Tuesday night on the Fox News Channel, Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News host Tucker Carlson went off on how ‘woke capitalism’ may doom the American people — especially thanks to tech companies.
Carlson and Don Jr. are both wary of big tech, and warn it is no ally to conservatives despite benefitting from the free market. In an appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Don Jr. stressed that Republicans need to learn from his father’s playbook, “I think we have to start pushing back and I think we have to start pushing back hard,” he said. “If we don’t, we’ll never get the chance again.”
Carlson asked the presidential son if Republicans understand the “threat of ‘woke capitalism’” which he defines as “the alliance between the activist left and big business,” which presents a unique challenge to free speech.
Trump Jr. said that the Republican base is starting to realize the gravity of the problem, but the party itself needs to start taking action.
Carlson noted that “free speech doesn’t mean anything if people can’t hear you speak.”
His point was met with agreement. Trump Jr. cautioned about left-wing deplatforming, financial blacklisting, and information rigging on social media. “To me, it reads like it’s a trial run for 2020,” he said. “I’m not saying every account is suppressed, but you do it enough. You take off ‘x’ percent of the top. You cut the message in half.”
In an op-ed for RealClearPolitics, Don Jr. wrote similar sentiments when he noted Silicon Valley’s tendency to “manipulate information for partisan ends.” He followed that by claiming that “their censorship is increasing at an alarming rate, just in time for them to try to spoil my father’s re-election bid, but we won’t let them get away with it.”
Carlson lamented how little action the Republican Party has taken to combat this problem, “I am a little surprised at the Republican Congress while they still controlled the House while they still controlled the Senate and let this happen” He noted. “Is there a reason to have Senator Mitch MCconnell as the majority leader? Like what is the point of having a Republican Senate if they cant stand up for free speech, especially when their own voters are being targeted?”
Don Jr. described the mentality the party and the base need to take on this issue going forward, “If Donald Trump has shown conservatives one thing it's that you don't just have to take the loss when the other side wants you to, you can actually fight back, you can fight back and win.
“I think we have to take that message to heart. I think we have to start pushing back and I think we have to start pushing back hard. If we don’t, we’ll never get the chance again.”
