Tucker Carlson says that while the the media establishment hand-wrings about “disinformation,” they are the ones who are guilty of spreading it.
The moment: During his eponymous show on Tuesday night, the Fox News host slammed legacy media’s “foaming hysteria at the possibility that someone, somewhere might dare to present facts or form opinions without their express written permission.”
- “Freelance thinking is what they hate most, because it’s a threat to their monopoly,” Carlson said. “They can’t say that out loud, so instead they call it ‘disinformation.'”
- The internet is “exposing their scam,” he added. “Naturally, they’re a little irrational about it.”
Muh norms: Carlson proceeded to lampoon left-wing pundits and politicians for their concern about the effects of “disinformation networks” on “norms.”
- “Norms are like the young lieutenants in Vietnam walking point through the rice paddies, exposing themselves to fire in order to save the platoon,” he quipped. “It’s a dangerous job being a norm, and never more so than now.”
Context: Many conservatives have expressed concern and frustration about the mainstream press’ campaign escalating campaign to eradicate “disinformation,” arguing that it often leads to the suppression of narratives that go against the establishment orthodoxy.
- Liberal proposals have included the establishment of a government “reality czar,” a measure decried as reminiscent of the “Ministry of Truth” in George Orwell’s “1984.”
- Right-leaning critics have been joined by a handful of left-wing figures, including Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi, who penned a column for his personal newsletter Tuesday titled “Even By Democratic Party Standards, Censoring Fox News Is An Insanely Stupid Idea.”
- “All of these stories share the same theme: small, unelected groups of private executives making sweeping decisions about speech, cheered on by Democratic Party politicians,” Taibbi wrote, citing high-profile cases of media censorship.
