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A wave of Republican attacks against two Muslim Democrats has ended with one of the most prominent right-wing commentators in the country endorsing Abdul El-Sayed for Senate.

Tucker Carlson wrote in his newsletter on Friday that El-Sayed’s opponent, Mike Rogers, was unfit for office and defended him over his past criticism of the war on terror.

The Michigan Democrat emerged from this past week after a wave of attacks were hurled at him and Zohran Mamdani, the first elected Muslim mayor of New York, around the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Both men were the subject of intense focus from media organizations on the right and even some mainstream outlets as the two faced differing but related accusations of anti-American sentiment impossible to separate from their Muslim faith.

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[-] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

That's like getting an endorsement from a glioblastoma.

They noticed the response to Dick Cheney supporting Kamala and how significantly it benefited them and are now doing it on their own. Note how El-Sayed himself has essentially nothing to do with any of this story other Carlson putting his name in his mouth.

This is propaganda, if this made you question the validity of El-Sayed then it worked on you.

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 93 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

If you've been following rightwing media watch for a minute, this should be obvious to you.

And to the three comments yeeting the baby, just stfu.

This move from Tucker is about Tucker. You may, and rightfully should, despise Tucker Carlson. But you should not underestimate Tucker Carlson. Tucker Carlson has always, and I do mean always (for practical purposes) has one of the best reads of the direction of travel in national politics. He was one of the first to get on the America First wagon, and saw the potential Trump represented in national politics in 2015. They understood this because they had the ability to read the room with regard to the latent frustration people had with both Republicans and Democrats in that time period.

Tucker sees where the motion is and anyone who isn't a totally ley read of politics has known that Mike Rodgers is an extremely poor opponent to be going up against El Sayed. Tucker doesn't want to be on the wrong side of a losing election. Simple as.

This gives Tucker access and to be on the side of motion. America First and MAGA are shifting. Myself and others have been making this point for a while. Hogs don't lead. Pay attention to the first movers. Trump's base will move on to where the first movers go. Owens, Carlson, Fuentes, pay attention to where these actors go and you'll know where things are heading.

This is Tucker setting up for a 2028 run. It has almost nothing to do with El Sayed other than not being tethered to a floundering brand. They're setting themselves up to be the savior of MAGA in 2028.

[-] kvasir476@lemmy.world 31 points 3 days ago

Exactly, all of the current "issues" have gone rotten for the republicans. Support for israel, the Iran war, the economy, and even ICE/immigration have all become losing issues for them. This is Carlsen trying to launder his image and move away from the "MAGA brand," to either run in 2028 or so he can lend his support to Vance.

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 27 points 3 days ago

☝️ this.

He's going to pull a "no true Scotsman" America First thing. Whatever this administration did, that wasn't _America First_™. Whatever it is Tucker is offering is real America First™, and mark it, as Ive instructed many a hater to do: Candice Owens will be his running mate.

JD Vance is a political wet fart and everyone has known it for all of time. Fucking Jeb Bush has more motion than JD Vance does. Establishment Republicans see this as an opportunity to reassert control of the party, but that too will fail.

[-] Triumph@fedia.io 15 points 3 days ago

In the 80s, it was called "family values". In the 90s, they were against "political correctness". In the 00s, "national security". 10s, "Tea Party". Now? Fucking everything. Now they're throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

Does this mean that most people aren't falling for it anymore, or does it just mean that something will stick, lather rinse repeat?

[-] Omgpwnies@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

There's always something that will stick. Unfortunately, the things that seem to always stick are anti-LGBTQIA+ and anti-foreigner. The 80s were very anti-gay with the AIDS scare and (lack of) response, crackdowns, anti-sodomy laws, etc. The 90s continued that, and added on some extra anti-black since they were becoming quite prominent in sports and popular culture. The 00's added on a nice thick layer of anti-muslim because I guess all brown people were responsible for 9/11 or something? Then the 10's got some more anti-black with Obama and George Floyd, and the 20's with queer/trans people.

Going back we had more cycles like this:

  • 1900-1915: Irish people
  • 1915-1920: + German people
  • 1920-1930: + Jewish people
  • 1930-1945: + German and Asian people
  • 1945-1950: + Russian people
  • 1950-1970: + Asian (Korea/Vietnam) people
  • 1970-1980: + Black people
  • 1980-1990: + Gay people
  • 1990-2000: + Black people (again)
  • 2000-2010: + Arab people
  • 2010-2020: + Black people (again), queer people (again)
  • 2020-present: All of the above, and somehow also white people too?
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[-] terranoid@lemmy.cafe 12 points 2 days ago

Good read on Carlson. He's politically very powerful just due to his political compass being so accurate about the current direction things are moving.

He's fake as fuck and will go the direction the wind is blowing.

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Has their ever been a journalist elected president before? Seems like an odd career change.

[-] LePoisson@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Apparently, Warren G Harding was a journalist before becoming president. Probably a lot of other journalists got into more local politics too over the years, I imagine so at least.

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Is Tucker a journalist? I suppose he is. I guess I kinda forget that. I guess to me he's less of a journalist in my mind, and more of a political operative. Sure, they nominally do journalism, but ultimately they are and always have been a political agent. Their motives are rhetorical, not explicitly and certainly not solely to educate, but to convince.

[-] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 1 points 7 hours ago

Is Tucker a journalist?

He's a propagandist.

That's just what you call a "bad journalist"

[-] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 0 points 1 day ago

His dad ran Radio Free during the fall of the USSR. Propaganda is in his blood.

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[-] Headofthebored@lemmy.world 37 points 3 days ago

Who gives a fuck about what Fucker Carlson has to say? His opinion should mean nothing to anyone with an IQ above room temperature. Stop giving him oxygen. He is likely just trying to find a new wedge, a new angle. There is not an ounce of good faith in this man's body.

[-] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 11 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

enough of the right is hungry enough for an opinion that still validates their identity and positionality, I wouldn't expect Tucker to go away any time soon. there is too much appetite for grift on the right. if Tucker went away, another would slip into that void to fill that gap. the real problem here is that Tucker is actually pretty good at what they do, and in-spite of several institutional attempts to cancel them, they've managed to survive.

They, unlike Trump in 2016, aren't dependent on national media to bring them oxygen. A 2016 Trump could have been stopped if media would have just ignored them. Since that time, media has changed. This generation have their own media enterprise in a media landscape largely not beholden to any kind of outside interests. A self fullfilling windbag. Owens, Fuentes, Carlson, they don't rely on outside financing and have a pretty fair degree of capture of their audiences.

[-] pech@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

One sec, I'll go ask my neighbor whose car has a decal of Carlson's pouty little face on it what he thinks about this.

::: Just kidding, I don't speak with them. :::

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[-] Malica@lemmy.zip 21 points 2 days ago

Can we stop pretending mainstream media isn't on the right?

[-] Doom@discuss.online 20 points 2 days ago

Desperate to stay relevant.

[-] switcheroo@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago

Ew, no one wants your opinion, Cucker

[-] mlg@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

Hot damn this is a braindead comments section worthy of youtube lmao.

Reminds me of when people were all talking about Epstein being a Russian asset despite the fact that all of his handler contacts were Israeli lmao

[-] anon_8675309@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

Tucker will rebrand as an “influencer “ for the left.

[-] watson387@sopuli.xyz 9 points 2 days ago

I don't care what he does, he'll never be someone to be taken seriously.

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this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2026
166 points (96.6% liked)

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