I wrote last month about the emerging fissures in a right-wing media that now propels the White House’s decisions.
Those fissures burst into the open last week, when Tucker Carlson conducted a friendly interview with the cheerfully white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes. While Carlson disagreed at points with the 27-year-old commentator, he mostly listened patiently as Fuentes shared his life story and complained about “organized Jewry in America.”
Carlson’s power and independence typically mute criticism from a right that Donald Trump has largely kept united during his time in office. But the sit-down with Fuentes went too far for a few. National Review, The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and the conservative academic Robert George all sought to draw a line — joining Ben Shapiro, an increasingly loud anti-Carlson voice on the right. (Carlson told me Shapiro’s complaints have “amused” him.)
And why should Carlson care? The uproar only seemed to boost his profile, and even prove out the dark hints he regularly makes that he alone speaks forbidden truths. His show returned to No. 2 on Spotify’s podcast charts, behind only Joe Rogan. In just five days, his interview with Fuentes became the fourth most-watched video on his YouTube channel.