There’s a reason why media hall monitors like CNN’s Brian Stelter, The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona, the Media Matters gang, and infamously dishonest former Vox “journalist” Aaron Rupar so intently document the commentary of Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

They’re quick to claim it’s for purposes of calling out supposed “misinformation” and “right-wing nuttery,” but the reality of it is that Carlson is the most monitored cable news show host out there because he’s so maddeningly popular, and his critics – most of who are on the far left, are anxious to witness that one moment they think will spell doom for the highly influential commentator and his program.

Their goal, of course, is to get him off the air.

But in their quest to paint Carlson as a dangerous nutcase who is catering to an audience who his detractors have called equally dangerous and far-right in their thinking, one thing the Stelters and Rupars of America haven’t considered is that maybe a substantial chunk of Carlson’s viewers aren’t just people who are rock-ribbed conservatives, that maybe, just maybe, some of the people who tune in might not necessarily agree with him most of the time but are nevertheless interested in an alternative point of view.

Though his bashers would tell you there’s no way that was possible, a new report filed Tuesday by “The Wrap” details just how deep Carlson’s ownership of rival networks is – so much so that he’s even winning the Democrat demographic over CNN and MSNBC, per new data from Nielsen MRI Fusion on October 2021 ratings:

More surprising are the stats about Carlson and Fox News’ pull with self-proclaimed Democrats. Of those demo-aged viewers surveyed who identified as Democrats, 39% chose Fox News, 31% chose MSNBC and 30% chose CNN for programming from 8 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET. In total-day viewership, Fox News grabbed 42% of Democrats aged 25-54, CNN nabbed 33% and MSNBC got 25%.

[…]

Carlson was top among Democrats in the demo across all of cable news that month and ranked third place among Dems in total viewership, too. Of the top four programs among Democrats in total viewers, Fox News had three: “The Five,” “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “Hannity.” The top spot in total viewers went to MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show.”

That data also shows that Fox News and Carlson are handily winning over independent viewers as well.

That wailing noise you hear is the sound of liberal tears flowing from all of Carlson’s haters upon finding out that those who watch his program each night on Fox can’t always be stuffed into a convenient ideological box for demonizing and denigration from The Usual Suspects.

I suspect that at least part of what drives more than just conservatives to tune in to his show is that a lot of what he speaks is just common sense. Not only that, but he’s not afraid to call out both sides of the aisle – liberals for going even further to the left and conservatives who don’t stand firm on their promises, or who otherwise are just not getting the job done.

Plus, Carlson himself can’t really be tucked into an ideological box because his viewpoints sometimes differ to a significant degree from the rhetoric we hear from others on the right on hot button issues, like on the Ukraine issue, for example.

He’s not banging the drums of foreign intervention and/or war and has been suggesting for weeks now that the United States shouldn’t get involved in the Ukraine/Russia conflict. That’s one big position he takes that appears to be at odds with D.C. Republican thinking on the matter. For this position, he’s been branded as “having a soft spot for Putin” by CNN and other “news” organizations for who nuance, much like facts, apparently is a foreign concept.

In short, Carlson is willing to think outside of the box, to go against the grain, and to ask the type of probing questions that sometimes make all sides uncomfortable. As far as I’m concerned, we need much more of that on radio and TV and not just on networks conservatives generally gravitate to, because if there’s anything that has been reaffirmed over the last two years of the coronavirus pandemic, it’s that it’s imperative we question conventional wisdom and government dictates. Every time.

Flashback: A Great Wailing Commences After Tucker Carlson States Some Uncomfortable Truths About Kamala Harris