Hated by All the Right People
Tucker Carlson and the Unraveling of the Conservative Mind
“Jason Zengerle’s superpower is figuring out who wields power and why—and then telling those stories with unforgettable prose that you can’t put down. Hated By All the Right People is arguably his best yet: a riveting, wry, disturbing portrait of the man who made the Trump Age possible.”
- Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, & Tommy Vietor, Crooked Media Reads
From a seasoned political journalist, an eye-opening examination of Tucker Carlson’s rise through conservative media and politics, and his ideological transformation over the past thirty years, tracking the concurrent shifts in the political and media landscapes which have both influenced and succumbed to the hyperpartisan politics of today.
ISBN
9781638932932
Language
English
Page count
352
Edition
Hardcover
Sale date
January 27, 2026
Dimensions
6 x 9
About the Book
To many, Tucker Carlson is synonymous with modern conservative politics. Carlson has been present on our screens for almost three decades and is as infamous for his bow tie as he is for his increasingly extreme right-wing views. But those who knew Carlson in his earlier days in political journalism remember a very different man—a serious and gifted writer and commentator who enjoyed debating with liberal friends and calling out conservative failures in equal measure. Now after watching Carlson turn away from measured reporting, while simultaneously gaining unparalleled power in Donald Trump’s Republican Party, most are left asking, What the hell happened to Tucker?
New York Times Magazine writer Jason Zengerle’s rich and evocative character study of Carlson tells the story of how the former Fox News talking head rose through the ranks of conservative media, from his early days as a young writer at The Weekly Standard to his current perch as one of the most powerful voices in right-wing politics. Through deep reporting and a sweeping view of the political and media landscapes over the past thirty years, Zengerle reveals how Carlson’s career offers a unique lens into the radical transformation of American conservatism and, just as importantly, the media that covers and ultimately shapes it. As conservative news outlets fight daily over who can report the most disreputable stories, and clicks and views take precedence over facts and substance, Carlson’s evolution tells the larger story of how the right has radicalized and taken the media with it.
Reviews
“The only time I met Tucker Carlson, in 2010, he told me: ‘You need to promote yourself more.’ Carlson’s lust for fame, money, and power led him into a cesspool of bigotry and lies. Because this story is also the tale of how a new elite is destroying all that’s valuable about America, Jason Zengerle’s gripping account is both a journalistic triumph and a public service.”
“Jason Zengerle deftly chronicles Tucker Carlson’s ideological evolution from bow-tied libertarian into the MAGA media’s most influential voice. This nuanced biography tells the urgent story of the Republican Party’s capitulation to Donald Trump.”
“When future historians seek to understand American politics and journalism in this period, they will turn to Hated By All the Right People. Jason Zengerle has brought us a vivid account of the Age of Trump—and the forces that brought about, and sustained, this era.”
“Jason Zengerle’s Hated By All the Right People is an incisive, deeply reported account of how, and why, Tucker Carlson transformed himself from establishment Washington’s bow-tied enfant terrible into Donald Trump’s far-right Rasputin—with profound effects on the nation’s politics and culture that we’re only beginning to grasp. Anyone hoping to understand America’s radical transformation in the age of Trump needs to read this valuable book.”
“The Tucker Carlson who emerges from this narrative is by turns charming, funny, repulsive, and base. The fascinating and subtle character study of this twisted soul alone is enough to make Hated By All the Right People a rewarding read. But Jason Zengerle goes beyond that. He takes us into the worlds of elite magazine journalism and lowbrow television to tell the story of the conservative movement’s intellectual debasement, turning these institutions into a vehicle to show how the Republican Party became an instrument of populist authoritarianism in the Trump era. The result is a story that’s both highly enjoyable and deeply insightful.”