The Tucker Carlson Road Show

Plus: Dorothy Parker’s literary takedowns; the perils of the good-enough candidate; and what’s next for the labor movement? View in browser | Update your preferences Friday, November 1, 2024 In today’s newsletter, Andrew Marantz reports on Tucker Carlson’s influence on Trumpism, and then: • What happens next for the labor movement? • Dorothy Parker and the art of the literary takedown • The aid workers risking their lives in Gaza The Tucker Carlson Road Show After his Fox show was cancelled, Carlson spent a year in the wilderness, honing his vision of what the future of Trumpism might look like. This fall, he took his act on tour. Photograph by Mark Peterson / Redux for The New Yorker “Sometimes, when Tucker Carlson is in the shower, he takes a quiet moment to reflect on whether his haters may be right about him,” Andrew Marantz writes. “These reveries always lead him to the same conclusion: he’s clean. It is the haters who are wrong.” In a deep dive on Carlson, Marantz reports from the Tucker Carlson Live Tour—a road show running this fall, aimed at shutting those haters down and promoting his chosen people, which has taken the former TV host to sixteen arenas across the country, from Anaheim, California, to Sunrise, Florida, and all around the heartland. Since he was fired from Fox News, Carlson has cobbled together a successful, dexterous career tweeting, podcasting, and speechifying. His ability to hold an audience’s attention is remarkable, “better than just about anyone on the planet,” Marantz argues. This skill has garnered him a lot of political influence, centered on what might be called Tuckerism. The driving force of this ideology, underneath the strange ideas about daddy Trump and demons and declining sperm counts, is to convince Americans, especially members of the working class, that they are being replaced by immigrants—and that far-right nationalist politicians will be able to do something about it. Read the story Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » The New Yorker Radio Hour: In conversations recorded at The New Yorker Festival, Liz Cheney and Rachel Maddow speak to David Remnick about Harris, Trump, and the test of democracy. Listen and follow » The Lede Reporting and commentary on what you need to know today. Is the Labor Movement Screwed No Matter Who Wins the Election? Photograph by Lindsay DeDario / Reuters / Redux Joe Biden promised to be the most pro-labor President in history, and E. Tammy Kim argues that he delivered on that promise. “His backing of jobs bills and unions made possible, and were made possible by, worker agitation,” she writes. But what will happen when his Presidency ends? During her campaign, Kamala Harris has committed to strengthening labor laws and raising the federal minimum wage—but, with likely opposition from Congress and the courts, it will be difficult to deliver. If Donald Trump wins, and his Presidency is anything like his previous one, the Administration’s policies will skew more toward employers and billionaires. Read the story » From the News Desk A Reporter at Large The Aid Workers Who Risk Their Lives to Bring Relief to Gaza As the war grinds on, logistical challenges are compounded by politics, repeated evacuations, and the fear of being killed. By Dorothy Wickenden On Television How Far Can Political Ads Go to Swing the Vote? In her commercials, Kamala Harris walks a line between illuminating the issues and acknowledging the world-historic craziness of her opponent; Donald Trump targets his base. By Vinson Cunningham If you know someone who would enjoy this newsletter, please share it. Was it forwarded to you? Sign up. Editor’s Pick Second Read Dorothy Parker and the Art of the Literary Takedown Her reviews are not contemptuous, a common pitfall for her imitators. They are simply unbridled in their dislike. By Sloane Crosley Jay Caspian Kang The Perils of the Good-Enough Candidate Illustration by Till Lauer For many liberal voters, a ballot cast for Kamala Harris is nothing more than one not cast for Donald Trump, Jay Caspian Kang argues. Despite the rallying enthusiasm around her abbreviated campaign, the Vice-President’s positions remain vague, and her approach to sensitive topics such as Gaza or immigration has been to “take the line of least resistance, repeat talking points, and then offer lip service to their own voters on the left.” With just a few days before the election, Kang writes that the choice for voters is between a demented and dangerous man who is worse than ever or a woman who will just have to do. Read the column » Fault Lines publishes every Friday. Fun & Games Dept. Mini Crossword A Bite-Size Puzzle Comic-strip girl whose best friend is Sluggo: five letters. By Kate Chin Park Daily Cartoon Friday, November 1st By Dan Misdea P.S. Michelangelo’s frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel opened to public viewing on this day in 1512. In “Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants,” the novelist Mathias Énard, inspired by Michelangelo’s correspondence, imagines what would have happened if the artist had gone to Constantinople in 1506, after the Ottoman ruler Bayezid II asked him to build a bridge across the Golden Horn. It is “a tale of bastard genius that might have been,” Julian Lucas writes, “and a cautionary fable about the consequences of parochial timidity.” 🎨 Today’s newsletter was written by Hannah Jocelyn. What did you think of today’s newsletter? Let us know. If you like the daily newsletter, browse more New Yorker newsletters. You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the daily newsletter from The New Yorker. Manage your preferences | View our Privacy Policy | Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2024. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.