
Provocative comments on cable news are not a rarity, but comments that provoke a multifaceted and often thoughtful debate are. Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host, launched such a debate on January 2 with a broadside about Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, free markets, and American elites.
Romney, then a senator-elect, had taken to the Washington Post to reiterate his views about Trump: He supports many of Trump’s policies, opposes a few of them, and objects to much of the president’s behavior. Many supporters of the president were indignant at Romney for expanding on that last point. Carlson made a different critique: …