Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk have more in common than you might think — and it’s not just the fact that they shared two hours of Giggle with romance(Opens in a new tab) on Fox News, as it turned out later Another major interview with Carlson before being fired. In many ways, they lived parallel lives, from the heights of privilege to the furious lows of temptation.
Both men are on the older generation X side (Carlson was born in 1969, Musk in 1971). They both watched their multi-millionaire parents (Dick Carlson(Opens in a new tab)journalist and diplomat, and Erol Musk(Opens in a new tab), a part owner of an emerald mine (whose existence was later denied by his son) enters politics. Both are members of the wealthy elite (Carlson, who was He pays $6 million a year and is said to make over $30 million(Opens in a new tab)his net worth increased in 2022 – which billionaire Musk did Tesla tank inventory And Twitter cut its value in half(Opens in a new tab)can not claim).
Both are facing liquidation of high-profile lawsuits from women; musk from Flight attendant says Tesla CEO exposed himself and bought her silence(Opens in a new tab)Carlson from his previous producer, Abby Grossberg, who claims discrimination(Opens in a new tab) in the form of sexist and antisemitic comments.
But the crucial point in the Musk-Carlson comparison is this: Over the past six years, both men have adopted Trump-like tactics. Both have refashioned themselves as supreme populists. Both will be defined by outright lies and unapologetic cruelty. Both promoted conspiracy theories and fueled conspiracy theorists. Both seemed untouchable, creating an invincible atmosphere within the right-wing filter bubbles.
And now they both seem to implode at the same time. If musk wasn’t worried before then The unpopular blue twitter chart Putting the company he’s just bought in jeopardy, or ruining his reputation for nothing, firing Carlson would certainly give him a break. The right-wing anger machine Musk has joined in has no job security and tends to consume what she has (see also Dan Bongino, who parted ways with Fox News(Opens in a new tab) last week). There is always someone else waiting in the wings.
Congratulations, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos. You played yourselves.
When Carlson replaced Fox News’ popular Firebrand Bill O’Reilly in 2017, It was seen as a relatively demure choice(Opens in a new tab)a humorless old-school conservative commentator, and his best-known With his tie and performative rage he mocked Jon Stewart(Opens in a new tab). Surely no one doubts that he will become The “essential” Kremlin figure in American television(Opens in a new tab)who will createWhat may be the most racist show in cable news history(Opens in a new tab)Or he will run cover for an actual coup attempt(Opens in a new tab).
Musk’s rightward drift has occurred more slowly over the past three years. The former sweetheart of the environmentalist is on record as voting for the Democratic presidential candidates in 2012, 2016, and 2020. He joined Trump’s advisory board in 2017, but He left when Trump withdrew from the Paris agreement(Opens in a new tab). Musk’s penchant for Trumpian trolling and falsehoods seems to have started in 2018, the year “Bedou man” and the $420 Secured Financing The tweets — both of which led to trials that Musk ultimately won, but that a more sensible CEO could have avoided in the first place.
Musk tweeted “Take the red pill.” In 2020, and by 2022, he’s the former electric car champion Advocating for an increase in fossil fuel production(Opens in a new tab) while he proposes An unpopular peace plan backed by the Kremlin He would hand over much of Ukraine to Russia. he He bought Twitter with a lot of Saudi money(Opens in a new tab)And the dispute over which media Twitter accounts should be considered “state-funded” eventually led Musk to remove the label from such obvious propaganda outlets as Russia’s RT and Sputnik, as well as China’s state news agency Xinhua. There are now 33 percent more users than tweets accusing the CIA of masterminding 9/11.(Opens in a new tab) After Musk removed the other restrictions on these accounts. Meanwhile, Absolute Freedom of Speech appears to be the same Work with the Modi government in India to ban tweets critical of its authoritarian leader(Opens in a new tab).
Since Musk bought Twitter, there has been little daylight between him and Carlson on the conspiracy theory front. Carlson Fact-free rants about Dr. Anthony Fauci(Opens in a new tab) found its echo in Musk’s tweet calls for a trial for Fauci(Opens in a new tab) for unspecified crimes. Musk’s tweets about declining birth rates are dog whistles(Opens in a new tab) In pitch slightly louder than Tucker Carlson Embrace the Great Replacement Theory(Opens in a new tab), a white supremacist trope. when Musk exclaimed “The Awakened Mind Virus”(Opens in a new tab) that allegedly destroy civilization, can It could easily have been Carlson’s monologue(Opens in a new tab).
