Tucker Calls Musk a ‘Hero’ For NPR’s State-Affiliated Label He Admitted Might Not Be ‘Accurate’

Cable News’s top-rated host, Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, tore into National Public Radio on Thursday night – two days after Elon Musk’s Twitter labeled the outlet “state-affiliated media.” Musk has since conceded that the label “might not be accurate.” Carlson took the other route and declared it “true” and called Musk a “hero” while declaring NPR to be more anti-American than the Tehran Times.

“On Tuesday, two days ago, Twitter slapped a warning label on all tweets from National Public Radio. Going forward, NPR will be identified for users of Elon Musk’s social media site as, quote, ‘state-affiliated media,’” Carlson began in his opening monologue.

“That is the same category as Russia Today or China Central Television. It means that NPR is not that different from the Tehran Times, with the exception, of course, being less accurate and more anti-American,” Carlson added in his typical, bombastic style, adding:

So that happened on Tuesday. Why are we telling you about it? With all the momentous changes underway around the world, why would we open a show with a story about Twitter recategorizing NPR as state media? Well, because it’s true. That’s the reason.

Finally, thankfully, somebody in authority has told the truth about something, and that is thrilling to see on its own terms in a world defined by lies from our leaders. This seemed like a rare sign of hope and progress. Telling the truth is the most revolutionary act of all. Far more than taking up arms.

Notably, NPR receives less than 1 percent of its funding from the federal government and has total editorial independence from the government.

Additionally, Musk spoke with NPR business reporter Bobby Allyn in a Thursday email exchange. Allyn relayed to Musk that NPR was public media, not state-affiliated as Twitter has labeled it. The Twitter owner replied, “Well, then we should fix it.”

Musk then asked Allyn for a “breakdown of NPR annual funding” and after Allyn gave him the data, Musk explained, “The operating principle at new Twitter is simply fair and equal treatment, so if we label non-US accounts as govt, then we should do the same for US, but it sounds like that might not be accurate here.”

“And yet you rarely see it. Human beings created language to describe the world around them more precisely than they could with, say, grunting or sign language. But unfortunately, we have been subverting our own creation ever since,” Carlson continued, adding:

But not tonight, by calling National Public Radio what it is. Elon Musk has used English as it was intended to be used in order to tell the truth. Of course, NPR is state media. Have you listened to it? It has all the hallmarks repetitive dishonesty, authoritarian politics, unwavering devotion to the party in charge. Of course, that could describe virtually all media in this country.

The difference is the state actually pays for NPR. NPR was created more than 50 years ago by a law signed by Democrat Lyndon Johnson. It was called the Public Broadcasting Act. And from its very first day, NPR was wholly dependent on tax dollars in order to exist. And it still is. Federal funding is essential to NPR, explains NPR’s own website. So there was no factual debate about that fact, but there is a great deal of lying about it. Every year, NPR lobbyists head to Capitol Hill to demand more tax dollars. Democracy can exist without us they screech while simultaneously at the very same time telling you at high volume that NPR takes virtually no tax money.

So we don’t need federal subsidies. Don’t even want them, really. But you have to increase them. That is NPR’s wine and has been for decades under the political leadership of both parties. And it’s essentially unchallenged by anyone. It just stays. Wars and recessions come and go, but NPR funding remains.

After a lengthy diatribe slamming NPR’s content, which Carlson did again later in the show, the opinion host concluded, “Elon Musk is a hero for this alone.”

Watch the full clip above via Fox News.