Peloni: The reality is that Tucker Carlson has a very large following, and that this provides him with a great platform from which to promote his desired narratives. While he promotes an important mix of truth, he clearly imbues it with his own toxic views that the Jews control the world and the US govt, something which is both antisemitic, and therefore anti-American, and also counterfactually untrue. Nonetheless, his fan base gives him the security and authority to wield his nonsensical rhetoric to the four winds, leaving both his admirers and other sycophants to soak up and croak out repeats of his views to the wider world. Meanwhile, one of the targets of his implied narrative being the most powerful man in the world, Pres. Trump, it came as a great relief to finally hear Trump describe Carlson as ‘Kooky’ in recent days. Even as they seem to have made amends, it remains true that Carlson’s views of the Jews controlling the world is both untrue and still not accepted as such, even as he was forced to make some apologies for his specific rants against Pres. Trump. While I wish conservatives would find a better, less toxic venue, from which to share their message to the MAGA base, it is likely that they will continue to do as they have done. Still it would be useful, meaningful and responsible if they would both now and in the future clarify their lack of support for the antisemitic worldview which are promoted by venues such as that of Carlson if they are to continue using those venues to promote their own messaging. Otherwise, they are no less responsible, and no less complicit, than were Bannon and Johnson in promoting Carlson’s antisemitic worldview when they promoted and praised Carlson efforts to challenge Trump over whether Iran should be left to continue on its tract towards becoming a nuclear state. The MAGA movement in the US remains to be the most philosemitic movement in US history, something which I have noted quite often. As such it needs to find better media sources from which to promote the MAGA narrative than those which are hustling Jew Hatred as being a normative state of mind.
Everything he said in this press conference was very sensible and showed a strong grip on reality. He did look very tired, with bags and dark patches over his eyes, I hope he is avoiding overwork and that his wife and doctors make sure he gets enough sleep.