Joe Walsh: Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity’s ‘Sea of Disinformation and Conspiracy’ is a ‘Real Problem for This Country’

Joe Walsh is the former Tea Party Republican who served in Congress and conservative talk radio host who is now a vocal critic of the very right-wing media ecosystem and outrage culture that is the foundation of his career. During a Thursday morning appearance on CNN’s New Day, Walsh blasted the business of conservative talk radio and specifically called out Fox News prime time hosts Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity for riling up conservatives with anger.

At the end of a segment that started by blasting Carlson, co-host John Berman turned to a recent Walsh tweet in which he praised comments made by former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama following the guilty verdict for Derek Chauvin. Walsh revealed that when he was in Congress and Obama was president, he would have “reflexively” rallied against him for saying that “Black Americans are treated differently” before adding that he now understands it.  “Barack Obama has always gotten it,”  he said. “He hasn’t changed. I have.”

Walsh explained his evolution explaining how he “spent the last four years opening my eyes and listening, primarily talking to Black Americans, Black men, and women, understanding — getting to understand their experience.”

“If you would have told me eight years ago when I was in congress that Black Lives Matter, I probably would have reflexively fired back at you, ‘no, John, all lives matter,'” he continued, adding “But I’ve learned. I’ve opened my eyes. I was mistaken. I listened to Black Americans, and I understand why it’s important to say Black Lives Matter.”

Walsh then pivoted to why more conservatives refuse to say Black Lives Matter. “They’re in this sea of disinformation and conspiracy that doesn’t allow them to” say the term. He went on to explain how “people like Hannity and Tucker Carlson [are] riling them up every day,” noting that his past experience in conservative talk radio gave him some authority on the subject.

“It’s all about pissing off your audience, and that’s what Tucker and Hannity and all the rest of them do,” Walsh concluded. “It’s a real problem for the country.”

On the evening that Derek Chauvin was found guilty, Tucker Carlson suggested, without evidence, the verdict came as a result of the jury’s fear that there would be repercussions. Hannity has long been a wildly influential force in the conservative world, particularly during the Trump administration, but has avoided many of the race-related controversies that seem to follow his prime time colleagues on Fox News.

Watch above via CNN.