I watched the first 34 minutes of Tucker Carlson last night. Now I better understand Trump supporters.
I hate Donald Trump.
I hate everything he stands for. I hate everything he is. He’s a bully. He’s a misogynist. He’s a narcissist. He’s the exact opposite of what I hope my children grow up to be.
He’s also the President of the United States.
I’ve experienced the full gamut of negative emotions since Election Night, 2016: Shock. Anger. Disgust. Sadness. Embarrassment.
But more than anything, I’ve struggled to understand how anyone sane would support him 10 months into his presidency, let alone have voted for him.
But my dad, a person I admire, respect and look up … voted for Donald Trump. And he supports him today more than ever. I recently spoke for 3+ hours with my dad about Trump and politics.
It was eye-opening.
That conversation led to us launching this site: 2 SIDES, where we discuss the 2 sides of Trump, his Administration, and politics in general.
Yet, I’m still struggling to understand where my dad — and all supporters of Trump — are coming from.
Then I listened to the first 34 minutes of Tucker Carlson on FoxNews and everything came into focus. Now I better understand Trump supporters.
Here is Carlson’s full show:
In the first 34 or so minutes of Tucker Carlson’s show, he covered the following 3 topics:
- Harvey Weinstein
- Immigration
- Las Vegas Shooting
CNN, MSNBC, and many of the other mainstream networks have, and continue to, cover those 3 topics. However, the manner in which Tucker Carlson talked about each issue was very very different.
Harvey Weinstein
Carlson focused on NBC “cover up” and how the Clinton’s are connected to the reporter who broke the story. He accused attorney Lisa Bloom, who originally was representing Weinstein but later backed out, of having “no moral authority.” He (again) brought up the fact that Hillary Clinton took campaign money from Weinstein. He mentioned Monica Lewinsky. He speculated on the Clinton Foundation’s financial situation.
What his lead story lacked in facts, Tucker made up for in (his own, very biased) opinion.
What he didn’t talk about … the dozens of women who accused Weinstein of sexaul harassment, abuse, and other predatory behavior … the #MeToo social campaign launched worldwide where women are sharing their stories of being sexually harassed … the fact that the current POTUS has also been accused of sexual harassment by over a dozen women … the fact that Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly and other FoxNews executives and personalities have been fired for similar behavior.
Las Vegas Shooting
Next up: Vegas. The FoxNews headline read, “Vegas Mystery.” Tucker spun up a conspiracy theory involving security guard Jesus Campos. Then he brought in Geraldo Rivera. Surprisingly, Geraldo sounded somewhat sane during this segment. Until they started up again with various conspiracy theories. Then he started talking again about the “incompetence” of the authorities covering this story. Again — shockingly — Geraldo tried to reign in Tucker when he went after the the sheriff in Vegas in charge of the case.
What Tucker didn’t talk about: the victims … gun control. He didn’t praise anyone’s heroism.
Immigration
Finally, immigration. Tucker shared some data from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS): The immigrant population hit 43.7 million, which is an increase of nearly 13 million since 2000. That 43.7 million number represents 13.5% of the US population. This is the highest figure in more than a century.
I’m not in a position to dispute these facts. However, how Tucker steered the conversation, lead the narrative, was … interesting.
CIS’s Steven Camarota was Carlson’s guest who dug into the data a bit more. Listen around 30 minutes in when Camarota shares the prediction of an increase of 100–105 million new immigrants over the next 50 years.
Tucker is in shock. And not for the same reason I was.
Tucker then talks about the “social volatility” of this influx of immigrants. His next guest shares that “immigrants generate economic activity and create jobs” and that our current policy is a “net positive.”
Tucker agrees, begrudgingly.
Then Tucker says this … California is “far poorer than it was when I grew up there and there is only one reason: Immigration.”
FACT CHECK: California has one of the largest economies in the world.
Tucker continues by sharing his opinion that the country is “less united now” and pinning immigration as the cause. When he stated that the “first amendment has been invalidated on college campuses” I changed the channel.
Why This Helps Me Understand Trump Supporters
Imagine if Tucker Carlson was your main source of news — as he is for millions of Americans.
I listen to MSNBC and CNN and NPR … for the most part. I read the New York Times and The Washington Post. Do they have their own biases? Certainly. But I find these media companies tend to focus more on facts than opinion.
Last night, I did not watch or listen to CNN for any significant time, but I did skim through the first 20 or so minutes of Anderson Cooper 360. Here’s a clip:
You can immediately see the contrast between Cooper’s show and Carlson’s.
Anderson led with Trump’s bold face lies.
First, and I quote Trump, “President Obama and other Presidents — most of them — didn’t make calls to the families of fallen American troops.” FALSE.
Trump also claimed President Clinton’s FEMA Director gave me him an A+ grade on his handling of the aftermaths of the Hurricanes, including Puerto Rico. AGAIN, FALSE.
Cooper then talked about Trump’s strange relationship with Mitch McConnell … and brought in a panel to discuss Congress’ plan to move its agenda forward despite the challenges they’ve had in the first 10 month of the Trump Adminstration.
In other words, Anderson Cooper and Tucker Carlson — in direct competition for ears and eyeballs — covered very very different topics in very very different ways.
Again, imagine if Tucker Carlson was your main source of news. Imagine if you heard “this side” of the news each and every night.
Why I’m Sharing This
My hope in sharing this insight with you is two-fold:
First, it’s important to see other’s points of view. While I don’t like (or respect) Tucker Carlson, it’s critical I’m aware of what he’s saying. This helps me understand Trump supporters — like my dad — much better.
Second, listen to understand … not simply to respond. This is a tough one, especially for me. Too often we (myself included), listen to someone speak only so we can then spit out words back to them. Try listening to understand.
That’s what my dad and I are doing in our new project, 2 SIDES.
Keep listening. Keep talking. Keep trying to understand.
