The internet, especially the social media part of it, has turned politics into a soap opera. The latest episode centers around Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes.

Carlson did another bad thing by talking to another bad person he wasn’t supposed to. The narrative gatekeepers always lose their minds when respectable people talk to the banished. They did this when Tucker talked to Putin, and they lost their minds when he talked to the president of Iran.

Nevertheless, Tucker’s popularity continues undisturbed, his network continues along on its upward trajectory, and the haters continue providing reasons for people not to like them.

It’s been weeks since the interview and the neocons in the political and punditry clubs are still losing their minds. But few seem to be asking a critical question at the center of all this drama: Why is Fuentes popular?

If you manage to wade through the theatrics, the racist remarks, and other nonsense, you’ll realize that Fuentes rails against problems that we, as a society, should make right. People like that are never totally off. They’re never wrong about everything. They’re using legitimate grievances to build trust.

In this video, I talk about the issues that, should we address them, would make people like Fuentes far less popular.

Paul Dragu is an award-winning newspaper journalist, a senior writer at The New American magazine, and the collaborative writer of Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty, and Purpose. You can email Paul at [email protected]

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