Apparently, 10 minutes of smearing a U.S. governor coping with the catastrophic Hurricane Irma was not enough for Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Last night, he teamed up with Dana Loesch, an uninformed NRA spokeswoman, for another round of baselessly accusing the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands of seizing guns during Irma.
While I can concede that access to guns during Irma may be a legitimate issue to NRA members, this five-minute discussion added nothing to anyone’s understanding of the situation. The whole thrust was to add fears and smears to a community already suffering.
Carlson rehashed his discussion with Kenneth Mapp, the USVI governor who had vehemently insisted (under hostile cross-examination from Carlson) on Wednesday night’s show that the National Guard would not be seizing any guns from citizens. But despite spending now 15 minutes on the subject, Carlson offered no actual reporting on the subject beyond that conversation. Nevertheless, he declared that Mapp “seemingly authorized the National Guard in the Virgin Islands to seize people’s guns and ammunition.”
Although nobody claimed that any guns had been seized, the lower third blared: “U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS SEIZING GUNS DURING HURRICANE.”
“What is going on here?” Carlson asked accusingly. But rather than do anything to find out, he disingenuously announced, “To get to the bottom of it, we’re joined by radio host and NRA spokeswoman, Dana Loesch.” However, it was perfectly clear that Loesch knew nothing more than Carlson. And Carlson didn’t even know what she knew.
“The order seemed to me, as a non-attorney to give power to the national Guard,” Carlson asked Loesch. “What, exactly, is the truth, do you know?”
In other words, Loesch, another non-attorney, was there for the sole purpose of baselessly speculating and fear mongering.
It was reported yesterday that Irma crippled the only hospital on St. Thomas but Carlson and Loesch acted as though the ability to shoot (black) looters was the most important problem facing the residents.
Loesch, the purported expert on the subject, admitted she was confused about Mapp's order. But that didn’t stop her from denouncing him anyway. “He used the word “seize!'” she said condemningly.
“Well, sure,” Carlson agreed.
Then Carlson moved on from Mapp to fear mongering about gun control and (black) looters.
CARLSON: The fact remains that we’ve seen this in other natural disasters. We saw it during Katrina with Mayor Nagin, now in prison who authorized the police force there to do it. And I guess what bothers me most is that it really is confirmation that a lot of the pro Second Amendment people have a right to be a little bit paranoid about gun registration.
LOESCH: You’re spot on, Tucker. …This is a time when most people need to be able to protect themselves. From looters! From other violence! They need to be able to protect themselves when you have law enforcement, as I said, and first responders who are most overwhelmed.
But that wasn’t enough paranoia for Carlson.
CARLSON: In the case of Katrina, it was the New Orleans Police Department who were murdering people, actually. I covered that story, personally, and looting Walmart. And not protecting law-abiding citizens who were preyed upon by mobs.
… So I wonder if there is a way to make sure that this doesn’t happen. I mean, I think a lot of people are concerned on some level, that if there’s civil disorder, they won’t be able to protect themselves. Again, I don’t think that’s a paranoid concern or a crazy concern.
LOESCH: No, it is not a paranoid concern at all.
Maybe not but I’ll bet a lot more people who are actually suffering the effects of Irma have a lot of other non-crazy concerns that are more important to them: Like, how would someone needing a hospital get proper medical attention?
Carlson closed by thanking Loesch and asking, “I hope that if you all get to the bottom of what that order was about and what it meant and if there was gun confiscation, you’ll come back and tell us about it.”
God forbid the cable news network that employs Carlson should do any real reporting about this supposedly vital matter..
I tell you what, Tucker: Since you and Dana think this is so important, why don’t you go down to The USVI right now and look into it for us?
Watch Carlson and Loesch’s five minutes of uninformed divisiveness above, from the September 7, 2017 Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Originally published at Newshounds.us
