Tucker Carlson just added Kyle Rittenhouse to his victim-hero population

But recently, his pardon On top of all the charges added another layer to his status: he too has now become a victim of political persecution, unjustly prosecuted by the state and vilified by the liberal media. and slanderous Democratic politicians.

That’s how Tucker Carlson presented him, adding Rittenhouse to the new population of right-wing victims he was building. In both his first show on Fox News and his propaganda documentaries running on the Fox Nation streaming service, Carlson has become one of the most prominent promoters of the current story. defining conservatism in America: that right-wing violence is not the problem, that White supremacy is a hoax, and the real threat to democracy is the deepening Democratic-Party-State alliance. And at Fox News, where Carlson ran this story every night, the network made it clear that it was sticking with Tucker, ensuring his teaching lines would be echoed online.

In the interview with Rittenhouse that aired Monday night, Carlson emphasized his belief that Rittenhouse was a virtuous young man. In the pre-recorded interview in which Rittenhouse recalls the shooting in great detail, Carlson not only emphasized the correctness of the teen’s actions, but also showed how a light spot for Rittenhouse himself.

He describes Rittenhouse as “bright, decent, sincere, serious and hard-working … exactly the kind of person you want more of in your country.” During the interview, he joked with Rittenhouse about their overall tendency to gain weight, during a break he told his audience, “What a sweet kid.”

Shortly after commenting on the shooter’s sweetness, Carlson provided viewers with a synopsis of his Rittenhouse story: “The photograph emerges as a working-class child sincerely believes His community fell apart. And he tried his best to do the right thing, at a time when almost no one else in the community was trying to do the right thing. And in return for that, the state, under political pressure, sent him to prison.”

Carlson has clearly overlooked an important part of the story – where Rittenhouse kills two people. He does so to emphasize his broader message to the audience: this could be you or your child. You who love your country. You who want to protect your community. You who believe you are doing the right thing, even if it requires you to stand alone. And when you do all this, you run the risk of becoming a nefarious target for politicians and prosecutors as well as the Deep State.

Their departure comes nearly five years after the network backed Donald Trump, replacing Trump skeptics like Megyn Kelly and George Will with some of his most ardent supporters, including Carlson and Laura Ingraham. The network’s Trump advertisingism is hard to ignore, but it’s also worth giving up lucrative commentator positions. It was not until the last “Patriot Purge” that stirred their consciences to the point of leaving.

And that’s the key draw for the network to pick up on Carlson: although he does play a strong role in combining events like the uprising and the Rittenhouse trial into a coherent story of complaints and conservative virtues, the underlying appeal depends on the preferences of the network and the party’s conservative base. The right wing made Rittenhouse a hero while the bodies he shot were still warm. Carlson was there to tell them not only was Rittenhouse right, but they were right, too.