• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Beware of advice from anyone for whom Democrats are “they” and not “we.”

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

This fight is for everything.

Second rate reporter says what?

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

If you cannot answer whether trump lost the 2020 election, you are unfit for office.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

In after Baud. Damn.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Come on, man.

After dobbs, women are no longer free.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Republicans: “Abortion is murder but you can take a bus to get one.” Easy peasy.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / Late Night Open Thread: Tucker Carlson, Caring Daddy

Late Night Open Thread: Tucker Carlson, Caring Daddy

by Anne Laurie|  October 25, 20221:20 am| 58 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republicans in Disarray!, Our Failed Media Experiment, Schadenfreude

FacebookTweetEmail

SCOOP: Tucker Carlson lashes out at GOP campaign chief in irate private call https://t.co/1XOq5DBOzb

— Axios (@axios) October 24, 2022

TL;DR: Tucker’s grown adult son is a triggered zoomer who needs a safe space in the work place so his dad Karen’d and called his boss to tell him he better be nice to his boy. Mortifying. https://t.co/a46F96LikM

— Tim Miller (@Timodc) October 24, 2022

Young Buckley’s official photo is more perfect than you could possibly imagine:

24, freshly graduated from an expensive college his dad got him into, promoted to head of comms for a congressional office after months on the job, now making almost as much as the MoC he works for…

angrily reacting to charges of nepotism!

You really couldn't write this shit. https://t.co/MJ7jmfX6Iv

— David Roberts (@drvolts) October 24, 2022

Imagine being in a party where you live in fear of upsetting Tucker Carlson. https://t.co/IcreAU7B2x

— Schooley (@Rschooley) October 24, 2022

Now dad is calling the MoC to bully him. But not, like, in a nepotistic way I guess?

How can you possibly parody this? https://t.co/DVh6NcmnoI

— David Roberts (@drvolts) October 24, 2022

I'm once again reminded of @chrislhayes' reference to the GOP as the "party of the boss's kid." Really can't say it better.

— David Roberts (@drvolts) October 24, 2022

nothing says populism like the 3rd generation of privileged richies with nepotism hires https://t.co/3XreNOrKQ3

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 24, 2022

Adding one semi-serious note: I do have some small shred of sympathy for kids like Buckley. Becoming a useful person — I use that term in the broadest possible sense –requires work. Learning a musical instrument, becoming adept at a skill, mastering a subject matter …

— David Roberts (@drvolts) October 24, 2022

… whatever it is that will allow you to make a real contribution, is *difficult*. It takes hours & hours of thankless & often frustrating work. Failure is a real possibility.

But for kids like Buckley, there’s another route available. Any time he wants …

… he can just start saying the nastiest, meanest, most snide & condescending & contemptuous things that he can think of … and voila! Overnight he could be a celebrity on the right. He’d get attention, flattery, meetings with important people, etc. And it’s so *easy*.

You don’t have to work or study or know anything to become another talking head on the right. There’s no grinding, no frustration, no failure, no years of apprenticeship to slog through. It’s just sitting there, yours for the taking, whenever you want it.

If you’re a kid like Buckley, which way do you go, nose to the grindstone, or hop on the wingnut welfare gravy train? It would take enormous self-possession & character to choose the former, & these kids are raised in a bubble of privilege that does not encourage those qualities.

This is the life of the GOP “boss’s kid”: everything around you is designed to make you a shallow, useless person who measures your self-worth by the amount of attention you get. Don Jr., Eric, Meghan, Sarah, Buckley … they never really had a chance.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Open Thread: Nonna Pelosi Is Losing Her Patience
Next Post: On The Road – Litlebritdifrnt – Scotland On The Road - Litlebritdifrnt - Scotland»

Reader Interactions

58Comments

  1. 1.

    West of the Rockies

    October 25, 2022 at 1:32 am

    I can’t imagine anyone looking at Bucky and thinking, “Oh, baby…”

  2. 2.

    El Cruzado

    October 25, 2022 at 1:33 am

    I remember once talking with a girl who had been working at a summer camp for the kids of the very, very rich and famous, and how she pitied them because they had grown up such that they didn’t even know how to want things, let alone enjoy them.

  3. 3.

