalists because they could see that print media was losing its ability to control the narrative. That takes away their influence, and they don’t like it.
One of these independent news sources outside the control of the mainstream media is journalist Tucker Carlson. Carlson once worked for Fox News and was limited in what he could say by their editorial policy. Carlson did not cover stories his network didn’t want covered, but after starting his own show, Carlson gained the freedom to do so. When Carlson talks to someone the MSM thinks he shouldn’t, they get upset and make threats against him.
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One example is the criticism Tucker Carlson received after interviewing Fuentes – a minor media figure with little impact and a cult following. Public comments after the interview, however, were pretty inflammatory. Fuentes was called a virulent antisemite who hated Jews and Israel. I got the impression that by interviewing him, they were suggesting Tucker condoned these ideas. Fox TV host Mark Levin was very upset with Tucker and made a profane speech attacking him in the strongest possible words, threatening to have Carlson’s show canceled. Just for interviewing one guy!
This sounded very unusual, so I watched the interview for myself. In it, I did not see the individual that Levin described. Fuentes was a polite young man who held a respectful dialogue with Carlson. Fuentes presented his views, and although some of them were pretty far right, much of what he said was very banal. Nothing Fuentes said contained the hatred he had been accused of. Tucker Carlson disagreed with Fuentes on many occasions and was quick to distance himself from some of Fuentes’s more radical ideas.
Fuentes came across like many other young social media influencers who say inflammatory things just to get clicks. I didn’t think Fuentes said anything to justify the amount of vitriol directed his way. I am not a fan of his type of antagonistic journalism and won’t be watching Fuentes’s podcast in the future, but that is a choice I should be able to make in a society that supports free speech.
Our Constitution protects the rights of people like Nick Fuentes to spout drivel on his small podcast, and for journalists like Tucker Carlson to interview him. There is a reason for free speech, and it is to protect the rights of everyone, even those we disagree with. In this time of great political division in this country, we need people who are willing to speak freely and brave enough to withstand the negative feedback they get for doing so. The word for that behavior is courage, and Tucker Carlson has it.
The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.
13 Comments
When I was younger, journalists covered all sides. Then came the hate speech law against the American Nazi movement. None of us saw any danger in that because the law was against an obvious hate monger. We should have known better! After that came terms like disinformation, misinformation, and other terms to mask different opinions. It also allowed us to close our minds to other’s opinions and to also develop dislikes as well. We have not recovered.
I agree, Tucker Carlson addresses subjects too delicate for most politicians and light weights to accept any discussion on subjects uncomfortable to them.
Open all of the EPSTEIN FILES.
Even conservatives have their own version of political correctness.
lol
It’s okay for Tucker to interview Nick — that’s free speech.
But then Mark is a piece of crap for criticizing Tucker? Where’s the free speech Greg?
Reread the article- you will see that Greg is not saying that Mark L doesn’t have a right to criticize Tucker Carlson. His point is about how Mark L is demanding that Carlson be silenced for this interview. That’s an important distinction. It’s the cancel culture mindset- I don’t like what you just said or did, so I’m going to silence you. Free speech would be, I don’t like what you said, but you have a right to say it and I have a right to not agree and not continue listening to you.
This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever read.
Fuentes wasn’t as controversial as he’s made out to be? On YouTube? And the author of this article is shocked? How about go watch his main off YouTube channel for an actual insight into him. He’s actually “far right”, not some run of the mill conservative. And Carlson is nothing but a useful idiot. I have no qualms with the free speech argument in this, but downplaying who Fuentes is based on a YouTube platforms video is laughable, that’s the same platform that helped bring on the idiocy of saying “unalive”, “graped” and “PDFile” in serious conversations because of how heavily censored it is. Pick a better example for your point that shows you have an iota of insight into who you’re talking about.
You can call them whatever you want but you can’t call them liars. Case closed.
Insinuating that Fuentes isn’t a “liar” says a lot about you and none of it’s good. How embarrassing that that went from your brain to your fingertips to type.
The problem with so many conservatives is that they LIE. From the president on down so many provable lies come from their mouths. Democrats do too but not as much. The president is not fit for duty. He can’ keep his eyes open and stay awake during conferences.
Jon just lied!
Greg Sarber, why do you feel it’s necessary to quickly explain that you disagree with Fuentes and that you don’t plan on watching his material? What’s the point of adding that to this article? Additionally, you are discrediting him FAR more than you realize with his popularity- he is a national sensation right now amongst social media, ESPECIALLY. Being associated in the same group as Nick Fuentes isn’t an insult or something the younger generation connects with “bad” as Israel has proven time and time again throughout history how DISGUSTING they are as a nation. Our billions upon billions paying for housing, medical, and education while our own veterans fighting in their false flags rot on the streets. We are repulsed with Israel and it’s time to put America first.