First, Ned Ryun blamed liberals for sexual assault and harassment in society, then he attacked them for refusing to let men be men or boys be boys.
Ryun told an unquestioning Tucker Carlson Monday night that “toxic masculinity” was created by Hollywood and the media. He blamed them for objectifying women and “normalizing abhorrent behavior.” He thoughtfully avoided mentioning the toxic masculinity and objectification of women at Fox News.
“Now people are acting on the left and in the media and Hollywood, they’re acting self-righteous and horrified at the behavior that is the end result of the conditioning that they received for years,” Ryun added.
Carlson did not point out that it’s not just the liberal media. He listened with his characteristic expression of thoughtful befuddlement.
“Toxic masculinity,” Ryun said, is “a culture that the left created … [and] they have enabled it.”
As if that excused the abusive behavior of conservatives such as Roy Moore and Donald Trump.
Or the abusive behavior of Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly and Eric Bolling. Somehow, they never came up.
Yet, Carlson said, “With one exception, I guess the allegations against Roy Moore would be the exception, but in almost all these other cases, these are not evangelicals who are being accused. These are self-described feminists.”
But then Ryun moved on to his "Men gotta be men" attack on the left.
RYUN: I am concerned about the social experimentation that is taking place in trying to remove the manliness out of our boys.
CARLSON: Well of course.
RYUN: And, you know, when you see some of these things that are taking place in our education system, it’s of deep concern to me. Listen, I’m all for women, for all the breakthroughs they’ve made, for girl power, all those great things. But I think the pendulum has swung too far the other way.
CARLSON: Well, of course.
RYUN: (continuing) I think the boys are being left behind.
[…]
In response to the toxic masculinity they’ve created, they have wanted to keep our boys suspended in this Peter Pan state and refuse to let them be men. In fact, they don’t even want boys to be boys. They want ‘em to be girls. So, I think it’s something we have to push back at right now and not let it continue down this path.
So what did Ryun mean by letting men be men? He didn’t say. Nor did Carlson ask.