    Alison Rose

    October 25, 2022 at 1:34 am

    I can’t believe someone banged Tucker Carlson.

  4. 4.

    NotMax

    October 25, 2022 at 1:46 am

    @Alison Rose

    Beer Appletini goggles.

    //

  5. 5.

    Danielx

    October 25, 2022 at 1:46 am

    Portrait of the Doucherocket as a Young Man

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    October 25, 2022 at 1:54 am

    Somewhat surprised Murdoch didn’t jump at the chance to schedule The Tucky & Bucky Hour.

  7. 7.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    October 25, 2022 at 1:56 am

    @Alison Rose:

    Really. He’s the heir to some frozen food empire (how appropriate), isn’t he?

  8. 8.

    Amir Khalid

    October 25, 2022 at 1:57 am

    Buckley Carlson sounds like the name of a fictional character, maybe a rich boy out of some obscure F. Scott Fitzgerald short story. And come to think of it, that’s what Buckley Carlson himself looks like too.

  9. 9.

    Elizabelle

    October 25, 2022 at 2:15 am

    Rooting for injuries.  Always.

  10. 10.

    tokyokie

    October 25, 2022 at 2:23 am

    Don’t any of these rich, conservative spawn snots have even the barest modicum of self-reliance to resent even a little being named after a right-wing hack? (I’m looking at you, too, Sen. Paul.) Had my parents stuck me with a moniker like, say, “McCarthy,” I would have resented it, my parents, and every value associated with the name. But hey, why rock the boat when not doing so allows you to enjoy the benefits of being a C-list political celebrity and never working a day in your life. Never a mensch, always a Backpfeifengesicht.

  11. 11.

    lgerard

    October 25, 2022 at 2:35 am

    I think young Buckley was named after his uncle.

    I also think it is a bit unfair to be unloading on the guy just because his father is a hypocritical fascist pig.

    It is possible that the young man took advantage of his opportunity, worked hard, and is modestly successful at his job.  He may view having Tucker as a father is as much a curse as a blessing.

  12. 12.

    Dangerman

    October 25, 2022 at 2:36 am

    @Alison Rose: I’m guessing artificial insemination. So I can sleep tonight.

  13. 13.

    James E Powell

    October 25, 2022 at 2:54 am

    I’m not a scientist, but I think there might be a gene for punchable faces.

  14. 14.

    MikefromArlington

    October 25, 2022 at 2:57 am

    Speaking of nepotism….

    kinda wish Biden would play on the senile characature Fox has created for him and call on Douchey for a question every now and then to get the Fox crews panties in a knot.

  15. 15.

    tokyokie

    October 25, 2022 at 3:01 am

    @lgerard: It would be a bit unfair to unload on Little Lord Buckley if he had shown the slightest interest in achieving something on his own rather than taking a 6-figure salary as a right-wing political hack who appears to be wholly unqualified for the position and incapable of competently executing his assigned duties. I’m an old fart who spent most of his working life on newspaper copy desks, and in my best years, barely made half of what Little Lord Buckley is pulling down. When the newspaper industry went kaput, I went back to school, and although it has been a struggle, it appears as though next spring I’ll earn my BSN, and I’ll be able to work my ass off at a hospital, taking care of sick people and helping to clean up their blood, poop, and vomit, and were I to work one extra shift a week, my annual pay would almost approach what his eminence Little Lord Buckley pulls down to do his job poorly. If I do my job poorly, the patient dies. If Little Lord Buckley does his job poorly, his fascist-loving cockwaddle daddy uses his position as a highly paid right-wing hatemonger to berate those who fail to understand just how important he and his progeny are.

    So no, I don’t think I’m being at all unfair.

  16. 16.

    opiejeanne

    October 25, 2022 at 3:09 am

    Buckley is 25. And his daddy calls his boss and threatens him for someone on his staff not treating the “kid” with the respect Tucker expects?

    I wonder if Buckley was embarrassed, shamed, by his dad’s tantrum

  17. 17.

    Tony Jay

    October 25, 2022 at 3:25 am

    @lgerard:

    I also think it is a bit unfair to be unloading on the guy just because his father is a hypocritical fascist pig.

    This is true. In conception all creatures are neither fair nor foul, through their own labours alone do they choose to walk in light or else squirm in shadow’s pit.

