Tucker Carlson would probably be the first to tell you that he has very little in common with New York’s newly-elected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but on his Tuesday evening broadcast, the Fox News anchor praised the Democratic Socialist for her criticism New York City’s decision to offer Amazon more than billion dollars in corporate subsidies.
“I hate to admit it but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a very good point,” said Carlson after reading a tweet from her slamming the tax breaks.
On Tuesday, the retail giant announced they would construct a two satellite corporate headquarters in Queens, New York, and Northern Virginia — both municipalities paid the company dearly in tax giveaways for the honor.
“Amazon is a billion-dollar company,” Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter after the news broke. “The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here.”
Amazon is a billion-dollar company. The idea that it will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks at a time when our subway is crumbling and our communities need MORE investment, not less, is extremely concerning to residents here.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) November 13, 2018
“It’s hard to argue with the internal logic, the richest man in the world just got $2 billion in taxpayer subsidies,” Carlson continued. “How does that work?” he asked before launching an interview on the matter with King’s College business professor Brian Brenberg.
Carlson, who has refashioned himself on Fox News from a Bush era neoconservative to a Trumpian populist, has been a frequent skeptic of Amazon and Jeff Bezos on his show. Bezos, the richest man in the world, is also the owner of the Washington Post and has drawn criticism from Trump over the paper’s tough coverage of his administration.
Reps for Amazon did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.
Though Carlson has taken care not to tie himself as closely to Trump as his colleague Sean Hannity, his new anti-Amazon and isolationist stands have dovetailed well with Trump’s personal beliefs.