Tucker Carlson seems done with just dog whistling neo-Nazi talking points and winking commentaries about race: he’s going full far right lunatic with his latest Fox News project. And that apparently doesn’t sit very well with a co-worker of his, who called out his conspiracy theory “bullsh*t” on social media and in a new interview.
Carlson’s newest foray into misinformation was announced earlier in the week: a “documentary” series called Patriot Purge that falsely claims the January 6 riot at the US Capitol in Washington was a “false flag” meant to ensnare otherwise law-abiding citizens into the clutches of law enforcement. That’s all bullsh*t, of course, and has been rightly called that by another Fox News mainstay, Geraldo Rivera.
In an interview with the New York Times, Rivera criticized Carlson for his work on the series and the false implication that it was a “false flag” operation of any kind:
“Tucker’s wonderful, he’s provocative, he’s original, but — man oh man,” Mr. Rivera said in a phone interview. “There are some things that you say that are more inflammatory and outrageous and uncorroborated. And I worry that — and I’m probably going to get in trouble for this — but I’m wondering how much is done to provoke, rather than illuminate.”
“Messing around with Jan. 6 stuff … ” Mr. Rivera added, pausing briefly. “The record to me is pretty damn clear, that there was a riot that was incited and encouraged and unleashed by Donald Trump.”
He certainly didn’t hold back on Twitter, either, calling it “bullsh*t” at one point and making it clear that, though he might get in trouble for being outwardly critical of a colleague’s work at the network that employs them both, this is simply a bridge too far for the host.
“False flags!?” Bullshit https://t.co/FBi03zAvoc
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) October 28, 2021
It’s definitely something to see public pushback from Fox News employees about work the network may have approved. And it will likely do little to actually stop the series from seeing the light of day. Yet when you employ someone like Carlson and do nothing to stop the very clear parroting of misinformation about vaccines, replacement theory, and everything else that’s become in Carlson’s wheelhouse these days. If anything, Rivera crying foul at this point may be too little, too late.
(Via New York Times)