The last time I appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show as the Progressive opposition, I had stated during a morning segment on the same network that Carlson’s tactic of focusing on Susan Rice, precisely when news of Trump supporter Erik Prince’s Russia connection hit the news wires, made Carlson a “high-priced smokescreen salesman for the Trump White House.” That missive got me invited onto Carlson’s show the same night, where Carlson demanded that I name the alleged guilty party (as if Mr. Prince, General Flynn, and Carter Page did not exist). Carlson had brow beaten the previous guest, a Republican national security expert who expressly called the Susan Rice issue a “smokescreen.” Perhaps it all was just too much of his own smoke for Tucker to inhale.
Fast-forward to Tuesday evening of this week and Carlson resumed his role as Chief Obfuscator for Trump. Announcing Trump’s firing of FBI Director Comey at the top of his show, Carlson then proceeded to explain why “everybody in Washington knows” that Comey had to go, citing Democrats’ criticisms of the FBI director, and that in a free society, no “bureaucrat” should have as much power as Director Comey wielded.
News flash: everyone did not know that Comey had to be fired. Most people found it surprising, or even shocking.
Second news flash: The FBI has been around for over 100 years and our “free society” has functioned pretty well, all things considered.
Poor Tucker. It’s not easy trying to sell Donald Trump every day.
But this time, Carlson revealed his true allegiance. It’s not to his agent who scored Carlson’s eight-figure book contract, or Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly, whose controversial departures allowed this once-fading star of conservative bloviation to emerge as Fox News’ top anchor. It certainly is not to the United States Constitution, the United States of America, or even the American people, whose television viewing habits have showered Carlson with ratings and money.
No, Tucker Carlson’s latest smokescreen of defending the banana-Republican President’s corrupt self-preservation in the name of a “free society” reveals that Carlson’s only true allegiance is to Donald Trump. Why else would Carlson not ask the following questions:
- Why did Trump’s termination letter raise the Russia investigation, when the purported reason for firing Comey was the handling of the Clinton email investigation?
- When, prior to this letter, had Trump criticized the FBI’s handling of the Clinton email investigation (as opposed to all the times he praised it)?
- Why did Trump fire Comey now, when the Inspector General investigating Comey’s actions had not even finished his work? Could it be related to Comey’s scheduled testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee, or his request for more funding to support the Russia investigation?
- How did Attorney General Sessions, who claimed to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, insulate his decision-making in this case from the fact that Director Comey was the only person in DOJ who headed an investigation into Russia?
- How could Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein’s memorandum be interpreted to recommend firing Director Comey immediately, and how, after only two weeks on the job, did Rosenstein conduct a thorough enough review to justify such a major change in the institution? Did anyone direct him to write that memo, and if so, was it the recused Attorney General (see #4, above)?
These are questions that a journalist might ask, even a conservative-commentator-turned-journalist. But Tucker Carlson is not a journalist. He is the Highest Paid Smokescreen Salesman for the Trump White House.
