A welcome consequence of the Tucker Carlson fiasco - Parker, WaPo [View all]

Every now and then, a movement, like a house, needs a good scrubbing. For the deep clean taking place in the conservative movement to eradicate bigots and antisemites, we can thank Tucker Carlson, the once-charming, bow-tied boy wonder of an erstwhile kinder, gentler Republican Party.

Carlson invited white nationalist Nick Fuentes onto his podcast recently and failed to challenge his guest’s bigoted remarks about Jews, setting off a cascade of righteous outrage. This was hardly the first time Carlson has engaged in antisemitic commentary. Jew-hating has become all the rage in certain once-respectable circles. It’s just that this time, Carlson and his guest went too far even for friends and political allies.

One wonders why it took so long for Republicans and other conservatives to speak out, but here — finally — we are. The Fuentes interview launched a protest from important corners of the conservative world, including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), Sen. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina), U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and, belatedly, the Heritage Foundation, though only after its president, Kevin Roberts, took heat for defending Carlson. It shouldn’t be long before fellow bigot-baiter Candace Owens bellows a rant too far. She’s not in Carlson’s league as listeners go, but she’s not a nobody. She has millions of social media followers.

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So, when Carlson engages in tropes to describe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, as “ratlike,” “shifty” and “dead-eyed,” or inexplicably uses his eulogy for Kirk, whom he compared to Jesus, to remind people that the Jews killed Jesus, he is winking at neo-Nazis And when Carlson invites someone such as Fuentes, a 27-year-old Holocaust denier who has praised Hitler, for a congenial chat, he deserves the wrath he’s receiving. And more. In fairness, Carlson did challenge Fuentes for his antisemitism once, an interjection that was lost amid the two-hour interview.

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Counterintuitive though it is, we owe Fuentes a muted thank you for riling conservatives into action or at least to declare intolerance for the hateful among them. Hate is the brain virus. Antisemitism is, too. Carlson knows better but apparently has fallen victim to the virus. It’s time he — and others like him — clean their houses before it’s too late.

https://archive.ph/Tiku2