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Tucker Carlson’s ouster, his harmful legacy and the future of Fox News
- New York Times: On Eve of Trial, Discovery of Carlson Texts Set Off Crisis Atop Fox: The day before Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation trial against Fox News was set to begin in a Delaware courthouse, the Fox board of directors and top executives made a startling discovery that helped lead to the breaking point between the network and Tucker Carlson, one of its top stars.Private messages sent by Mr. Carlson that had been redacted in legal filings showed him making highly offensive and crude remarks that went beyond the inflammatory, often racist comments of his prime-time show and anything disclosed in the lead-up to the trial. Despite the fact that Fox’s trial lawyers had these messages for months, the board and some senior executives were now learning about their details for the first time, setting off a crisis at the highest level of the company, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.
- Washington Post: With Tucker Carlson’s ouster, House GOP loses a key ally – and agitator: The now ousted Fox News personality drew more than 3 million viewers a night, the most in prime time for cable news. But the most loyal — or cowed — patrons were the more than 200 members of the House Republican Conference for the past few years. Carlson’s sway over those lawmakers ranged from influential to outright bizarre. Sometimes he tackled major policy issues, like his opposition to supporting Ukraine, and other times he ridiculed them over niche issues, like his defense of TikTok. Many House Republicans pined to appear on his show, while others gave him preferential treatment. In mid-February Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gave Carlson’s team exclusive access to tens of thousands of hours of security footage from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
- NPR: How Tucker Carlson took fringe conspiracy theories to a mass audience: Until his abrupt ouster on Monday, Tucker Carlson used his prime-time Fox News show — the most-watched hour on cable news — to inject a dark strain of conspiracy-mongering into Republican politics. He’s railed against immigration, claiming “it makes our own country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided.” He’s called white supremacy a “hoax” and asserted hate speech is “a made-up category designed to gut the First Amendment and shut you up.” As Fox News’ “tentpole,” drawing around 3 million viewers a night, Carlson’s show “has been both a source of that kind of nationalist, populist conservatism that Donald Trump embodied, but it’s also been a clearinghouse for conspiracies,” said Nicole Hemmer, a history professor at Vanderbilt University who studies conservative media.
- BBC: How Tucker Carlson rode a wave of populist outrage: For the last six years, Carlson has used his perch to convince a conservative-leaning swathe of the American public that he is one of those few voices of truth – even as he aired segments that critics say featured misinformation and racism. The approach was incredibly effective. Carlson was one of the highest-rated hosts in network news, consistently attracting about three million viewers, establishing himself as a powerful figure in the conservative movement. But despite that success, just days after he questioned the honesty of the news media, he would be forced out of primetime. On Monday, Fox News abruptly announced the network and its biggest star had, in its words, agreed to “part ways”.
- Daily Beast: Firing Tucker Is Meaningless Without Real Change at Fox News: The big question is whether the changes made since the Dominion settlement—including Tucker Carlson’s firing—will be meaningful. We have not seen any apologies from Carlson for the wild conspiracy theories he has pushed on viewers, or the numerous lies that came out during discovery in the Dominion suit. His removal may be shocking to some, but it will only matter if it’s followed with the acknowledgement that the network has caused harm to our nation’s democratic principles, and to the integrity and journalistic ethics of a free press—namely, telling the truth, no matter what perspective one represents.
Ex-Proud Boys leader awaits verdict for his group’s role in the Jan 6 insurrection as he lashes out at Trump and the Justice Department
- Politico: Proud Boys leader, awaiting Jan. 6 sedition verdict, assails Justice Department: Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio — awaiting a verdict on charges he conspired to violently prevent Joe Biden’s presidency — lashed out at the Justice Department and Democrats on Tuesday, accusing them of “weaponizing” government institutions and seeking to “manipulate the 2024 election.” Tarrio, speaking to supporters and journalists by phone from a jail in Alexandria, Va., avoided commentary on most of the specifics of his four-month trial, which heads to jury deliberations Wednesday morning. He acknowledged that speaking too pointedly about the trial might be detrimental even though the jury has been ordered to avoid media coverage of the case.
- Washington Post: Ex-Proud Boys leader argues Trump is to blame for Jan. 6 attack: Facing the possibility of years in prison on felony convictions, the longtime leader of the far-right Proud Boys sought Tuesday to deflect blame for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack onto former president Donald Trump. Henry “Enrique” Tarrio is accused of organizing a small group of loyal Proud Boys to lead the pro-Trump mob in storming the U.S. Capitol building. Four members of that “Ministry of Self Defense” have been on trial for the past four months with Tarrio, all accused of a seditious plot to prevent Joe Biden from taking office. While other defendants have pointed at Trump’s role in fomenting the violence at the Capitol, Tarrio’s attorney Nayib Hassan was far more direct. Early in his closing argument Tuesday, he quoted Trump telling supporters to “fight like hell” on Jan. 6.
