In a jaw-dropping episode of Tucker Carlson smarminess, he sided with a pro-Trump guest who smeared Fox senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano as “a fool” because Napolitano opined that Trump had committed a crime in his behavior with Ukraine. Fox News civil war!
It all began yesterday when Napolitano told host Shepard Smith (in the first video below) it appears that Trump has committed a crime:
NAPOLITANO: It is a crime for the president to solicit aid for his campaign from a foreign government.
SMITH: That to which the president has admitted is in and of itself a crime?
NAPOLITANO: Yes, this is the same crime for which the Trump organization was investigated by Bob Mueller who decided not to seek an indictment because there wasn’t enough evidence.
[…]
NAPOLITANO: If the president offered a bribe to the president of the Ukraine, that would be an impeachable offense.
Later, on Tucker Carlson Tonight, guest Joseph diGenova, a name-calling attorney who was hired and then un-hired by Donald Trump to defend him in the Russia investigation (but supposedly assists “in other legal matters”) went after Napolitano.
As you can see in the second video below, diGenova said about Napolitano, “Well, I think Judge Napolitano is a fool, and I think what he said today is foolish.” Carlson said nothing to defend his colleague.
Today, on his daytime show, Shepard Smith Reporting, Smith noted diGenova’s smear and that it had gone unchallenged by Carlson, then added, “Attacking our colleague, who’s here to offer legal assessments, on our air, in our work home is repugnant.”
Smith cited several attorneys who have appeared as Fox guests who agreed with Napolitano. (Today’s comments from Smith are in the third video below)
Tonight, instead of apologizing to his colleagues, petty Carlson brought back diGenova and criticized Smith and Napolitano.
Carlson feigned colleagiality by saying, “I will say, I've always liked him,” referring to Napolitano. But not enough to host him on the show and hear him out, apparently. Instead, we got another dose of diGenova, complete with a replay of the “fool” smear and a snide "’Repugnant.’ Not clear if that was [about] you or me,” from Carlson.
Instead of apologizing, diGenova doubled down and insisted that Trump had “absolutely not” committed a crime. Carlson treated diGenova’s biased opinion as unbiased truth that didn’t require a second thought, much less a second opinion from Fox's own legal expert.
DIGENOVA: Let me sort of educate Judge Napolitano. … I’ve been a U.S. Attorney, an independent counsel an investigative counsel on Capitol Hill in the House and the Senate. Judge Napolitano has never been a U.S. Attorney. He has never been a federal prosecutor. He has never conducted a federal grand jury. I have done all of those things.
… [A]s a matter of law I know what I'm talking about in the law, I try to be truthful. I was very truthful last night.
CARLSON: Well, so, that's kind of the crux of it for me. I'm not a lawyer at all, I mean I was as far from a scholar as you could be … that's why I solicited your opinion.
Yet while Carlson accepted diGenova’s absolutism as legit, he attacked Napolitano who was not nearly so arrogant.
CARLSON: That's why it doesn't seem honest to me when a host, any host on any channel, including this one, pretends that the answer is obvious, there is ironclad consensus about what the answer is when there, in fact, isn't, when it's a subjective question. That's not news, is it? That's opinion.
Republished with permission from NewsHounds
