It seems very like Tucker Carlson to launch a broadside against his publisher on one of the very first pages of his new book.
Opening The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism, I was greeted by the Acknowledgement. It reads: “I’d like to acknowledge Jonathan Karp of Simon & Schuster, whose descent from open-minded book editor to cartoonish corporate censor mirrors the decline of America itself. It’s been a sad education watching it happen.”
I flipped back a few pages to double-check. The Long Slide was, in fact, published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Tucker Carlson has enshrined his contempt for his publisher not at the end of the book, where acknowledgements are generally found, but just before the Introduction. You know, so nobody misses it.
As the title indicates, The Long Slide is a self-selected collection of Tucker’s best magazine essays from 30 years in journalism. But first, he spends a 25-page introduction trashing Simon & Schuster. Tucker was under contract for the book when Simon & Schuster announced, a day after the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill, that they would be dropping Senator Josh Hawley’s forthcoming book The Tyranny of Big Tech over his decision to vote against certifying the Pennsylvania election results.
Tucker called Karp demanding an explanation, and he carefully reproduces their e-mail and Zoom conversations, in which the publisher and other staffers attempt to offer an explanation other than politics and public relations. Tucker wasn’t buying it, and if you buy his essay collection from Simon & Schuster, you will first be treated to a couple dozen pages detailing why Simon & Schuster is helping to destroy America.
