Sucker Carlson
March 16, 2024 1:33 PM Subscribe
haw-haw! /nelson
posted by slater at 1:40 PM on March 16 [9 favorites]
posted by slater at 1:40 PM on March 16 [9 favorites]
Was Carlson ever a real journalist? Did he ever do actual reporting? Or has he always just been someone spouting things into a television camera that are whatever he wants the audience to hear?
I remember Stewart took him down decades ago, but I think he was just doing partisan bloviating at that point?
Like maybe before that... was Carlson EVER a real journalist?
posted by hippybear at 1:44 PM on March 16 [7 favorites]
I remember Stewart took him down decades ago, but I think he was just doing partisan bloviating at that point?
Like maybe before that... was Carlson EVER a real journalist?
posted by hippybear at 1:44 PM on March 16 [7 favorites]
Like maybe before that... was Carlson EVER a real journalist?Wikipedia's summary of his career shows that he has mostly been a commentator and opinion piece writer but was employed to do fact checking and interviews enough to at least understand how journalism is supposed to be done.
My personal opinion of the man is that truth and accurace rank much lower than sensation and outrage in his order of priorities. I should think the pranksters took deliberate advantage of that.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:26 PM on March 16 [8 favorites]
Well, yes... it's a prank on the same level as James O'Keefe's schtick. You use people's good will and own sense of priorities against them. The same thing as a confidence game only you're not bilking them for money.
posted by hippybear at 2:31 PM on March 16 [4 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:31 PM on March 16 [4 favorites]
The YouTubers’ faked letter of engagement for the whistleblower included a clause stating that the palace had a right to amputate one of his limbs should he fail his probation period.
For Carlson, that's probably the detail that sold it.
posted by Naberius at 2:39 PM on March 16 [12 favorites]
For Carlson, that's probably the detail that sold it.
posted by Naberius at 2:39 PM on March 16 [12 favorites]
You use people's good will and own sense of priorities against them.
Fact check: Tucker Carlson does not have good will.
posted by phunniemee at 2:47 PM on March 16 [58 favorites]
Fact check: Tucker Carlson does not have good will.
posted by phunniemee at 2:47 PM on March 16 [58 favorites]
As soon as Tucker is greeted by the opportunity to do a journalism that makes his dick hard, he's able to sprout enough good will to let them scam him. Evidence: this FPP.
posted by hippybear at 2:51 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:51 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]
He must have been pretty upset to have had fake news mixed in with his fake news.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:07 PM on March 16 [29 favorites]
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:07 PM on March 16 [29 favorites]
Oh, James O'Keefe's tactics and aims are much, much, much worse than this. This is a simple prank.
posted by brundlefly at 3:10 PM on March 16 [15 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 3:10 PM on March 16 [15 favorites]
own sense of priorities against them.
I’m pretty sure his priorities are getting attention and hurting people. Probably in that order but I could see a case for flipping them.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:27 PM on March 16 [8 favorites]
I’m pretty sure his priorities are getting attention and hurting people. Probably in that order but I could see a case for flipping them.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:27 PM on March 16 [8 favorites]
it's a prank on the same level as James O'Keefe's schtick
Absolutely not.
James O'Keefe abuses people's goodwill and priorities in order to intentionally falsify and doctor the "evidence" he gathers from them, which is then used by the far-right media machine to push lies and by far-right politicians to justify horrendous policies hurting those very people whom O'Keefe lied to (and about), despite all of these bad faith actors knowing full well that they are lying liars who lie with every fucking breath they take.
These guys submitted a couple of faked docs to a so-called journalist who has made his career spreading misinformation and lies, who couldn't figure out that docs were fake (if he bothered to look beyond the letterhead on page 1), and after he interviewed them, they announced that their story was false before it every aired because they didn't want more misinformation to spread. Any potential resulting "harm" is only to Tucker Carlson's reputation, and tbh, most people who know Carlson and his m.o. are probably pretty set in their opinion of him, positive or negative, is unlikely to be changed dramatically. That is light-years away from "on the same level as James O'Keefe".
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:29 PM on March 16 [68 favorites]
Absolutely not.
James O'Keefe abuses people's goodwill and priorities in order to intentionally falsify and doctor the "evidence" he gathers from them, which is then used by the far-right media machine to push lies and by far-right politicians to justify horrendous policies hurting those very people whom O'Keefe lied to (and about), despite all of these bad faith actors knowing full well that they are lying liars who lie with every fucking breath they take.
These guys submitted a couple of faked docs to a so-called journalist who has made his career spreading misinformation and lies, who couldn't figure out that docs were fake (if he bothered to look beyond the letterhead on page 1), and after he interviewed them, they announced that their story was false before it every aired because they didn't want more misinformation to spread. Any potential resulting "harm" is only to Tucker Carlson's reputation, and tbh, most people who know Carlson and his m.o. are probably pretty set in their opinion of him, positive or negative, is unlikely to be changed dramatically. That is light-years away from "on the same level as James O'Keefe".
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:29 PM on March 16 [68 favorites]
O'Keefe: *completely destroyed ACORN by lying about them*
These folks: *made Tucker Carlson look like more of a dipshit than usual for falling for their prank*
posted by brundlefly at 3:37 PM on March 16 [21 favorites]
These folks: *made Tucker Carlson look like more of a dipshit than usual for falling for their prank*
posted by brundlefly at 3:37 PM on March 16 [21 favorites]
... was Carlson EVER a real journalist?
