Tucker Carlson

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Tucker Carlson

Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson (born May 16, 1969 in San Francisco, California) is a conservative pundit who currently hosts Tucker on the cable news network MSNBC and is a contributor to two magazines, Esquire and the conservative Weekly Standard.

Carlson is perhaps best known as a former co-host for CNN's Crossfire, where he represented the political right. Once known for his colorful bow ties (which he stopped wearing in 2006), Carlson is generally considered one of the most recognizable conservative personalities in American television.

He also previously hosted PBS's Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered from 2004 to 2005.

Biography

Carlson is the son of Richard W. Carlson, who was president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from 1992 to 1997 and former U.S. Ambassador to the Seychelles. His stepmother is Patricia Carlson, heiress to the Swanson frozen-food fortune.

Education

Carlson completed private secondary education at the elite St. George's School, Newport, Rhode Island. He then attended Trinity College in Connecticut for four years, but dropped out without obtaining a degree. Carlson describes his college experience thus:

"After four years, I had met a lot of interesting people, gone to a couple of classes and restored a motorcycle, and that was it. And so I wasted my time at college."

Journalism career

Prior to his national television career, Carlson was a member of the editorial staff of Policy Review magazine, one of the country's leading conservative journals, and a staff writer for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

He currently writes his own blog called "Untied" on MSNBC.com and has contributed articles to City Journal.

Aside from authoring numerous articles, Carlson has published a book and contributed an essay to another. In 2003, he wrote a book about his television news experiences, titled Politicians, Partisans and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News. His essay recounting John McCain's campaign during the 2000 Presidential primaries was included in The Weekly Standard: A Reader: 1995-2005.

Political views

Partisan ambivalence

Carlson has stated that while he votes, and cares deeply about conservative ideas, he does not care about the success or failure of any political party. This partisan ambivalence has been a cause of friction between him and Republican political figures and movement conservatives. In 1999, during the 2000 Republican Presidential primary race, Carlson interviewed then-Governor George W. Bush for Talk Magazine. Carlson reported that Bush mocked soon-to-be-executed Texas death-row inmate Karla Faye Tucker and "cursed like a sailor." Bush's communications director Karen Hughes publicly disputed this claim. Carlson did not vote in the 2004 election citing his disgust with the Iraq war and his disillusionment with the once small government Republican party. Carlson has labeled George W. Bush "Not a true conservative."

Tucker Carlson, from 6 December 2004 broadcast of Crossfire.

Critic of Norquist

While vocalizing conservative views, Carlson has not hesitated periodically to level criticism at fellow conservatives. Carlson has been a harsh critic of conservative activist Grover Norquist, for instance, calling Norquist a "mean-spirited, humorless, dishonest little creep ... an embarrassing anomaly, the leering, drunken uncle everyone else wishes would stay home...[he] is repulsive, granted, but there aren't nearly enough of him to start a purge trial." [link]

Libertarian views

Carlson also has said that he is not "particularly anti-[illegal]drug," and that, while he reluctantly supported the Iraq War at the outset, he reversed his position after traveling to Baghdad to report for Esquire. Upon his return, he expressed his disgust with the war and his shame with himself for supporting it earlier. "I think it's a total nightmare and disaster, and I'm ashamed that I went against my own instincts in supporting it," he said. "I want things to work out, but I'm enraged by it, actually."

Defending destruction of Rainbow Warrior

Carlson drew criticism from Greenpeace in July 2005 after repeatedly stating that he supported the French government's 1985 mining of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior in a New Zealand port to prevent it from illegally interfering with a scheduled nuclear test. The ship sank, resulting in the drowning of a Greenpeace photographer and creating an international scandal. Carlson called the operation "a bold and good thing to do" on The Situation with Tucker Carlson, [link] and stated that it was "vandalism" not terrorism as "it wasn't intended to kill anyone."[link]

Critique of Canada

Carlson has also drawn criticism from his opinions of Canada. "Anybody with any ambition at all, or intelligence, has left Canada and is now living in New York," he said. "Canada is a sweet country. It is like your retarded cousin you see at Thanksgiving and sort of pat him on the head. You know, he's nice but you don't take him seriously. That's Canada."[link]

Confrontation with Jon Stewart

On Crossfire, prior to the 2004 Presidential Election, Carlson exchanged some heated words with Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a satirical news show on Comedy Central. On that show Stewart strongly criticized Crossfire and other cable news shows.

