Tucker Carlson: How American conservatives lost their greatest voice
The TelegraphFox News’s daily hour-long programme, Tucker Carlson Tonight, pulled in an average audience of 3.3 million viewers in its final two months, making it by far the most viewed cable news show in America. A survey conducted by Nielsen MRI Fusion in October 2021 showed that among the 25-54 age group, 39 per cent of self-described Democrats tuned into the Fox News show, whilst the liberal networks CNN and MSNBC took in 30 per cent and 31 per cent respectively of the rest of the demographic. Boris Johnson, a victim of Mr Carlson’s ire for his views on Ukraine and Covid lockdowns, recently said of the former Fox host: “I’ve been amazed and horrified by how many people are frightened of a guy called Tucker Carlson… What is it with this guy?” “All these wonderful Republicans seem somehow intimidated by his perspective.” Mr Carlson was found to be the most influential non-politician voice among Republican Congressional staffers according to one 2021 study by Punchbowl News. Staring down the lens in his old wood-panelled studio, the commentator calmly spoke as if he was doing another show: “The undeniably big topics, the ones that will define our future, get virtually no discussion at all: War, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, natural resources.” “When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues?