The Washington Post published an almost 7,000-word investigative story last week with the provocative title “How Tucker Carlson became the voice of White grievance.” Far more interesting than the content of the article was the Post’s flagrantly obvious attempt to discredit Carlson. It’s become incredibly easy to tell who scares corporate media most.
You might not be surprised that the Post’s remarkably expansive consideration of Carlson offers little discussion of his political opinions. Instead, it tracks down old contacts like his first-grade teacher and cites his ideological opponents like one Rev. Albert Sampson.
You likely also wouldn’t be surprised that Carlson didn’t respond “to multiple attempts to reach him again.” In a written statement, Carlson instead curtly declared: “You want to make me shut up, so you call me a racist. I’ve seen it before.”
Is he wrong? A survey of the Washington Post’s pages will find the paper hasn’t offered similarly extensive hit pieces on the darlings of the leftist networks. Save the opinion page, reporting and commentary on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, for example, has been almost unilaterally positive, despite her years-long coverage of the Trump-Russia collusion allegations that even Politico admits was disastrously wrong. The same is true for CNN’s Don Lemon, and other leftist television commentators.
There is a reason for this, and typically it’s not because conservatives or Republicans are any more fallible than their opponents across the aisle. It’s pretty easy to spot the people the corporate media most fear. Just look at who they are piling on to destroy, and you’ll be able to identify who these outlets see as the greatest threat to their progressivist political objectives.
Consider the other personalities the Post has invested similar resources in denigrating. In May, the Post published a 5,000-word attack on Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley titled “Grievance, rebellion and burnt bridges: Tracing Josh Hawley’s path to the insurrection” (which The Federalist rightly called out).
The Post has likewise attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. These digs have accompanied CBS “60 Minutes’s” false accusations of vaccine rollout corruption against the governor, while Politico maligned him for supposedly being mean to his staff and trusting his wife too much. Corporate media have likewise sought to impugn Virginia gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin.
In comparison, how much critical reporting has corporate media conducted about California Gov. Gavin Newsom, despite his egregious mistakes and hypocrisy in reacting to COVID-19? How many Democrat governors do you ever hear called out in the news?
Meanwhile, corporate media persistently attempt to discredit not only DeSantis, but South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. It doesn’t matter whether the issue is COVID-19, voting regulations, abortion, or transgenderism, corporate media are ever eager to pounce on any perceived vulnerabilities in conservatives or Republicans.
Of course, this trend serves as yet one more data point exposing the not-so-subtle prejudices in corporate media. (By this time we hardly require further evidence.) One could just as easily cite the corporate media’s lie that the U.S. Park Police cleared “peaceful protesters” at Lafayette Square last summer.
Or their unjust attacks on anyone who suggested the coronavirus might have leaked from a lab in Wuhan. Or their coverage of police shootings. Or their worshipful reporting of President Biden. Or their refusal to discuss the Hunter Biden laptop controversy directly before last year’s presidential election.
Yet corporate media attacks on people like Carlson and DeSantis also offer reason for hope. Because the truth is, they’re scared. No political institution — and that’s essentially what the Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and similar outlets are now — invests energy in smearing the small and insignificant.
There’s no point in mercilessly (and fraudulently) attacking people you are already confident you will soundly defeat in the next election. When you are securely on top, you don’t bother. Tom Brady doesn’t troll Mitchell Trubisky. The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t launch takedown campaigns against the Baltimore Orioles.
People go on the offensive against those they fear. If that’s the case, it means corporate media truly do fear the likes of Carlson, Hawley, DeSantis, and Younkin. These men perceive the weak underbelly of progressivist ideology, from disingenuous attempts to downplay and defend critical race theory to excuses for the current administration’s immigration crisis. So, having few (if any) scruples left, the corporate media serves as the attack dog of the Democratic Party.
Corporate media’s fear means there is indeed hope of reversing the broader political and cultural trends that have intensified not only the border crisis, but the rising homicide rate, the spike in overdose deaths, Americans’ loss of faith in public education, and many other worrying trends. Conservatives must not be cowed by unjust and unprofessional smear campaigns against us and our leaders.
Conservatives must continue arguing for a coherent, cohesive vision of America that does not divide us vis-a-vis the blinkered thinking of identity politics, but unites us around the great, time-tested principles of our nation. Unlike the corporate media, conservatives need not fear. They have truth on our side.
Source: The Federalist
