Right-wing hosts perform ritualized shock and hero worship to legitimize Wolf’s crossover

Evidence

For their part, every time a fiery right-wing host had Wolf on as a guest, they would indulge in a protracted, ornate windup listing all of her liberal credentials, and professing shock that they could possibly find themselves on the same side. “I never thought I would be talking to you except in a debate format,” Tucker Carlson said the first time he had Wolf on. Then, referring to a tweet in which Wolf said she regretted voting for Joe Biden, he added, “I was struck by the bravery it must have taken you to write it—I’m sure you lost friends over it, and for doing this [show].” Wolf smiled wistfully and nodded, accepting the hero’s welcome. — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 327

Categorization

• XREF: The ‘hero’s welcome for the confessed apostate’ ritual parallels the ex-Democrat coronation dynamics in contemporary pundit media.