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It's Tucker Carlson versus Sean Hannity in the Republican Party.

The divisions inside the GOP, being laid bare on national television via the dramatic fight between Kevin McCarthy and a faction of rebels over the House speakership, mirror the rift that has been forming for some time in right-wing media and which is strikingly clear in Fox News primetime. 

Some corners of the right-wing media universe, represented by the Carlsons of the world, revel in the chaos. Carlson has made that clear on his broadcasts this week, effectively cheering on the Never Kevin camp in the House and arguing that what we are seeing on television — a paralyzed GOP unable after six votes to elect a House speaker — is healthy.

"If you prefer democracy to oligarchy, if you prefer real debates about issues that actually matter, it's pretty refreshing to see it," Carlson said of the public infighting taking place in the House, which is set to go back into session at noon on Thursday.

Then there are the personalities and outlets that more closely align with Hannity, who has gone on record against the mutiny facing McCarthy and argued on the California congressman's behalf.

To be clear, Hannity hasn't outright bashed the Republicans staging the rebellion against McCarthy. He's mostly played polite. And he's tried downplaying the friction, insisting it's not a crisis. But Hannity has represented the wing of right-wing media — and the larger GOP — that would like to see Republicans unite and not be consumed by disorder.

"Should Republicans have worked this all out in private, long before yesterday? Yeah, absolutely. And behind the scenes I spoke to many of them, and I urged them to work it out," Hannity said Wednesday night. "They apparently did not listen to my advice."

After those comments, Hannity invited on Rep. Lauren Boebert for an interview which turned quite combative. The Fox News host repeatedly pressed the far-right congresswoman on what the rebel group plans to do, given that they are clearly a small minority of the GOP. Hannity at times noted that Boebert was evading and not answering his simple questions.

"I asked you a simple question congresswoman. I feel like I'm getting an answer from a liberal," an exasperated Hannity said toward the conclusion of the interview, in which Boebert repeatedly kept speaking over him.

Of course, while Hannity, McCarthy, and others might be frustrated with the rebels now, they all played roles in bolstering their power in recent years. Which is the irony that cuts straight to the heart of the matter.

Much like the Republican Party laid the groundwork over the years for the rise of Donald Trump, people like Hannity have laid the groundwork for the rise of people like Carlson. They've catered to their views, refused to call out their nonsense, and chosen to attack entities like the media instead of dealing with the own mess in their backyard. 

Now they're reaping what they sowed: a party comprised of a growing number of erratic figures who don't mind — and even perhaps prefer — watching the world burn.

———  BELOW THE FOLD  ———

Cameras in the Capitol: If you've been watching coverage of the unfolding drama taking place in the House, you've likely noticed that the camera shots are not the usual stale wide-pans that saturate C-SPAN on a day-to-day basis. Usually, the House forbids independent media coverage of proceedings, meaning that networks must rely on a government feed for coverage. But when there are special events taking place in the House, such as the election for speaker, independent coverage is allowed.

In this case, that translates to C-SPAN deploying multiple cameras of its own into the House chamber, giving the public a rare front row view of the high-stakes negotiations between lawmakers. "We are able to show Paul Gosar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sitting down and speaking to one another. We are able to show Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan talking before the next votes," Ben O'Connell, C-SPAN's director of editorial operations, told me by phone. "We are able to show scrums of members migrate across the floor as negotiations go on. You don't see that during standard coverage." 

O'Connell noted to me that C-SPAN would like to be able to do this far more often. "It would be great if we could provide this kind of coverage even during deliberations on major legislations or other times beyond the speaker election and more ceremonial functions of congress," he said. "We hope some day cameras are allowed in there far more frequently than they are now."

"I think it is really important for journalists to be behind the cameras rather than the government be behind the cameras," O'Connell added. "We, during a typical legislative day, have a government entity covering the government. And I think it would be invaluable to have journalists behind the camera instead."

Bidding Farewell to Benedict: Cable news will be live overnight, offering viewers special coverage of Pope Benedict XVI's funeral. CNN will carry coverage starting at 3am, anchored by Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo. On MSNBC, Chris Jansing will helm coverage starting at 3am. And on Fox News, coverage will begin at 2:30am, led by Trace Gallagher.

'MNF's' Record Audience: The "Monday Night Football" telecast in which Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest was the most-watched in ESPN's history, averaging 23.8 million viewers between 8:30 pm and 10:09 pm, according to Nielsen. The "MNF" broadcast surpassed the previous record set during a 2009 Packers-Vikings game. During game play on Monday, ESPN averaged 21.1 million viewers. That audience then grew to 23.9 million viewers between 9 pm to 10:15 pm when ESPN aired news coverage of Hamlin’s collapse. An ESPN spokesperson noted to me that, given the special circumstances around Monday’s game, it was not clear whether the ratings would be factored into the season average or used for historical purposes. CNN's Jennifer Korn and I have more here.

► Earlier in the day, ESPN issued a statement standing by its reporting that the NFL had initially planned to resume Monday's game after Hamlin's collapse — which the league adamantly denies. "We reported what we were told in the moment and immediately updated fans as new information was learned," the network said in a statement. "This was an unprecedented, rapidly evolving circumstance." More in my story on that here.

Anguish at Amazon: More cuts are hitting Amazon. The e-commerce giant's  layoffs "will affect more than 17,000 employees," The WSJ's Dana Mattioli and Jessica Toonkel reported Wednesday. The company said in November it was making cut to its workforce, which The WSJ reported would impact about 10,000 staffers. "The rest of the cuts will bring the total number of layoffs to more than 17,000 and will be made over the coming weeks," Mattioli and Toonkel reported. Read their full story here.

Radicalism on Roku: A channel that promotes the deranged QAnon conspiracy theory is finding an audience at Roku, despite the platform's rules that would seemingly prohibit such content. That's according to a report from MMFA's Alex Kaplan, who noted the channel's adoration of QAnon is so clear that its logo features a rabbit jumping into a hole and its slogan appears to be "follow the white rabbit."

🤐 No comment: A Roku spokesperson had no response when we reached out about the matter on Wednesday. 

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will be back in your inbox around this time tomorrow.