New Delhi: In a much-publicised episode of his late-night show Last Week Tonight, US television host John Oliver Sunday called Republic TV founder and anchor, Arnab Goswami the “Tucker Carlson of India” and a “die-hard Modi fan”.
Oliver’s comments came after the Indian journalist called him an “ignoramus of exceedingly global proportions” in his prime time debate as a response to Oliver’s February episode on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The latest remarks have created a row, again, but this time over Carlson, with many Indians wondering who the gentleman is. ThePrint details everything you need to know about the 50-year-old television host controversial for his approach towards the Democrats.
The vigilante host
Tucker Carlson is one of the most popular and reviled TV news show hosts in the US. Since 2016, he has had his own show on Fox News called Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Last year, he was the second most-watched host in cable news in the US. He joined Fox in 2009 after his previous shows on CNN and MSNBC were cancelled. He is the son of Richard W. Carlson, a journalist who was the director of Voice of America during the last six years of the Cold War.
A conservative political commentator, Carlson is known for praising US President Trump while making vilifying statements about Democrats. He is aggressive, opinionated and can be very rude. He wears his conservatism on his sleeve and makes no bones which side of the political spectrum he favours.
On a Super Tuesday episode Monday, he called Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders “weak” and recounted a 2015 rally in Seattle where demonstrators allegedly snatched the mic from Sanders during his speech.
“Rather than take back his own podium, Sanders stood meekly aside like a scolded child… Imagine how much self-loathing you would have. Would your kids even look at you in the face? Probably not,” said Carlson.
He also called Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden “a paid lackey of the credit card companies” later on in the segment.
Carlson has also made controversial statements on the issues of diversity and immigration.
In July 2019, he called Somali-American Congresswoman Ilhan Omar “living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country”. He also once courted controversy for claiming that Omar hates America to which she responded by saying he is a “racist fool”.
The Fox host is also known for repeatedly attacking reporters invited on his show by saying, “Answer the question”, akin to Arnab Goswami’s catchphrase — “The nation wants to know”.
After Carlson’s Monday night monologue on the coronavirus epidemic, Washington Post‘s Erik Wemple called the show “a threat vigilante” for audiences. “It espies threatening people, threatening trends, threatening ideas, threatening words — and alerts viewers to the dangers,” Wemple wrote.
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