During the interview, Stewart criticized the format of shows like Crossfire. Stewart asked Carlson and co-host Paul Begala, who he called “partisan hacks”, to "stop hurting America". Suggesting that left versus right debate shows like Crossfire were dishonest, Stewart pointed out that they have failed miserably in their "responsibility to the public discourse." Carlson responded by criticising Stewart’s July 2004 interview with presidential candidate John Kerry. Carlson accused Stewart of "sniffing [Kerry's] throne and not asking tough questions. Stewart responded, "You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls. What is wrong with you?" Carlson also claimed that Stewart was not that funny by saying, "I do think you're more fun on your show. Just my opinion", to which Stewart replied "Well, you're as big a dick on your show as you are on any show." He also insulted Carlson's bowties, insinuating that they were immature for a man to wear and pointed them out as evidence that the show was more "theater" than actual debate. The video clip of the interview became very popular on the internet, as did Stewart's response on the Daily Show the next day, where he paraphrased Winston Churchill by saying, "Tomorrow, I'll go back to being funny, but your show will still blow."

[Crossfire Transcript] Archived video link: [link].

Shortly after the program aired, CNN announced that it would not be renewing Carlson's contract. Carlson, however, claims he had resigned from crossfire 6 months prior to the Stewart confrontation.

From CNN and PBS to MSNBC

While at CNN, Carlson also hosted his own show on PBS called Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered, a news and public affairs program. The program aired from June 18, 2004 to June 17, 2005.

On February 2, 2005, MSNBC announced that they had signed Carlson to develop and host a primetime (9 p.m. EST originally, now 11 p.m) MSNBC show, as a replacement for Deborah Norville. The show moved to 4pm and 6pm ET July 10, 2006, with the title being shortened to 'Tucker.'

The Situation with Tucker Carlson premiered on June 13, 2005, with one of Carlson's first guests being Al Sharpton. The format of the show is loosely similar to the ESPN sports show, Pardon the Interruption, where issues are debated for specific amounts of time.

Carlson also hosted a late afternoon weekday wrapup for MSNBC during the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Sirius Satellite appearances

Carlson also appears as a regular weekly guest on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio on Howard 101, every Tuesday at either 4:30 pm (EST) or 5:00 pm (EST).

Personal life

Carlson is married to Susan Andrews. They reside in Madison, New Jersey with their son and three daughters.

He is not related to journalist Margaret Carlson, but they are "good friends".[link]

On April 11, 2006, Carlson (who is known for wearing bow-ties) announced on his MSNBC show that he would no longer be wearing a bow-tie, adding, "I just decided I wanted to give my neck a break. A little change is good once in a while, and I feel better already." Carlson had previously been widely mocked for his bow-ties, and the matter was often teasingly brought up in many interviews over the years.

Carlson is a practicing Episcopalian but has recently expressed disdain towards the church's policies.

External links

• [Tucker Carlson web site, MSNBC].
• [Tucker Carlson profile, NNDB].
• [Clientplus biosketch].
• .
• [Tucker Carlson vs. Jon Stewart, CNN].
• [Media Matters For America page].
• [Tucker Carlson's political donations].
• [Tucker Carlson Fan Site].
• [Tucker Carlson LiveJournal Community].
• [Carlson interview on Eric Kuhn's college radio show].
• [Tucker Carlson to join MSNBC].
• [Hillary Clinton has sweet revenge].