    Safe to say, though, that young Buckers has made his choice. He has the air of someone who’d upskirt a nun and expect to get away with it, because all women are sluts and Daddy plays golf with the Cardinal.

  18. 18.

    Ruckus

    October 25, 2022 at 3:28 am

    For some reason I think we’ve had this post or one like it about little Buckley.

    This story looks very, very familiar.

    So either I’m having deja view or I’m going insane.

    It’s a toss up so not my call…..

  19. 19.

    lgerard

    October 25, 2022 at 3:44 am

    @tokyokie:

    Yes you are.

    He started at the bottom at a salary of 40k, and has earned several promotions and raises over the course of 3 years.

    There is no evidence that he is incompetent and no suggestion that he is incapable.  It is quite possible that he earned those promotions due to his own industry and dedication.  Congress is filled with staffers in their twenties, many of whom are highly intelligent and hard working.

    I just don’t think the sins of the father should be visited on the son, at least not without some justification.

  20. 20.

    cain

    October 25, 2022 at 4:23 am

    @Amir Khalid: I thought he was just named after that idiot William Buckley.

    ETA ooohhh yeah, #20 motherfuckers! Gonna get me some whiskey!

  21. 21.

    MattF

    October 25, 2022 at 5:01 am

    Tucker Carlson’s family owns Swanson Food Products. Which obviously, yadda yadda.

  22. 22.

    Chetan Murthy

    October 25, 2022 at 5:08 am

    @lgerard: Heh, he’s the most superlatively  effective staffer in Congressional history then: his salary has skyrocketed.  It’s rare AF for somebody to get that kind of pay as a staffer 3yr in, from what I’ve read.

    But hey, maybe he’s the second coming.

  23. 23.

    Tony Jay

    October 25, 2022 at 5:22 am

    @Chetan Murthy:

     But hey, maybe he’s the second coming.

    He’s got an elder sibling?

  24. 24.

    mrmoshpotato

    October 25, 2022 at 5:22 am

    @Danielx: Douchecanoe and Buckley Too

  25. 25.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    October 25, 2022 at 5:40 am

    Gop in Disarray

    ps that inbred kid sure looks manly. nothing says rugged individualism like nepotism and hiding behind daddy’s bowtie.

  26. 26.

    p.a.

    October 25, 2022 at 6:24 am

    Pierce is right abt GOP prion disease; what kind of idjit looks at these “pencil-necked geeks” (h/t Classy Freddy Blassie) yammering abt masculinity and bootstrap individualism without doing spit takes?

  27. 27.

    Kropacetic

    October 25, 2022 at 6:40 am

    @West of the Rockies: I can’t imagine anyone looking at Buckly and thinking, “Oh, baby…”

    24 going on 12, that one.

  28. 28.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    October 25, 2022 at 7:33 am

    I always had a lot of respect for the one Romney son who became a doctor and resisted being part of the family “business” when Romney was running.

  29. 29.

    Mimi haha

    October 25, 2022 at 7:33 am

    @Amir Khalid: I assume he’s named for LuAnn Platter’s boyfriend.

  30. 30.

    Shalimar

    October 25, 2022 at 7:38 am

    @tokyokie: Little Lord Buckley is comms guy for a congresscritter in a safe Republican seat, so Buck’s job in the current environment is to be a professional troll and provocateur.  I would say being raised by Tucker gives him excellent insight and practice at doing that job with outstanding aplomb.  It takes advantage of what most likely are his only skills.

  31. 31.

    lowtechcyclist

    October 25, 2022 at 7:41 am

    What was the original ‘swipe’ that someone took at young Buckley that started this sequence?

  32. 32.

    Betty

    October 25, 2022 at 7:46 am

    @lgerard: Based on whay I have read, he has not been an effective Director of Communications except for getting his boss five appearances on Tucker’s show. Perhaps that makes him worth the salary

  33. 33.

    Shalimar

    October 25, 2022 at 7:51 am

    I’m guessing Emmer wishes he was the ass-kisser who had hired Carlson’s son rather than the idiot pretending Republicans don’t believe in nepotism.

  34. 34.

