Saturday Night Live returned for its new season with a familiar target: former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. But the show's sneering impression of Carlson relies on a version of the commentator that no longer exists—roughly five years out of date.
The skit zeroed in on Carlson's old fixation with cultural grievances: Bud Light's transgender ad campaign, the supposed assault on the green M&M's sex appeal, and other battles from his Fox News heyday. That was the Carlson of 2021 and 2022, when he commanded the network's 8 p.m. hour. Since leaving Fox, however, Carlson has reinvented himself as an independent commentator whose program rarely touches those topics.
Instead, Carlson now devotes much of his airtime to criticizing Israel's military campaign against the Palestinians and warning that President Trump is failing America by involving the U.S. in a potential war with Iran. In a recent interview, Carlson argued that Trump doesn't care if his policies get people killed because, in the long run, "we are all dead." That is hardly a flattering portrayal of Trump or the conservative movement—and it's a sign of how much Carlson's priorities have shifted.
Carlson has also broken with the right on free speech issues. He recently delivered a monologue defending rapper Macklemore against cancellation for speaking out about atrocities against Palestinians. Such positions put Carlson on the same side as many on the left, particularly those skeptical of U.S. intervention in the Middle East. As the GOP's youth rethink Israel, Carlson's stance is less isolated than it once was.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with Carlson changing his mind. It's his show, and he is free to evolve. One need not agree with him to recognize that questioning America's role in the Middle East is a legitimate debate. But the fact that SNL's writers seem unaware of his transformation says something troubling about the mainstream entertainment industry's grasp of conservative media.
This is not the first time Carlson's shifting alliances have caught Washington off guard. He has praised progressive candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, prompting claims that MAGA is eating itself. Senator Lindsey Graham has pressed Vice President JD Vance to choose between Israel hawks and the Carlson faction, while Vance has defended his friendship with Carlson and rejected cancel culture in a press room clash. These are the fights that define Carlson now—not candy commercials.
The broader problem is that liberal elites, including SNL's writing staff, appear stuck in a time warp. They are mocking a caricature that bears little resemblance to the actual Carlson, who now echoes many of their own criticisms of Israel and U.S. foreign policy. That is not just a comedy problem; it is a symptom of being out of touch with basic facts about what influential figures believe and say.
Maybe the skit still gets laughs from an audience that hasn't tuned into Carlson since he left Fox. But for those who follow politics closely, it lands as lazy and irrelevant. If the goal is to satirize the right, SNL might start by actually watching what the right's most prominent voices are saying today.
