'Towering figure of doom': How the 2024 election could make or break Tucker Carlson’s post-Fox News career

14 July 2023

For decades, Republicans have been angrily railing against what they consider a "liberal bias" in the mainstream media, arguing that right-wing outlets like Fox News, Newsmax and Townhall are necessary because the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer will never be fair to conservatives. But ironically, right-wing media figures are the ones who can cause Republican politicians the most worry, stress and anxiety.

In an article published on July 14, the Daily Beast's Jake Lahut notes that Tucker Carlson has been "the most feared man in Republican politics — aside from former President Donald Trump." That was once true of the late radio host Rush Limbaugh, who had so much influence on the right during the 1990s and 2000s that Republicans were terrified of offending him.

When Michael Steele was chairing the Republican National Committee (RNC) in 2009, he apologized for offering even mild criticism of Limbaugh — an incident that countless liberal pundits described as downright pathetic. Subsequently, Carlson had that type of power when he was with Fox News.

It's a power that prominent liberal pundits simply don't have among Democrats. Although Democratic politicians will pay close attention to what MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell or the New York Times' Paul Krugman have to say, they aren't terrified of them the way that Republicans were terrified of Carlson during his years at Fox News or, before that, Limbaugh.

But according to Lahut, the "hard-earned honor" of being the pundit Republicans fear the most "might be slipping away from Carlson" now that he is no longer with Fox News.

"While Carlson still boasts plenty of fans despite his firing from Fox," Lahut explains, "he has seen a steep decline in his viewership on a new Twitter-based version of his show since it launched last month. These days, GOP campaign sources and Republicans closely watching the 2024 primary see Carlson as a necessary hassle to deal with — but hardly the towering figure of doom he once was."

Lahut stresses that Carlson will use the 2024 election to promote his post-Fox News brand, but how successful he will be remains to be seen.

A GOP strategist, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Beast, "This is high stakes for Tucker…. to show that he has the mojo. Does he still have the influence and the ability to rake people over the coals? He obviously wants to build a media empire, and he doesn't have the sway he used to at Fox News. But this will prove whether he can still drive the conversation on the right and break through the noise."

Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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