On Thursday night’s episode of Fox News’s Tucker Carlson Tonight, the eponymous host gave a master class on how Republican candidates for office should handle the media. Carlson used Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake as a perfect example. Being a former news anchor, Lake is perfectly fitted to deal with the leftists disguised as journalists and their constant gotcha questions.
“More than anything Kari Lake is not afraid of the media. She’s not on a leash like everyone else. She knows who they are and she’s willing to say so,” Carlson noted.
“She doesn't care what The New York Times thinks. Because she knows what the New York Times is. Because she lived in that world.” He then aired a clip from earlier in the week where Lake tore into a leftist reporter who called her an election denier:
KARI LAKE: If you’re going to start throwing around terms like election denier, let’s remember who the other election deniers were Hillary Clinton and all of the Democrats. Let’s talk about election deniers. Here’s 150 examples of Democrats denying election results. So it's okay for Democrats to question elections. But it's not okay for Republicans? It's a crock of bs. Every one of you knows it. We have our freedom of speech and we’re not going to relinquish it to a bunch of fake news propagandists. Since 2000 people have questioned the legitimacy of our elections. And all we’re asking is that in the future we don't have that have to happen anymore.
Returning live, Carlson wondered: “those media organizations are relatively speaking tiny. They are tiny. This is a county of 340 million people. MSNBC has like 11 people watching. So why are they so powerful?”
Answering his own question, he correctly said “they’re so powerful because the people in charge take them seriously. They act like they have moral legitimacy when of course they have no moral legitimacy of any kind. This is full North Korea propaganda.”
He then played an exchange between Lake and CNN reporter Kyung Lah which was a perfect example of how to effectively troll the media (click "expand"):
KYUNG LAH: Hi Kari.
LAKE: Hi
LAH: Nice to see you. Kyung Lah from CNN.
LAKE: You don't have a mask on anymore! What’s going on?
LAH: Well, we are outside.
LAKE: Well we are 6 feet apart.
LAH: Do you have a minute to chat?
LAKE: I’ll do an interview.
LAH: Okay.
LAKE: As long as it airs on CNN Plus. Does that still exist? I didn't think so because the people don't like what you guys are peddling, which is propaganda. Thank you.
Carlson could barely contain his joy with that display of media mockery by Lake. Laughing hysterically, he joyfully said “where is your mask? You neurotic freak! I’ll do it on CNN Plus. Oh, that failed because everyone hates you. It’s so great because it’s so true! All of us know it.”
Pointing out how feckless some Republicans are when it comes to getting attacked by the media, Carlson noted that “the people in charge, especially in the Republican Party never admit it out loud. If the New York Times did a hit piece on Mitch McConnell he’d be rushing around his office worried about it.”
“The New York Times does a hit piece on Kari Lake every day and she laughs,” Carlson noted. “Because it doesn't matter what the New York Times thinks.”
Carlson ended by giving Republicans advice: “They only have power because we give them power because we treat them like they’re real. But they're fake. They're ghosts. Turn on the lights and they evaporate! They go away. They don't actually exist. They are a fantasy that can only continue as long as we participate.”
To read the transcript click “expand”:
FNC’s Tucker Carlson Tonight
10/20/2022
8:07:31 p.m. EasternTUCKER CARLSON: But more than anything Kari Lake is not afraid of the media. She’s not on a leash like everyone else. She knows who they are and she’s willing to say so. She doesn't care what The New York Times thinks. Because she knows what the New York Times is. Because she lived in that world. Watch this clip from Tuesday of this week when a reporter calls Kari Lake an election denier.
[cuts to video]
KARI LAKE: If you’re going to start throwing around terms like election denier, let’s remember who the other election deniers were Hillary Clinton and all of the Democrats. Let’s talk about election deniers. Here’s 150 examples of Democrats denying election results. So it's okay for Democrats to question elections. But it's not okay for Republicans? It's a crock of bs. Every one of you knows it.
We have our freedom of speech and we’re not going to relinquish it to a bunch of fake news propagandists. Since 2000 people have questioned the legitimacy of our elections. And all we’re asking is that in the future we don't have that have to happen anymore.
[cuts back to live]
CARLSON: So you watch a clip like that and you begin to connect some dots. Okay, so the media that control our perception of reality, and lie about what they tell us, and don’t tell us all kinds of things we probably should know about the rest of the world for example. Those media organizations are relatively speaking tiny. They are tiny. This is a county of 340 million people. MSNBC has like 11 people watching. So why are they so powerful?
Well, they’re so powerful because the people in charge take them seriously. They act like they have moral legitimacy when of course they have no moral legitimacy of any kind. This is full North Korea propaganda. It’s an offense against democracy what they’re doing. And Kari Lake knows that and she pulls off their mask and lets them know. They don't deserve our respect. Here, for example, is Kari Lake's response in June when a CNN reporter asked her for an interview. Watch this!
[cuts to video]
KYUNG LAH: Hi Kari.
LAKE: Hi
LAH: Nice to see you. Kyung Lah from CNN.
LAKE: You don't have a mask on anymore! What’s going on?
LAH: Well, we are outside.
LAKE: Well we are 6 feet apart.
LAH: Do you have a minute to chat?
LAKE: I’ll do an interview.
LAH: Okay.
LAKE: As long as it airs on CNN Plus. Does that still exist? I didn't think so because the people don't like what you guys are peddling, which is propaganda. Thank you.
[cuts back to live]
CARLSON: [Laughing]. Where is your mask? You neurotic freak! I’ll do it on CNN Plus. Oh, that failed because everyone hates you. It’s so great because it’s so true! All of us know it.
But the people in charge, especially in the Republican Party never admit it out loud. If the New York Times did a hit piece on Mitch McConnell he’d be rushing around his office worried about it.
The New York Times does a hit piece on Kari Lake every day and she laughs. Because it doesn't matter what the New York Times thinks. They only have power because we give them power because we treat them like they’re real. But they're fake. They're ghosts. Turn on the lights and they evaporate! They go away. They don't actually exist. They are a fantasy that can only continue as long as we participate.
