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- Fox News host Tucker Carlson reacted approvingly on his show to several of China's recent major decisions.
- He compared its actions on video gaming, real estate investment, and celebrity culture to situations in the US.
- Carlson said US leadership should stop "bossing us around" and "improve our actual lives."
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Fox News TV host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday evening praised several of China's recent nationwide restrictions and said its "totalitarian" government was doing "something virtuous," while he criticized US leadership.
"When the Chinese government does something virtuous – it doesn't happen much – well we're willing to say so," he said on his show "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
Carlson spoke approvingly of China's decision in mid-August to stop accepting registrations for private equity funds that are raising money to invest in residential real estate.
"As the Chinese government put it: houses are for living in, not for speculation. That's a very good point. They may have learned it from watching, say, the state of California," said Carlson. He noted that the median price of a house in California is $800,000, and said homelessness there is "totally out of control."
"The Chinese don't want to copy that model," he added.
Carlson also gave China points for its recent crusade against online fan culture and celebrity fandoms. China has banned the ranking of celebrities by popularity, said it would regulate fan clubs, and cracked down on some of the country's biggest idols.
"Can they stop the youth from worshipping celebrities? Probably not, but at least they're worried about it, and that's a start," Carlson said.
Additionally, he compared China's cut on video game time for under-18 kids to gaming among children in the US, citing a 2020 poll from the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital that found 86% of 963 surveyed parents thought their teens spend too much time on video games.
"What's interesting is when was the last time you heard one of our political leaders even mention video games or housing market speculation or celebrity worship as a problem?" he said.
"Maybe our government can take just a moment from bossing us around to improve our actual lives for once in a while," he added.
While Carlson praised China's intervention into the lives of its citizens, he's repeatedly railed against the US government's efforts to encourage people to get vaccinated - something he also mentioned on Wednesday, saying that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "very much is involved in our personal lives."
In late August, he panned COVID-19 restrictions in New York City, saying that personal freedom was "disappearing" from the country. The month before that, Carlson urged viewers to question the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine, contradicting his colleagues at Fox News.