    Shalimar

    October 25, 2022 at 7:53 am

    @lowtechcyclist: Anonymous GOP source referring to Jim Banks, “Deep down, he dies to be liked by the Establishment. He hires Tucker Carlson’s son, a 24-year-old kid, to be his communications director.”

    That was it.  That was all it took to cause all this bullshit.

  35. 35.

    lowtechcyclist

    October 25, 2022 at 7:57 am

    @tokyokie:

    It would be a bit unfair to unload on Little Lord Buckley if he had shown the slightest interest in achieving something on his own rather than taking a 6-figure salary as a right-wing political hack who appears to be wholly unqualified for the position and incapable of competently executing his assigned duties.

    This.  I remember being 24 and trying to figure out what to do with my life.  It wasn’t easy, but with a good bit of trial and error, eventually I found a career I was ready to stick with for the long run.

    This kid got a job and then a considerable promotion almost entirely because his daddy is a big shot.  And on top of that, apparently neither he nor his daddy wants anyone to say anything mean to or about him.  Well, fuck that shit. If you take a political job, you don’t get a ‘safe space.’

  36. 36.

    AnonPhenom

    October 25, 2022 at 8:03 am

    @lgerard:

     

     

    There is no evidence that he is incompetent

    So?
    Haberman is a competent nepotism hire also, (just not in accordance with the actual job description of *reporter*.)
    Not sure being a competent hack is an admirable trait in and of itself.

  37. 37.

    lowtechcyclist

    October 25, 2022 at 8:08 am

    @Shalimar: Wow. So Buckley wasn’t even the target of that swipe, but just the hint that he might not have gotten his job due to his stellar qualifications was enough to get Daddy throwing a shit-fit.

    The kid has the most vacuous expression in that photo, as if there aren’t two brain cells to rub together behind that bland facade.

  38. 38.

    J R in WV

    October 25, 2022 at 8:08 am

    Poor Buckley,  doomed to go through life with that name and that face. I feel so bad for the guy…

    Nah, I’m pulling the other one! The  guy looks like the  most intolerable Little Lord Fontelroy, self satisfied, overwhelmed little twit to ever walk the face of the world!

  39. 39.

    lowtechcyclist

    October 25, 2022 at 8:11 am

    @AnonPhenom:  And there’s also a crowd of people in the news business saying we shouldn’t pick on Haberman either.

    Fuck all these characters who insist that privilege must be respected.

  40. 40.

    Soprano2

    October 25, 2022 at 8:15 am

    This reminds me of a guy I worked with a long time ago. He whined about how everyone thought his daddy got him his job, because daddy was a higher-up in public works. My comment was that if it really bothered him he could always go work somewhere else, where no one cared about who his daddy was. Now he’s a chief inspector with the city, so I guess he got over it. *rolleyes

  41. 41.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    October 25, 2022 at 8:16 am

    David via Anne Laurie @ Top:

    24, freshly graduated from an expensive college his dad got him into …

    I thought it was Hunter Biden’s recommendation letter that got Buckley Carlson into the school of his dad’s choice.​

  42. 42.

    Soprano2

    October 25, 2022 at 8:17 am

    @lowtechcyclist: I think it was something about how he only got that job because the Congressman wanted to suck up to Tucker.

  43. 43.

    Soprano2

    October 25, 2022 at 8:20 am

    @J R in WV: He’s probably been told his whole life that he’s part of the superior class, and is deserving of everything he’s been given. It’s so funny considering the things that come out of conservatives’ mouths about people who aren’t in their “class”.

  44. 44.

    rikyrah

    October 25, 2022 at 8:22 am

    This entire post😒😒

  45. 45.

    NotMax

    October 25, 2022 at 8:24 am

    @Shalimar

    Hey now, not hip to talk stink about Lord Buckley.

    ;)

  46. 46.

    Kay

    October 25, 2022 at 8:28 am

    I watched about half of the Lincoln Project documentary- I don’t know if I’ll watch more, it’s tedious- and honestly they’re all pretty whiny and pampered on the Right. It isn’t just the far Right.

    Even the apostates in the GOP are very unhappy people. Nothing turned out like they thought it would in the GOP, “but Democrats are bad tooooo!”- on and on like that.

    They’re working from this gorgeous (and luxe) location, they have money to burn on the campaign, and there’s not a bit of joy or pleasure in the work among them.

