“Beyond Satire” takes a closer look at current stories and events we wish were satire, but aren’t, and gives you the tools to understanding their relevance.
In the first 30 seconds of his June 1rst show, Tucker Carlson indicated not being sure that segregation in the US was a completely terrible thing.
The news host is no stranger to controversy. His show doesn’t go unnoticed, either: in May 2021, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” was the most-watched news show in the US. [Forbes]
It’s safe to say that, when Tucker speaks on “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, he has an audience that hears him.
On the right is a clip where, in the opening monologue of his June 1rst show[1], he appears to have a “slip up”. In the first 5 seconds of the clip (the bottom tweet isolates this), when talking about segregation, Tucker says “everybody agreed that segregation was the … worst thing this country ever did”. However, looking at the clip, “worst” is very clearly not the first word that Tucker had in mind.
Indeed, he was very clearly going for a “b” sound, and he holds the unspoken letter for a worryingly long amount of time.
“Best”, not “worst”, appears to have been Tucker’s prefered word choice to talk about segregation in the US, and how people felt about it.
Was this a slip up? Or was this intended? Two things:
First, whether deliberate or not, it is undeniable that something like this is not going to fall on deaf ears. Tucker Carlson doesn’t just have a popular news show, he has the currently most popular news show (as of May 2021) [Forbes]. Last year, it even became the highest-rated cable news show in history, with an average 4.33 million viewers [The Hill]. The Tucker Carlson Show is breaking records, and it’s not going anywhere. Furthermore, its impact should not be understated. If something is said on the show, or even just implied, it will be heard by an audience receptive to Tucker’s rhetoric.
Second, there is a good case to make that this isn’t simply an accidental slip-up[2]:
- Tucker is reading a teleprompter. If he talks faster than the teleprompter scrolls its text, he has to anticipate what the next word is going to be.
- In order to prepare to make a “b” sound after “everybody agrees that segregation is the…”, he has to think about the word “best” as being appropriate for that sentence.
- Tucker is an experienced broadcaster. He started his careeer as a news broadcaster in 2000, by co-hosting The Spin Room on CNN [Wikipedia], and was in the news industry even longer than that. He has over 20 years of TV experience, and he doesn’t misspeak often. Although his show is known for dog whistling to the right-wing (especially over immigration and white supremacy) [3], he knows what he “should” and “shouldn’t” say on a TV news show.
- Given how long he holds the “b” before saying “worst”, combined with the way he bounces his head on the word, gives a sense of deliberation on the part of Tucker.
- Although you can argue that this was an accident or “slip-up”, there are many aspects of the clip that seem to point to this being Tucker deliberating dog whistling to his audience.
Whether this “slip-up” was deliberate or not, its impact should not be understated. Tucker Carlson is watched by many in the US, who cling to his social and political commentary. This is not the first time this Fox News host has been accused of pushing far-right talking points, and unfortunately, he is far from being irrelevant. Although this clip could be mistaken for satire, it’s extremely real.
[1] The clip was originally posted by Kat Abu of Media Matters. When I contacted her over Twitter, she confirmed that it was the opening monologue from Tucker’s June 1rst Show. I later found the link to watch the full episode without US cable here, on the Fox News website.
[2] Most points taken from political streamer Vaush’s segment on the clip.
[3] As an example, see the time Tucker mirrored white supremacist talking points on TV [HuffPost Clip][Full episode]:
“We have every right to fight to preserve our nation, and our heritage and our culture” -Tucker Carlson
“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children”- 14 words [Wikipedia]
Remember, this was also right after Tucker Carlson tonight became the most-watched news show in the history of the US [The Hill] . Additionally, his top writer resigned around the same time for racist comments he made [CNN].
This is one of many examples of Tucker Carlson dog whistling to the right-wing, and I encourage anyone interested to look into how he talks about immigration, progressive politicians, as well as the US’s COVID response.
My Thought Bar 
