Why Is Brian Stelter So Obsessed With Tucker Carlson?

During his show on Sunday, CNN’s Brian Stelter claimed that “Tucker Carlson is the new Donald Trump,” and that the Fox News star has “taken Trump’s place” as the leader of the conservative movement.

Tucker Carlson is the new Donald Trump. Tucker has taken Trump’s place as a right-wing leader, an outrage generator, a fire-starter… pic.twitter.com/y8OzdAlSlN

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 14, 2021

“Tucker has taken Trump’s place as a right-wing leader, as an outrage generator, as a fire-starter, and it’s all happening on Fox, just like Trump’s campaign did,” said Stelter.

“Which means Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch are ultimately responsible,” Stelter continued, adding his trademark expression of overblown seriousness. “I mean think about all the ways these two men are similar. Every day, Carlson is throwing bombs, making online memes, offending millions of people, also delighting millions of others, tapping into white male rage and resentment. Stoking distrust of Big Tech and the media, generally coarsening the discourse, never apologizing for anything, and setting the GOP’s agenda. Sounds like a recently retired president, right?”

Setting aside this lazy political analysis of false equivalence — “Tucker Carlson has hair, and so does Donald Trump! See, they’re the same!” — it’s somewhat impressive that Stelter is able to throw such a large rock through such a substantial glass house. Every weekend — unlike Carlson’s nightly show, Stelter only has a weekly opportunity to share his thoughts — Stelter throws what he would describe as bombs — and what those who live in reality would describe as under-inflated water balloons — at conservative media. Every weekend, Stelter taps into woke rage over the acts of those who dare to disagree on any issue pertaining to politics or culture. All while, of course, never apologizing for his network’s obsessive promulgation of stories which later turn out to be complete hogwash — Russian collusion, Trump’s description of veterans as “losers,” or the recently debunked claim that Trump told an investigator to “find the fraud,” to name but a few.

Projection: CNN’s @brianstelter Accuses Conservative Media of ‘Obsession’ With Russia Probe https://t.co/YQnlG2himy pic.twitter.com/5Vact6MPio

— Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) May 12, 2020

It’s also somewhat ironic that Brian Stelter and his comrades spread throughout the legacy media are now seeking to eradicate the “wrong types” of journalists after spending four years figuratively pulling out their hair over supposed attacks on the press.

While Stelter is desperately trying to pivot our focus, it’s important to remember that this isn’t about Tucker Carlson, in much the same way that it was never about Trump.

In reality, it’s about you and me. American conservatives, who are entirely indistinguishable to Leftists like Stelter. A basket of deplorables who must be ideologically vanquished by the supposed heroes of our media. And while ideas are a decent target, it’s far easier to condemn an entire group of people if you can find a central figure to build your entire strategy around. Until recently, they had Trump, and now they’re trying to find their next boogeyman to use as a distraction from the radical activity of the Democratic party.

Because, ultimately, without the “bad guy,” Brian Stelter would have no way of leaning into the camera and presenting himself as a “good guy.” And what a shame that would be.

Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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