I recently caught a couple of clips from Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes—originally published last October. And something odd struck me: the body language. Here was a man who once commanded an audience of five million adults on the biggest show in cable news, sitting across from a 20-something shock-jock, channeling the energy of a guy trying to impress his son’s friends. See how cool I am? See how I’m not afraid to go there?
For example, an hour and a half into the conversation, Carlson paused to justify why he’d agreed to do it at all: “Everyone’s going to be like, you’re a Nazi just like Fuentes. . . . But I don’t think Fuentes is going away . . . he’s bigger than ever.” He also told Fuentes he was “more talented than I am, for sure, as a talker.”
Earlier, when Fuentes explained that he became “radicalized on race” by listening to Fox News host Mark Levin, Tucker responded, “Amazing.” When Fuentes mentioned he admires Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Carlson told him they would circle back. He never did.
Culture commentator Jon Gabriel put it well on X at the time: “Jon Stewart embracing Zohran, Tucker embracing Nick. Two aging hosts desperate to impress the young and scared of being left behind.”
