Michael Tracey

Michael Tracey

Michael Tracey

Patrick Henningsen Connection

Michael Tracey was on Patrick Henningsen's show.

Tucker Carlson Interview

Tucker Carlson interviews Michael Tracey

In March 2019, Michael Tracey discusses with Tucker Carlson the connection between news outlets and retired intelligence officials like John Brennan. He claims the media’s failure in the Trump-Russia story mirrors the Iraq war coverage, asserting that those who deceived the American people for over two years face no consequences. Michael Tracey questions President Trump’s appointment of John Bolton, who he claims promoted the Iraq war, as national security adviser despite President Trump calling the war a disaster. He accuses Andrew McCabe of launching FBI investigations into Trump based on Twitter and The New York Times, not privileged information, and notes Andrew McCabe’s admiration for David Frum, an Iraq war and "Russia Gate" advocate. Tucker Carlson highlights James Comey’s op-ed predicting no indictments or collusion, suggesting insider knowledge from Robert Mueller's investigation. Michael Tracey criticizes Democratic candidates for adopting an extreme Trump-Russia conspiracy view, while praising Tulsi Gabbard for saying Trump’s actions contradict the “Russia’s puppet” narrative:

Tucker Carlson: Michael Tracey is an independent journalist who's already on the road covering the presidential race, and he joins us tonight from an undisclosed location. So, Michael Tracey, you're one of the very few people who has noted this weird nexus between news outlets and retired intelligence officials. It seems like a very unhealthy arrangement to me. Do you think that it is?

Michael Tracey: I think it's unhealthy, and I think it will contribute to a fundamental inability for the media to self-reflect on what it got so horrendously wrong throughout this episode. I mean, if John Brennan is a colleague of yours at a different network, then that might disincentivize you to do a thorough audit of the practices which led to such a false impression being conveyed across the airways about what this story actually entailed. You know, this past week we marked the anniversary of the Iraq invasion, and since then, all the top media promoters of that invasion had ascended to high levels of power and influence. I could name a couple, many of whom, frankly, appear on this network on a case-by-case basis.

Tucker Carlson: You're right, but one of them is a national security adviser of the United States right now.

Michael Tracey: Yes, exactly—I mean, if I could speak to President Trump, I'd ask him, why did you appoint John Bolton, one of the main promoters of the Iraq war, to be your national security adviser when you've said multiple times that the Iraq war was a disaster? But that's a digression. The point is that this Trump-Russia story is a media failure of comparable magnitude—less death, thankfully, but just as much total inability, total factual indiscretion. And I feel like something similar is going to happen where the people who were proven decisively wrong and have proven to have deceived the American people for two-plus years—now approaching three years, actually—they're not going to pay any price. They're not going to face any consequence. If you or I or normal people failed at their job miserably, they would probably—I don’t know—get demoted, maybe even fired. They would suffer some kind of reputational consequence, but not so for the media elite who have been leading the charge of this story, who had a lot of influence on these security state officials like Andrew McCabe, who launched one of the investigations into Trump at the FBI. You know, listen to Andrew McCabe on his recent book tour; it almost sounds like he's a devoted reader of David Frum at The Atlantic, who—you know—he worked for George W. Bush, he helped coin the "axis of evil" phrase, he was a leading advocate for the Iraq war, he's also a leading advocate of Russia Gate. There's a lot of crossover there, and, you know, Andrew McCabe seemed like he was just scrolling through Twitter or reading The New York Times or something. He didn't have any privileged information that we know of that led him to launch these unprecedented investigations into—ooh, that's actually the president.

Tucker Carlson: I want to finish out this segment with this question to you, and you got right to it. So, I think it was yesterday, former FBI Director Jim Comey wrote an op-ed in which he basically predicted what we found out tonight: no indictments, no collusion. So, the obvious suggestion is that Jim Comey has some kind of inside source in the Mueller investigation. Shouldn't it shake the faith that all of us have in our institutions?

Michael Tracey: Well, I mean, knowing that Comey led that institution for so long has already shaken the faith of many people, such that this—I don't think it's going to make a huge difference. But, you know, let me just say one more thing, Tucker. I mean, how did you disclose my location? It's New Hampshire, where the presidential candidates are campaigning, and the Democratic presidential candidates have totally beclowned themselves on this issue because they've, in large part, adopted the most maximalist interpretation of what the Trump-Russia conspiracy consisted of, irrespective of, you know, skeptics saying, let’s exercise some caution here, let’s not leap to conclusions. The one exception, the candidate that I'm covering this week, is Tulsi Gabbard, who just last week said something to the effect of: the people who have been calling Trump Russia’s puppet have actually distracted from the reality. Trump has actually contradicted much of his campaign rhetoric and taken aggressive actions toward Russia, and that’s what Democrats should have been emphasizing this entire time rather than going down this conspiracy rabbit hole. For her to say that is an act of real bravery right now.

Tucker Carlson: Michael Tracey, thanks very much for joining us tonight. Good to see you.

Michael Tracey: Thanks.

Aggressive Progressives

Michael Tracey appeared on a show "Aggressive Progressives" at The Young Turks hosted by Jimmy Dore with Steve Oh. The inaugural show was dated August 28, 2016. Guests/hosts included Stefane Zamorano, Ron Placone, Malcolm Fleschner, Graham Elwood, Abby Martin, Mike Prysner, Max Blumenthal, Amy Vilela, James Cromwell, Pramila Mallick, Judah Friedlander, Randy Abreu, Jordan Chariton, Dave Dayen, Michael Lighty, David Hildebrand, Norman Soloman, Denis Kucinich, Nomiki Konst, Krystal Ball, Graham Elwood, Michael Wood, Michael Tracey, Greg Palast, Kshama Sawant, and Cenk Uygur.,,,