By: Ryan McPherson
Tucker Carlson addressed TPUSA’s Student Action Summit (SAS) on the opening night of the event in a characteristically jovial speech about free speech, specifically within the context of journalism.
Carlson discussed, at the beginning of his speech, the importance of journalistic fairness when interviewing someone who has a different political or philosophical perspective from that of the journalist. To dehumanize people with contrary views is to not pay them due respect as humans, he noted.
“So, you know, I ask people questions for a living and very often I get answers that I don’t care for, that I disagree with, that I think are stupid,” Carlson said. “But at least they’re answers. At least the person responding is treating me like a human being with a soul created in the image of the creator. He’s paying me the respect that every human being is due. When you ask a direct question to someone in charge, you are due.”
The interviewee, Carlson said, is bound to give the journalist an answer, but not bound to agree with them. According to Carlson, this is a tactic neglected by left-wing journalists, who act in the following censorial manner, illustrated by Carlson.
“They would dismiss you out of hand. You are not worth listening to. Be quiet. And that’s of course where the impulse to censorship comes from. It comes from the belief that you don’t deserve to speak because you’re not fully human. They own you. And that’s what I voted against above all. I voted against a million different things that I hated about the last administration.”
Transitioning from journalistic ethics, Carlson spoke of the subject of war and condemned those in public office or media who attempt to silence opposition to war, try to stop questions about wars, and label anti-war individuals as conspiracy theorists. For him, this is something he has dealt repeatedly with as a news personality and commentator interviewing public figures.
“But the thing I hated most was their total unwillingness to answer any question about why they were doing what they were doing because it was just too insulting,” he said. “And every single time I would just feel like raising the middle finger and screaming obscenities, which is not an adult response, I’ll I’ll concede, but that’s how I felt.”
The timely subject of Jeffrey Epstein was linked to this sentiment as well.
“And I think that’s really at the heart of why the Epstein thing is so distressing. I mean, the guy was some weird sex freak who was abusing girls,” Carlson said. “We knew that. But the fact that the US government, the one that I voted for, refused to take my question seriously and instead said, ‘Case closed. Shut up, conspiracy theorist was too much for me.’ And I don’t think the rest of us should be satisfied with that.
Carlson stated that criticism of actions conducted by one’s government is healthy, not hateful, and a native element of liberty.
“So criticizing the behavior of a government agency does not make you a hater. It makes you a free person. It makes you a citizen. You’re allowed to do that because you’re not a slave. You’re a citizen. And you have a right to expect that your government will not act against your interest. And you have a right to demand that foreign governments not be allowed to act against your interest. That’s not creepy. It shouldn’t be forbidden.”
Watch full speeches from all SAS speakers on the Turning Point USA YouTube Channel.
