How the Right Constructs a Narrative

Tucker Carlson speaks during Politicon 2018 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

© Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon.

The controversy involving Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is an underrated, yet detrimental cause. Having a defamation lawsuit and being thrown out of court because the defendant's own lawyers said that no reasonable person should trust him isn't something we see very frequently. One would think that this would be the nail in the coffin for Carlson’s show. In reality, the opposite is true. Carlson actually led Fox News to a Prime Time win, having roughly 4.2 million viewers glued to the screen on a single night. Why is this? It’s simply because the narratives crafted by these pundits are intoxicating. It’s not just Carlson either, look to any number of right wing commentators with huge numbers, Ben Shapiro, Rush Limbaugh, etc. All of these people are experts at telling a story that people want to hear.

Popular political pundits within the U.S. Jack Keane, Van Hipp, David Petraeus, John Negroponte, and Jeh Johnson from left to right. © Getty Images, AP.

What Motivates Pundits

Before one can analyze why these people can create a good story, one has to look at the goals of right wing commentators. Regardless of whether or not they’re more personality driven, (Ben Shapiro or Rush Limbaugh), or news focused (Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity), all of these people want to convert more people to the right and further cement already right leaning people. This is important to note that they use fear to influence the masses, as it provides context to why they make the appeals to the strongest motivator of people. Fear that ANTIFA (lit. Anti-fascist), will burn down your house or business. Fear that your taxes are going to get so high, you’ll be homeless in a month. Fear that a presidential candidate will single handedly turn the United States into Soviet Russia with their communist politics. That fear of your lifestyle being in danger turns quickly into hate.

Daryl Davis and a Ku Klux Klan member in the documentary “Accidental Courtesy.”

© First Run Features.

The Value in Weakness

Fear is the strongest mover of people. Fear is what keeps us alive. It’s what keeps us from using the restroom at night without checking behind the shower curtain. The reason we are afraid of that is the same reason that bigots are bigots. Ignorance. We are ignorant of the imaginary creatures behind our shower curtains in the same way that bigots are ignorant of other people.

People don’t hate others or have certain political ideologies when they’re born, of course. They get instilled and cemented in your later in life. Daryl Davis, R&B/Blues musician and activist who has been responsible for converting several members out of the terrorist group KKK, puts it best when he says, “People must stop focusing on the symptoms of hate, that’s like putting a Band-Aid on cancer. We’ve got to treat it down to the bone, which is ignorance. The cure for ignorance is education. You fix the ignorance, there’s nothing to fear. If there’s nothing to fear, there’s nothing to hate. If there’s nothing to hate, there’s nothing or no one to destroy.”

Protesters heckle a man arriving at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, where President Donald Trump was expected to attend the 75th Anniversary Battle of the Coral Sea Commemorative Dinner. © The Morning Call.

Mockery and hate

As much as some of us may hate to admit it, it’s fun to hate. It’s really fun to get into a group and point and laugh at something, it makes us feel a lot better about ourselves. Take feminism, for instance. It’s a movement dedicated to fighting for the equality of the sexes. Instead of doing something hard like evaluating the world you live in and the privileges you hold, it’s much easier (and more fun) to say that feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of pop culture. If that sounds ridiculous to you, it is, but it’s also a direct Rush Limbaugh quote.

So the narrative is clear, feminism is a movement to make ugly women feel better. By attacking the movement at its core, you can make anything it says untrue. This is one of the most effective ways at crushing grassroots, populist uprisings. If you don’t believe me, look up ‘feminism’ in your search bar on youtube. One of the first autocomplete results will be ‘feminism vs. logic.’ Search that up, and countless hours of college aged, blue haired feminists getting owned by facts and logic will show up. The goal of these pundits is to get you to laugh at the enemy. They want you to hate them, and in turn, want them destroyed.

The enemy is weak, and strong

Another rhetorical trick that right wing commentators use is claiming that their enemy is both weak, and strong. For instance, “liberals are whiny snowflakes who can’t take a joke, and who melt down at the slightest inconvenience.” However, in just another breath, many commentators will also argue that, “liberals are going to bring down western society.” These are two conflicting ideas that can’t seemingly coexist at the same time, and yet to some, they do.

If the phrase “the enemy is strong, and weak” seems familiar to you, that’s because it’s the 8th characteristic of a fascist regime, according to late novelist Umberto Eco. Fascist rhetoric is empirically very effective at persuading people, (look at Germany or Italy in the 40’s). When you tell people that the enemy is strong, and pose a significant threat to your way of life, they get scared. But when you also tell them that the enemy is weak and can be walked on like a welcome mat, they can point and laugh at how pathetic the enemy is. This is how you combine fear and hate to create an incredibly persuasive story.

© GIPHY

How to Help

The first step on how to help with this is to be aware of the media you’re taking in. Understand what rhetoric you’re listening to. Is it self-defeating? Is it designed to make you feel a certain way? Understanding the intent of who you’re getting your news from will help you understand your own biases as well. The second thing you can do is have conversations with people who you disagree with. Granted, if said person’s problem is that they don’t think your identity is valid, for instance, you should be under no pressure to talk to them. Feel free to just block them. In the event where that isn’t the case, however, having a good faith discussion with someone can not only help change their mind, but it will help break the stereotype created by right wing media that progressives don’t want to engage with more conservative ideas.

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Works Cited:

Folkenflik, David. “You Literally Can't Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox's Lawyers.” NPR, NPR, 29 Sept. 2020, 4:34 PM ET , www.npr.org/2020/09/29/917747123/you-literally-cant-believe-the-facts-tucker-carlson-tells-you-so-say-fox-s-lawye.

Katz, A.J. Friday, “Sept. 25 Scoreboard: Tucker Carlson Led Fox News to Prime Time Win, Averaging 4.2 Million Viewers at 8 P.m. 28 Sept. 2020”, www.adweek.com/tvnewser/friday-sept-25-scoreboard-tucker-carlson-led-fox-news-to-prime-time-win-averaging-4-2-million-viewers-at-8-p-m/457159/.

Wilson, Robert. “The Most Powerful Motivator.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 23 Sept. 2009, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-main-ingredient/200909/the-most-powerful-motivator.

Duwe, Morena. “Daryl Davis: the Black Musician Who Converts Ku Klux Klan Members.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 18 Mar. 2020, 11:16 EST, www.theguardian.com/music/2020/mar/18/daryl-davis-black-musician-who-converts-ku-klux-klan-members.

Staff, Media Matters. “Limbaugh: ‘Feminism Was Established So As To Allow Unattractive Women Easier Access To The Mainstream Of Pop Culture.’” Media Matters for America, MMFA, 11 Sept. 15AD, 3:18 EST, www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/limbaugh-feminism-was-established-so-allow-unattractive-women-easier-access.

Aleph, Faena. “Umberto Eco: A Practical List for Identifying Fascists.” Faena, 6 Feb. 2017, www.faena.com/aleph/articles/umberto-eco-a-practical-list-for-identifying-fascists/.