Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is a fount of the kinds of conspiratorial and inflammatory content that you’d expect to be popular with people who buy gold off late night TV commercials. Now, in a turn of events that just makes sense, Carlson has purchased a company that sells gold.
Carlson recently partnered with a gold wholesaler to launch a firm called Battalion Metals. Battalion says it is “Bringing Integrity Back to the Precious Metals Industry.” The company’s founder and CEO, Chris Olson, recently appeared on an episode of Carlson’s show. On the same episode, Carlson explained how he had decided to go into business with Olson, calling Battalion “a truly honest gold company” that “gives ordinary people…full transparency and the lowest markups possible.” Olson, who is a veteran, previously worked for Treasure Island Coins, a coin and bullion business owned by his father, Battalion’s website states.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Carlson seemed to imply to the Journal that the instability of the modern era encouraged him to invest in something of lasting value. “We’re clearly watching the end of the postwar order, and a lot of things we took for granted as secure, no longer are,” the media figure told the newspaper.
Gold typically rises in value during periods of economic or political turbulence and uncertainty. We seem to be living through one of those periods currently, as gold has been doing particularly well this year, and, according to Goldman Sachs, prices are expected to rise next year as well.
In a quote posted to Battalion’s website, Carlson says: “When you realize the central banks are a scam, you buy gold. But what do you do when you realize that a lot of big gold companies are a scam? You buy from Battalion.”
“Most people feel it on a gut level. They sense something is off about the economy and the money they’re told to trust,” Olson says, in a quote on Battalion’s website. “When customers come to us, they’re looking for a way out – a way to recover sovereignty – and they turn to gold because it represents stability and truth.”
Gizmodo reached out to the Tucker Carlson Network and Battalion Metals for more information about the recent partnership involving Carlson.
Carlson has managed to be immensely successful at building a particular brand and courting a certain kind of audience. As of June, Carlson’s podcast was ranked #5 on YouTube’s weekly podcast rankings, CNN previously reported. As of last week, it was #10—slightly behind Kill Tony and the top ranking show, The Joe Rogan Experience. Carlson’s most loyal listeners seem like they could accurately be characterized as deeply individualistic, with a desire for self-reliance and autonomy. In that sense, selling those same people the specter of financial self-reliance (which gold always seems to afford) just makes good business sense.
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