Well if you've got the appetite, here's Bill O'Reilly's astute observance on the bow-tied Carlson taking over his widely renowned journalistic legacy (sans falafel/luffa) on Fox.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 3:51 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]
Well if you've got the appetite, here's Bill O'Reilly's astute observance on the bow-tied Carlson taking over his widely renowned journalistic legacy (sans falafel/luffa) on Fox.
posted by thecincinnatikid at 3:51 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]
I never really understood what people meant when they said someone had a pun ha le face until Tucker Carlson.
posted by bq at 4:37 PM on March 16 [4 favorites]
posted by bq at 4:37 PM on March 16 [4 favorites]
The title is *chef's kiss*
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:41 PM on March 16 [5 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 4:41 PM on March 16 [5 favorites]
The first rule of any good grift is to give the mark what they want. This absolutely played into what he wanted.
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:43 PM on March 16 [5 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 4:43 PM on March 16 [5 favorites]
That was supposed to be ‘punchable’
posted by bq at 4:54 PM on March 16 [16 favorites]
posted by bq at 4:54 PM on March 16 [16 favorites]
So I'm guessing Tucker's team did catch the discrepancies after they filmed the interview? That's obviously why these guys are coming clean now, before the interview airs, instead of continuing the joke.
posted by MiraK at 5:14 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]
posted by MiraK at 5:14 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]
Episode 908 of the podcast Knowledge Fight features audio of Alex Jones and Carlson massaging each others’ egos in a deeply smarmy and off-putting way. If you feel bad that Carlson was pranked, go listen to that then get in the laughing at Tucker line because wow. If you look up oleaginous in the dictionary, the illustration is Carlson.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:19 PM on March 16 [6 favorites]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:19 PM on March 16 [6 favorites]
Tucker Carlson's show and public persona is 100% a deliberate, long-game scam, you can tell because he has said as much.
posted by Western Infidels at 5:54 PM on March 16 [4 favorites]
posted by Western Infidels at 5:54 PM on March 16 [4 favorites]
I don't think they ever thought they'd ever have gotten even to a callback, forget the producer's call and an actual on-air interview, so my guess is they were going to come forward immediately afterward.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:40 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:40 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]
Hey, you think someone spends fourteen years at Fox News with a hard-nosed level of skeptical inquiry?
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:27 PM on March 16 [6 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:27 PM on March 16 [6 favorites]
pun ha le face
That should be slang for something in french.
posted by vrakatar at 8:11 PM on March 16 [10 favorites]
That should be slang for something in french.
posted by vrakatar at 8:11 PM on March 16 [10 favorites]
The thing about Tucker is you can make obvious jokes right in front of him and he'll never catch on, as the French say, "pun ha le face".
posted by dannyboybell at 8:45 PM on March 16 [28 favorites]
posted by dannyboybell at 8:45 PM on March 16 [28 favorites]
So I'm guessing Tucker's team did catch the discrepancies after they filmed the interview? That's obviously why these guys are coming clean now, before the interview airs, instead of continuing the joke.
Another explanation is that by publishing this before the Tucker piece is published, they deny him the clicks to that piece that this would have generated.
posted by Zumbador at 10:35 PM on March 16 [5 favorites]
And here’s John Oliver’s takedown of Tucker.
posted by bendy at 11:51 PM on March 16 [3 favorites]
posted by bendy at 11:51 PM on March 16 [3 favorites]
That was supposed to be ‘punchable’
honestly, you could have used even fewer letters and we would have known what you meant
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:22 AM on March 17 [15 favorites]
honestly, you could have used even fewer letters and we would have known what you meant
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:22 AM on March 17 [15 favorites]
On the other hand, as far as I knew this guy had been languishing like a has-been in some random online streaming hole with minimal audience and minimal attention. Even his Putin interview thing felt marginal and desperate. And now his name has been all over headlines and we're all talking about him again like he's still an important person to prank. I'd rather have him irrelevant and forgotten.
posted by trig at 1:32 AM on March 17 [9 favorites]
posted by trig at 1:32 AM on March 17 [9 favorites]
"Pun ha le face" is going to be the next big TikTok euphemism after "unalive".
Good on these guys for messing with Carlson. Lord knows he deserves far worse.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 11:11 AM on March 17 [4 favorites]
Good on these guys for messing with Carlson. Lord knows he deserves far worse.
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 11:11 AM on March 17 [4 favorites]
I suppose some of my favorite moments of schadenfreude from this past season of The Internet involve reactionary millionaires accidentally forgetting that billionaires like musk are actually morons and subsequently drinking the kool-aid that was originally intended for the rubes.
Specifically De Santis' campaign announcement video and Tucker's "move" from Fox News to Twitter.
It's a series of amazing train wrecks - all of them self-inflicted - and where I still harbor a measure of empathy for the hapless young men who throw themselves into that rapidly decaying orbit, it is pleasant when someone like TC or Ronald De Santis ends up with musk on their face.
Christ, what an asshole.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:21 AM on March 18 [4 favorites]
Specifically De Santis' campaign announcement video and Tucker's "move" from Fox News to Twitter.
It's a series of amazing train wrecks - all of them self-inflicted - and where I still harbor a measure of empathy for the hapless young men who throw themselves into that rapidly decaying orbit, it is pleasant when someone like TC or Ronald De Santis ends up with musk on their face.
Christ, what an asshole.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 11:21 AM on March 18 [4 favorites]
That twat deserves any reputational harm coming over this, although it's hard to see how that could work. Any 'serious' news or even opinion outlet that got sucked in by this would deserve a smack to their reputation, given how easy it was to spot.
... it is pleasant when someone like TC or Ronald De Santis ends up with musk on their face.
Oh, God, how do I get rid of that mental picture?
posted by dg at 11:23 PM on March 18 [2 favorites]
... it is pleasant when someone like TC or Ronald De Santis ends up with musk on their face.
Oh, God, how do I get rid of that mental picture?
posted by dg at 11:23 PM on March 18 [2 favorites]
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