They both support a tax hike on the rich, defunding Israel and more. What happened?

by Kevin Ellis

Don’t look now but right-wing populist Tucker Carlson and left-wing populist Bernie Sanders are starting to agree on a lot. In Vermont we call it meeting out behind the barn. And that agreement has huge implications for the political parties and for where the country is headed.

First the background:

We are in a major moment of historical change. The Republicans, who once cared about a strong, engaged foreign policy, military spending to make that policy real, economic freedom and limited government has transformed into a party that follows whatever Trump says, no matter how crazy.

The Democrats, once a party devoted to working people and using the tools of government (think FDR) to help people better themselves through housing assistance, social services, environmental protection, and progressive tax policy, has lost itself to Wall Street donors who prize wealth creation over the common good.

Bernie Sanders – my senator – agrees with this conclusion. He has spent 40 years in public office saying pretty much the same thing. The rich have all the money. The rich have designed a system that benefits themselves at the expense of working people, who are defenseless against the onslaught of a runaway capitalism that does not promote the common good. (There’s that phrase again)

For Bernie – we need to pause data center development while we figure out AI. We need to tax capital, not labor. That means raising taxes on the wealthy, including raising the capital gains tax from the absurd 20 percent level. It is the old saw about Warren Buffet’s secretary paying a higher tax rate than one of the richest men in the world.

Then there is Israel and its war against the Palestinians in Gaza, and now Lebanon. Bernie takes to the Senate floor to demand that the US stop providing Israel with weapons and the money to sustain its military. What began as a lonely effort with two other senators has now grown to 40 votes on the floor of the US Senate to defund the Israel war machine. It is now acceptable for mainstream US politicians to question the Israeli government and the morality of their actions. Twenty years ago, such an effort was foolhardy.

And now comes Tucker Carlson, a highly influential media personality with a big following. First a journalist, then a TV show host with liberal leanings, then a Fox News stalwart all in for Trump, and now an independent media voice with a huge following who helped Trump get elected a second time. Indeed, Carlson – believing that Trump actually meant what he said about no more wars and America First – campaigned for him dozens of times. The two spoke on the phone regularly.

Carlson is no dummy. He hasn’t prospered in America’s Internet-based, post-newspaper media environment by not paying attention to changing trends and attitudes. And no one is more cynical than I about how calculating, nasty and phony he is. Carlson has always reminded me of the wealthy boarding school kid who won’t shut up. Smart but determined to show everyone his smartness and then hold it over his classmates in his bow tie and plaid shirts. Oh – wait. That is exactly who Carlson is.

No Bernie Sanders is Carlson.

But then the New York Times, in the person of journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro, took a trip to Carlson’s home in Maine to interview him about his latest feelings about Trump, especially given that Carlson has broken with Trump over the war in Iran.

Here’s the link to the interview, which is chock full of fascinating stuff about where Carlson’s mind is headed and what that means for the Republicans.

Carlson is now saying – as Bernie does almost daily – that Trump was bullied into war with Iran by Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel. He now calls Trump a “slave,’’ to that country’s war-making.

“That is our elected president, whose job is to protect our country and our interests and our economy. And he is looking out for Israel first. That’s outrageous.’’

And later.

“I agree with most Americans when I say this war is a disaster, it’s impossible to see how it helps the United States.’’

So…I get the break with Trump on war. He lied to the country and got elected by calling for an end to the war-making of previous presidents in Iraq and Afghanistan. Carlson loves Trump for that and goes all in for him. And then in February, after what Carlson describes as multiple telephone calls and personal lunches in which he begs Trump not to go to war, Trump pulls the trigger saying: “It will be alright.’’

But then the Times interview gets really interesting. Carlson goes further and talks about the need to change our tax policy, to do a better job of running the Head Start program and fixing homelessness in Los Angeles. He includes a broadside against Citi Bank, the country’s third largest bank.

He rued the 20 percent capital gains tax as not high enough and contributing to an economy that is screwing over young people.

“…the total destruction of the economic opportunity for young people, and what looks to me as a non-economist like the true hoarding of capital by a tiny group of people, a very lopsided and unfair economic system guaranteed to radicalize young people — and not just young people, but especially young people.’’ (Message to the cynical – Carlson is recognizing that future viewers are young and that the old people still watching CBS News are NOT his audience)

Wow. Tucker Carlson marching into Bernie Sanders territory. Why didn’t any bankers get punished for the 2008 recession? Why have we structured an economy that favors the wealthy at the expense of the young and working people? Why have we given over our future to oligarchs running technology companies without regard for the public good?’’

Who is more evil, Carlson was asked – the Neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes or Republican Senator Ted Cruz for his support of Israel and the war in Iran. Carlson says it is Cruz by far.

You can almost feel the tectonic plates of our political system moving. You can also feel Carlson’s total thrill at being front and center in the NY Times, the media institution that Trump loves to hate, but that still sets the standard for journalism and is secretly watched closely by Carlson and his ilk. The online clips will dominate for the next week and Carlson knows it. That’s why he did the interview.

What to make of this.

• Carlson has broken with Trump on the Iran War and Israel.
• Carlson now believes (although I use that word guardedly) that the wealthy have too much money and power and need to pay higher taxes so we can fund a fairer system in the US.
• Bernie Sanders believes this too.
• Look for Bernie to go on Carlson’s show to discuss all this.
• If the Democrats were smart – and that’s asking a lot – they would recognize that there are a lot of Carlson/MAGA believers feeling betrayed by Trump and who are ripe for the taking in the upcoming mid-term election. Young people also.
• The one Democrat who has cracked this code in addition to Bernie is Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner. Watch for him.
• Bernie Sanders will read this piece and say to himself – “Of course. That’s why I win rural conservative voters in Vermont for the last 30 years.’’ No surprise to him.

So Graham Platner, Bernie Sanders and Tucker Carlson. It is a new party. They may not like each other much. But they are starting to say the same things.