There is a lot of overlap between Carlson’s guests and Musk’s Twitter colleagues. Both speak with right-wing figures known for stretching the truth, like Tom Fitton, Andy Ngo, and “Libs of TikTok” founder Chaya Raichik — who, like Carlson(Opens in a new tab) And musk(Opens in a new tab)a Note the transphobe(Opens in a new tab).
The more they focus on throwing red meat to their followers, the less Carlson and Musk care about what’s actually real. Both suffered setbacks outside the MAGA echo chamber when they tried to launch stories that were highly misleading and selectively edited. Musk’s so-called Twitter profiles, which he said now everyone needs to “I continueWho, before Carlson’s hilarious attempt to Footage revolving from the January 6 rebellion(Opens in a new tab)Which led to Iqbal Musk Declares his support for the Shaman Law.
As with Trump, the satire behind both runs was public if you cared to look. Carlson’s text messages, which were revealed in the Dominion voting system lawsuit and may have helped lead to his impeachment, She reveals that he does not believe the company’s account of a stolen election(Opens in a new tab). It appears he promoted it entirely out of fear his Fox viewers would flee to Newsmax. in Musk’s text messages were revealed with permission from a Twitter contributorwe could see friends urging him to buy the company so he could play “the delicate game of letting right-wingers back on Twitter” after they broke the rules, and put “the Blake Masters type” in charge of enforcement — referring to the Arizona politician who promoted the election as a big lie.
None of this matters to their millions of supporters, of course. For the nearly 3 million people who watch Carlson on an average night, for that matter Strange nerds(Opens in a new tab) Whoever jumps to Musk’s responses to defend him against valid criticism, the pair can do no wrong.
Part of the appeal, as with Trump, was that they could not be constrained by any of the guardrails in a functioning society. musk a lot Thumbs his nose at the SEC(Opens in a new tab) and other federal regulators, and shows no sign of complying Twitter polls that asked him to step down as CEO. Carlson was a law of his own on Fox News, and very popular with Rupert Murdoch’s rule – Who broke up with his latest fiancée because she thought Carlson was a “messenger from God”(Opens in a new tab) He can’t seem to do anything about his star’s slide into intimate dream territory.
but now Murdoch shocked Carlson(Opens in a new tab), in the middle of the process of renegotiating his contract. Trump, the supposed hero of Carlson who he actually can’t stand, has been charged in New York, and He will likely face another indictment(Opens in a new tab) in Georgia. Jury selection has begun in his rape trial(Opens in a new tab). Consequences may come slowly, but they arrive — a fact Musk is best remembered as he’s face down Major investigation by the Federal Trade Commission(Opens in a new tab) And The constant migration of advertisers(Opens in a new tab)who remain Twitter’s only real source of income.
This is certainly not the end of the road for Carlson or Musk. Carlson could follow in the footsteps of his grumpy dealer predecessors Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly, who made a comfortable living on their media platforms after leaving Fox. He could, like Trump, establish his own social network. He could even, as has often been suggested, run for president. Musk doesn’t have a boss like Carlson. Making Twitter private and firing the board means he can continue to ignore critics and regulators as long as he wants to keep shoveling billions to pay his overhead.
But it can be shown that both men peaked. Look at Carlson’s predecessors. Beck and O’Reilly have their own die-hard fans but also relative obscurity, failing to have “sorcerers” who can safely ignore them. Trump gets some mainstream attention via Truth Social, but not nearly as much when he used to tweet. Carlson knows that running a campaign isn’t like yelling at TV for a few hours on weeknights, especially if it’s a dare to take on Trump.
Musk is in a similar predicament. try to “own the libs” by making journalists and celebrities pay for blue ticks; Few took the bait. The checkmark, which now means “This user pays $8 a month” instead of “This user is who they say they are”, are all worthless. Prioritizing blue check accounts in tweet replies made them largely unreadable, reducing the value of the service. Musk could look into the future and see a host of negative headlines from the trials and investigations (not just on Twitter, or his actions with the flight attendant, but also in Neuralink and all animals allegedly killed(Opens in a new tab)).
If Carlson catches Trump-style tweeters in 2017, and Musk does the same in 2018, and their flaws are on the same schedule, Musk will have another year before his moment of reckoning arrives. He could learn from Carlson’s hubris and spend that year making a product that will appeal to his biggest users, or he might step down in favor of a less divisive CEO as promised. But never has it been made clearer that conspiracy theorizing, anti-wake-up crusades, and outrage-inducing strategy have a limited lifespan.