- The Hill: Ex-Proud Boys chief uses ‘locker room’ defense from jail as case heads to jury: Former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio said that federal prosecutors have unfairly used “locker room talk” against Jan. 6 defendants, echoing a similar defense used by former President Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. “What they were trying to do, what people are trying to do — and this is in general, again, I’m speaking in general — what they are trying to do is manipulate how we talk to each other in the locker room,” Tarrio said. “It’s not fair, it really isn’t. … It’s just not right. It’s not the justice system that we grew up in civics class learning about.”
In The States
MONTANA: Transgender Montana representative silenced by GOP colleagues, censured by House Republicans
- New York Times: Montana House Votes to Discipline Transgender Lawmaker: The Montana House of Representatives took the extraordinary step of blocking the state’s only transgender lawmaker from the House floor for the remainder of the legislative session on Wednesday after an escalating standoff over her ability to speak in the House led to heated protests and arrests on Monday and the abrupt cancellation of Tuesday’s session. The vote was 68 to 32 in the Republican-controlled chamber. The speaker adjourned the session immediately after the vote. Ms. Zephyr will still be allowed to cast votes during House proceedings for the remainder of session, which concludes on May 5, but must do so remotely. The move is the culmination of a weeklong battle between House leadership and Representative Zooey Zephyr, who was barred from participating in deliberations on the House floor after she made impassioned comments during debate over a bill that would prohibit hormone treatments and surgical care for transgender minors. The bill has since been sent to Gov. Greg Gianforte, who has indicated that he will sign it.
ARIZONA: New Elections Director spread false claims about 2020 election, voter fraud, and voting machines on social media
- Associated Press: Arizona county’s new elections head shared voter fraud memes: A rural Arizona county where leaders have embraced voting machine conspiracies on Tuesday hired an elections director who has promoted the false claims that voter fraud cost former President Donald Trump reelection in 2020. The two Republicans on the three-member Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted to hire Bob Bartelsmeyer, who shared memes on his personal Facebook page supporting Trump’s claims of fraud and promoting the lie that Dominion voting machines manipulated the outcome. Fox News last week agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to settle a defamation case, after the network repeatedly aired the bogus voting machine claims after the 2020 election.
- The Guardian: ‘Get cancer’: how election lies morphed into a plague of hate in Arizona: On a typical day during the 2022 elections in Arizona, threatening emails and social media posts flowed into Maricopa county’s inboxes. Emailers, social media posters and callers were mad about everything from printer problems on election day to vote counting to court rulings, documents obtained by the Guardian show. Voters wait in line at a polling station in Sierra Vista, Arizona, on 3 November 2020. “Election stealing piece of shit – get cancer,” one person wrote to a county elections official. “You cheating sons of bitches every last one of you should swing for treason,” a Twitter account wrote to the county. “You deserve to be executed in front of America by Firing Squad,” another wrote to the county supervisors. Nearly all of the perpetrators of these threats believed that the election was stolen from the candidate they wanted to win. In 2022, the threats regularly mentioned the election being stolen from the Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who, despite her loss, has not conceded the race and is still fighting it in court.
PENNSYLVANIA: House-passed bill allows pre-canvassing in counties, allowing for quicker election results
- Spotlight PA: Bill allowing counties to process mail ballots early clears first hurdle in Pa. House: After years of advocacy and political deadlock, Pennsylvania counties could be a step closer to getting more time to process mail ballots ahead of elections — if partisan disputes don’t sink the effort once again. A committee in the Democratic-controlled state House voted Monday to pass a bill that, among other changes, would allow counties to open mail ballot envelopes, flatten the ballots within, and prepare them to be tallied before Election Day — a labor-intensive process commonly known as pre-canvassing. Election administrators have long argued the change would allow the commonwealth to report its election results more quickly. But while lawmakers across the political spectrum have generally been open to pre-canvassing, it has been repeatedly mired in fights between Republicans and Democrats over more controversial election measures.
- Philadelphia Inquirer: Pa. Democrats want counties to be able to count mail ballots faster. Here’s why changes are unlikely: Newly empowered Pennsylvania House Democrats, in a position to move election legislation for the first time since the 2020 election, are proposing a change to allow mail ballots to be processed earlier so they can be counted faster. The change is widely backed by elections administrators across the state — but the bill doesn’t have the backing of Republicans, who control the Senate. Currently, mail ballots can’t be opened in Pennsylvania until 7 a.m. on Election Day. In high-turnout elections, that means the days-long process of counting millions of mail ballots can’t begin until Election Day. In 2020, that meant days before we knew who won the White House. House Bill 847 would allow counties to begin “pre-canvassing” — activities such as opening envelopes or unfolding ballots, but not counting them — seven days before Election Day. It would also standardize how counties allow voters to correct mail ballot errors, change the mail ballot request deadline from the current seven days to 11 days before Election Day, and allow voters to request mail ballots at their county elections offices until the day before Election Day.
