The latest act in the ongoing “Tucker Carlson’s Texts” drama: On May 2, the New York Times got hold of a message in which Carlson mused about “how white men fight” - or, rather, how they aren’t supposed to fight: 2/

Let’s leave aside the question of whether or not this specific message really played any significant role in Carlson’s firing: The text is actually interesting – as a window into the mind of the racist white elite. 3/

It should be read as evidence that while Carlson did not fully buy into Trump’s many conspiracy theories, he absolutely is a true believer in an underlying worldview of white supremacy. The public facade was very much an expression of what was underneath. 4/

This interpretation stands in contrast to the idea that the public extremism of people like Tucker Carlson is just for show, that it’s all purely a cynical act of opportunist careerism. But I believe we should avoid this kind of “It’s all just an act” fallacy. 5/

With regards to Carlson’s text, the focus should not be on the hesitation and self-doubt, but on the racist ethics and worldview that is captured in “It’s not how white men fight.” There is nothing fake about the kind of old-school racism that this sentence oozes. 6/

“It’s not how white men fight” posits a world that consists of white and non-white: The white man is noble – the Trumpers in Tucker’s story are scolded for not living up to the nobility of the white race, for their “dishonorable” brutality which is associated with people of color. 7/

After all, in this view, “They” are the savages, “We” are not. Obviously, this supposed nobility has never actually resulted in any kind of ethical code of conduct for how the white man has interacted with those who do not reflect his image. 8/

But Carlson stands in the tradition of white men who have always been obsessed with their own nobility – and worried about being dragged into the mud while subjugating those who they considered savages. 9/

Every violent racist oppressor has uttered such thoughts: The slave owners in the American South worrying about the terrible, but, as they often claimed, heroic task of having to discipline the human beings they considered property. 10/

European colonizers mythologizing the burden of the “civilizing mission” that, in their mind, elevated brutal conquest to a benevolent calling; Heinrich Himmler, in 1943, expressing how proud he was of the SS for having “remained decent” through all the genocidal raging. 11/

This text, rather than being further proof of Carlson not *really* believing the racist demagoguery that was his show’s sole purpose, demonstrates how profoundly the public persona was grounded in a fundamentally racist worldview. 12/

It’s important to distinguish: Has Carlson displayed a breathtaking level of cynicism, opportunism, and careerism? Yes! That does not mean, however, that he rejects the underlying vision that animates the rightwing political project. 13/

In general, I don’t think it’s productive to think about the American Right – or any actor’s motivations, really – in terms of opportunism OR ideology, cynicism OR conviction. Ideology circumscribes the realm of opportunity; it defines the boundaries of opportunism. 14/

To focus on rightwing elites like Tucker Carlson not *really* believing this or that conspiracy theory is to obscure that they are true believers in the underlying “Higher Truth” of the rightwing worldview: That only white conservatives are entitled to rule in America. 15/

In this, Tucker Carlson is no different than the many powerful Republican elites like Mitch McConnell who, I have no doubt, despise Donald Trump. But all the reasons why they initially united behind him in 2016 still apply. 16/

They may consider Trump crass or crazy, just as they probably aren’t super comfortable with extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene or with how close the Republican Party has gotten to fascistic militants like the Proud Boys. 17/

But they certainly don’t consider any of that a dealbreaker. And that’s not just because they are opportunistic, cynical, and power-hungry – although they are all that too, as they understand they can’t win elections or get ratings without the base, and the base loves Trump / Trumpism. 18/

They also understand that they are pursuing the same political project as the MAGA extremists, fighting to uphold a traditional elite order and white Christian patriarchal rule. Nothing Trump has ever done has betrayed this project or the “Higher Truth” of conservative politics. 19/

Tucker Carlson is not a man who believes in nothing. Nor is he just a blindly committed ideologue. In him, as in so many others, ideology and opportunism are reinforcing each other in dangerous ways. 20/

But never doubt that Tucker strongly believes that it is his prerogative, as a wealthy white man, to be at the top. He is committed to fighting for a world in which white elite men like himself get to do as they please. 21/

In service of this reactionary project, this “Higher Truth,” any level of cynicism or shameless lying is, according to Tucker Carlson and elite extremists like him, not only justified, but urgently necessary. They will keep escalating.
 
More here: https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/how-white-men-have-always-fought

@tzimmer_history I agree with what you're saying here, but I also think it might be irrelevant. There's no meaningful difference between being racist and spreading racism. If he's willing to promote white supremacy, doing untold damage to people who aren't white, then he's a white supremacist, regardless of what he says in private.

@erikalyn I’m writing extensively in the piece about exactly this.