Tucker Carlson is The Most Powerful Man on the Right (w/ Jason Zengerle) | The Bulwark Podcast

Tucker Carlson is not content to merely be a media personality; he has a clear ideological project he wants to see realized. He views JD Vance as a potential vehicle for this vision, aiming to move the Republican party further in a populist nationalist direction.

The host states, 'I don't think Tucker is like content to just be a podcaster. He has an ideological project at this point that I think he wants to see realized and I think, you know, JD Vance would be the vehicle for that.'

Stephen Miller maintains influence within the Trump administration through astute bureaucratic maneuvering and extreme sycophancy. He forms alliances with key figures close to Trump and publicly (and privately) praises Trump in hyperbolic terms, which resonates with the former president.

Zengerle notes Miller's ability to pivot alliances (from Bannon/Sessions to Ivanka Trump) and his 'incredible sick fan' behavior, citing a New York magazine piece titled 'The Superhuman President' based on a Miller quote.

Tucker Carlson's initial contrarian stance in his writing career was challenged during the CNN Crossfire era, where he felt pressured to align with the Republican party line, particularly on the Iraq War. His subsequent disillusionment with the war led to a significant ideological shift, causing him to re-evaluate his previous alignment with neoconservatives and explore other right-wing perspectives.

Zengerle explains that Carlson 'felt constrained about saying [his doubts] publicly' regarding the Iraq War at CNN. He adds that after Iraq, Carlson 'saw that Buchanan had been right and he started to think, all right, well, what else might this guy have been right about?' leading to shifts on immigration and other issues.

Unlike Bill O'Reilly's 'everyman' populist act, Tucker Carlson's appeal stems from his 'class traitor' persona. He leverages his elite background to claim insider knowledge of the establishment, presenting himself as someone who has seen their hypocrisy firsthand and is now revealing it to his audience, which grants him unique credibility.

Zengerle differentiates Carlson from O'Reilly: 'O'Reilly definitely pretended to be the guy at the bar, right? Whereas Tucker, I think, is more of like a class traitor... he's not pretending to be an everyman.' He adds that Carlson's message is like Trump saying, 'I've been in the rooms with those people and I know what they say about you and I'm here to tell you everything that you think about them is true because I saw it with my own eyes.'

Carlson's significant influence comes from his ability to take far-right fringe theories, often found on the internet, and 'smuggle' them onto mainstream television. He repackages these ideas, presenting them in a way that is more palatable and credible to a broader conservative audience than their original, more extreme forms.

Zengerle states, 'What Tucker did, especially at Fox, was he would take these sort of... theories or ideas that existed just on the far right fringe... and he would smuggle it on to prime time on Fox. And... Great Replacement is probably the the best example of that.'

Tucker Carlson was crucial to JD Vance's success in the Ohio Senate primary. He provided Vance with extensive airtime on his highly-rated Fox show and, along with Don Jr., successfully lobbied Donald Trump to endorse Vance, which was decisive for Vance's victory.

Zengerle asserts, 'I don't think Vance would have won that Ohio Senate race without Tucker. I mean, Tucker had him on during that primary... I think 16 times on his Fox show.' He adds that Carlson and Don Jr. 'were in Trump's ear about endorsing JD in the Ohio Senate primary. And I don't think JD Vance wins that primary without Trump's endorsement.'