TEXAS: State senate OKs bill that allows the secretary of state to “immediately address election violations” and call in “election marshalls”
- Austin American Statesman: Texas Senate advances bill to create ‘election marshals.’ Here’s what’s proposed.: The Texas Senate has advanced a proposal that would require the secretary of state to appoint a chief election marshal, who in turn would name election officers in regions throughout the state, to investigate suspected election violations. Senate Bill 220, by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, would provide the secretary of state, who serves as the chief elections officer in Texas, an avenue “to immediately address election violations as they are occurring,” according to the bill’s analysis.The proposal, which the Senate approved Wednesday, would call in the Texas Department of Public Safety to protect poll watchers, ensure ballots are handled through the proper chain of custody and provide security on election days, among other tasks.
What Experts Are Saying
Brennan Center for Justice: NEW Survey: “Large numbers [of local election officials] see threats, harassment, and abuse as serious problems for the field. Indeed, nearly one in three have been abused, harassed, or threatened. Nearly three in four feel that threats against election officials have increased in recent years. Over half say they are concerned that threats, harassment, and intimidation will harm retention and recruitment; likewise, nearly half are concerned about the safety of their colleagues and/or staff. 30% say they have personally been abused, harassed, or threatened because of their job as a local election official.” Brennan Center: Local Election Officials Survey — April 2023 | NBC: Massive turnover in local election officials likely before 2024, says new survey
Joyce Vance, former US attorney: “Trump’s lawyers are asking House GOP to interfere in prosecutive decisions our rule of law system entrusts to DOJ. It’s a strong suggestion they fear an indictment is coming from special counsel & they need political help b/c the evidence is strong.” Tweet
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian at New York University: “When an ambitious leader whose authoritarian bullying has gained him power in his domestic fiefdom steps out of his comfort zone and onto the global stage, a stress test ensues that many fail. Such personalities only feel safe when they can control everyone and everything around them. If those protections are removed due to a change of context —say, a press conference on foreign soil— their fragility is, to their horror, displayed to the world. As Florida governor, DeSantis has followed authoritarian leaders who depict themselves as decisive and forceful to cover up a seeming sense of inner emptiness and insecurity that no amount of power can ever fill. The fear of exposure and criticism is why this genre of leader creates “inner sanctums” staffed with sycophants, family members, and flatterers whose job is to shield him from the truth. Surrounded by his wife Casey and his far-right attack-dog consiglieri, DeSantis does not seem to see the downsides of his need to show the world that no one is above being controlled and punished by him. This compulsion is why, along with the usual GOP targets (the LGBTQ community, “woke” educators, Blacks, and immigrants) he has gone after the Special Olympics and Disney.” Lucid
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
NBC: ‘MAGA movement’ widely unpopular, new poll finds
Salon: Elon Musk’s exploding rocket offers a superb symbol of MAGA’s current fortunes
Washington Post: A rare peek inside Fox News’s outrage machine
Trump Investigations
New York Times: Lawyers for Trump and His Accuser Clash Over Her Motives in Rape Case
Axios: What to know as the civil trial over E. Jean Carroll’s rape allegation against Trump starts
New York Times: Trump Can’t Stop Pence From Testifying to Jan. 6 Grand Jury, Court Rules
WSB-TV: Political strategists believe letter from Fulton DA indicates Trump will be indicted in Georgia
CNN: Manhattan prosecutors ask judge to limit Trump’s ability to publicize information about his criminal case
New York Times: Manhattan D.A. Seeks to Limit Trump’s Access to Some Evidence
January 6 And The 2020 Election
Washington Post: Ex-Proud Boys leader argues Trump is to blame for Jan. 6 attack*
CNN: Trump, in 2023, tells a new lie about the 2020 election
Washington Post: Audio of Cruz’s talk with Fox host sheds light on plan to challenge 2020 results
New Jersey News 12: Jersey City man sentenced to 4 months in prison for role in Jan. 6 riot
Opinion
Washington Post: How state legislatures went off the rails
New York Times: The Tucker Realignment
The Hill: How many scandals will it take for DOJ to investigate Clarence Thomas?
New York Times: The Importance of E. Jean Carroll’s Lawsuit Against Donald Trump
In the States
New York Times: Disney Sues DeSantis Over Control of Its Florida Resort
Mississippi Clarion Ledger: New laws will place hardships on workers, voters
NBC 6 KPVI: Civil rights bill draws ire of Black state senators
PBS WGCU: How limits on demonstration at the Florida Capitol affect free speech
