Didn’t you just know that Tucker Carlson would find a way to race bait the results of the 2018 midterm elections and the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives?
Wednesday night, Carlson purported to consider what the Democrats will stand for when they regain the House in January:
CARLSON: Now, a new battle begins and that’s the battle over the Democratic party’s message. What do they stand for? Is it open borders and socialism? Wages and the middle class? Who knows what it is. Or will it just remain “Trump is evil, Republicans are racist?” Is that enough?
For hate mongering in the guise of answers, Carlson spoke to Bryan Dean Wright. He’s one of Fox’s favorite kind of Democrat: one who loves to side with Republicans. Wright is a former CIA officer who seems to have no campaign, policy or legislative experience. His only qualifications to opine on what the Democrats “stand for” were his party registration and a range of opinions. And his willingness to quack like a Republican. A cynical person might think it calculated branding.
Wright claimed that “most Americans” want to hear the message of “heartland” Democrats who “focus on the basics” such as “good wages, decent jobs, affordable health care.” That’s in contrast to the “coastal folks” such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who espouse “lots of big government, lots of programs that we can’t really pay for. ‘We want to abolish ICE, not really address the immigration issue because we want to open borders.”
Wright added that his “concern” as to “why the Alexandria Cortez folks will win,” is because DNC chair Tom Perez “says that she is the head of the Democratic Party.”
FACT CHECK: Perez called her the “future” of the Democratic Party, not the head of the party.
But the racially-obsessed Carlson, an exemplification of the elitist class if ever there was one, must have been too busy worrying about the threat Ocasio-Cortez’ star power poses to white men to notice the falsehood. Or maybe how he might use the discussion to ethnically fear monger. After Wright said that Barack Obama had endorsed Ocasio-Cortez, Carlson pounced.
CARLSON: Is that because she’s impressive or is it because of the way she … and I’m not being mean but she’s young and she seems like she doesn’t know very much at all so I’m beginning to think it’s only because of her race and gender, which is not a good way to make these decisions, ‘cause it’s irrelevant.
FACT CHECK: Carlson, of course, cited no evidence for his “thinking.” However, it turns out Ocasio-Cortez is no empty vessel. She has an impressive resumé which Carlson seems not to have even bothered to look into. Among other credentials, she has a degree in economics and international relations from Boston University. While a student, she worked in the office of then-Senator Ted Kennedy. She also studied abroad in Niger.
If Carlson really cared about knowledge and qualifications for one’s job, he’d show some concern for Donald Trump’s ignorance. But I’ve never seen any concern in that regard. I’ll bet nobody reading this can point to any such instance either.
Watch Carlson cook up an excuse to make a bigoted attack on Ocasio-Cortez and Obama above, from the November 7, 2018 Tucker Carlson Tonight.
Crossposted at News Hounds.
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