  47. 47.

    dww44

    October 25, 2022 at 8:45 am

    @lgerard: Kindness and empathy should always carry the day. Thank you.

  48. 48.

    Lacuna Synecdoche

    October 25, 2022 at 8:49 am

    @lgerard:

    I think young Buckley was named after his uncle.I also think it is a bit unfair to be unloading on the guy just because his father is a hypocritical fascist pig.

    Seconded. I completely agree, and I think piling on the kid (or young man if you prefer) as a proxy for his father is a little misdirected.

    It is possible that the young man took advantage of his opportunity, worked hard, and is modestly successful at his job.  He may view having Tucker as a father is as much a curse as a blessing.

    There we might disagree. I guess it’s possible, but I think if young Buckley wanted to get away from his father’s reputation and influence, he probably wouldn’t have gone into the field of Republican communications.

    The only reasons for him to select that particular career are because he wants to be just like his dad, or because he wants to take advantage of his father’s influence and connections. Maybe both.

    I suppose one could argue that B.C. chose that field because his upbringing made him familiar with it, and with the players involved, but I fail to see how that’s meaningfully different from arguing that he chose it because his father’s influence and connections made it an easy choice.​​​​

  49. 49.

    Chris Johnson

    October 25, 2022 at 9:00 am

    @Dangerman: Can you even imagine how scrunched his brow would be at that moment…

  50. 50.

    Uncle Cosmo

    October 25, 2022 at 9:06 am

    @Amir Khalid: Nothing screams Backpfeifengesicht like Bucky’s smugshot…

  51. 51.

    Paul in KY

    October 25, 2022 at 10:05 am

    @lowtechcyclist: When I was 24, I was running a Comm Center. Well…actually my sergeant was running it. I was the guy for when they needed to do a LOR on someone.  But I was there!

  52. 52.

    Paul in KY

    October 25, 2022 at 10:07 am

    @Lacuna Synecdoche: I’m going to assume he’s a douchewad like his dad. That’s my default opinion. Can be changed, if he does something to make me reconsider.

  53. 53.

    VOR

    October 25, 2022 at 10:26 am

    The only Buckley I’m interested in is the talented actress and singer Jessie Buckley.

  54. 54.

    Zelma

    October 25, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    Buckley must be pretty popular with other Congressional staffers.  Not.  $130,000 is just about the top of the salary scale for staffers,  My kid has been at it for 15 years and is LD for a Senator and he makes about that salary.

  55. 55.

    andy

    October 25, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    Nepo-baby gonna baby talk. It’s demeaning enough to kiss the boss’s ass- but the boss’s son? These conservative loyalty oaths are pretty rugged!

  56. 56.

    tokyokie

    October 25, 2022 at 1:09 pm

    My evaluation of  precious Little Lord Buckley’s job performance is based entirely on the premise that if a politician’s coms director is drawing more media attention than the politician, then the coms director is really fucking up.

  57. 57.

    Hilfy

    October 25, 2022 at 4:02 pm

    @lgerard: You are a kind person.  That is a fair comment.

  58. 58.

    Paul Begala's Pink Tie

    October 26, 2022 at 2:43 pm

    Heavy “Cameron from Dead Poets Society” vibes. Some DC sex worker out there is getting paid.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Winter Wren - North of Quebec City (part 2 of 3) - Cap Tourmente and on the way to Tadoussac 4
Image by Winter Wren (5/16/25)

Recent Comments

  • Raven on Lunch Among the Ruins (Open Thread) (May 16, 2025 @ 12:43pm)
  • Melancholy Jaques on Lunch Among the Ruins (Open Thread) (May 16, 2025 @ 12:43pm)
  • schrodingers_cat on Lunch Among the Ruins (Open Thread) (May 16, 2025 @ 12:42pm)
  • NeenerNeener on Lunch Among the Ruins (Open Thread) (May 16, 2025 @ 12:41pm)
  • Juju on Lunch Among the Ruins (Open Thread) (May 16, 2025 @ 12:41pm)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Meetups

Upcoming Ohio Meetup May 17
5/11 Post about the May 17 Ohio Meetup

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Hands Off! – Denver, San Diego & Austin

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

PA Supreme Court At Risk

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!