Recently, Fox News host Tucker Carlson belligerently ranted during an episode of his show about efforts to accommodate women in the U.S. military, although operations changes that he complained about were actually set in motion during the Trump era. President Joe Biden touted the changes in recent remarks, and that was evidently too much for Carlson, who whined about Biden’s apparent intent to make the military “more feminine, whatever feminine means anymore.” Among other sharp criticism that Carlson faced in response to his remarks, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), who is herself a veteran, spoke out.
As Duckworth memorably put it on Twitter — “F*ck Tucker Carlson.” The Senator commented as follows, discussing Carlson’s stint on Dancing with the Stars in 2006:
‘F*ck Tucker Carlson. While he was practicing his two-step, America’s female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of America’s women. Happy belated International Women’s Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than….and we all know it was his female partner who did all the hard work.’
…and we all know it was his female partner who did all the hard work. pic.twitter.com/yoGBy2iaQF
— Tammy Duckworth (@TammyforIL) March 11, 2021
Linking to an article that she wrote after Carlson targeted her on his show last year, Duckworth added as follows:
‘Tucker never learns. This wasn’t the first and probably won’t be the last time he goes after women who sacrifice in uniform so he doesn’t have to. But no matter how many times he insults our Armed Forces, I won’t be silent.’
Tucker never learns.
This wasn't the first and probably won't be the last time he goes after women who sacrifice in uniform so he doesn't have to.
But no matter how many times he insults our Armed Forces, I won't be silent. https://t.co/BPjuo6SCzs
— Tammy Duckworth (@TammyforIL) March 12, 2021
As Duckworth discussed in her article, Carlson — who routinely peddles utter garbage on his show — targeted her over comments that she made in connection to the discussion around reckoning with the realities of America’s past. As Duckworth summarized, Carlson claimed that folks like the Senator, who expressed an openness to hearing from those concerned about America’s Founders, “actually hate America,” which is obviously idiotic nonsense. Duckworth lost both of her legs while serving in the military — and Carlson has the gall to suggest that she hates America? Seriously? What a clown.
Last year, Fox News won a lawsuit over some of Carlson’s remarks after presenting the argument that, in short, “reasonable” viewers do not take Carlson’s shows as presentations of fact — although Carlson himself has positioned himself as presenting facts. In a 2018 broadcast that led to the lawsuit and featured discussion of Trump affairs and hush money payments, Carlson admonished viewers to “remember the facts of the story,” but his subsequent claims — including the allegation that Karen McDougal “[approached] Donald Trump and [threatened] to ruin his career and humiliate his family if he” didn’t pay up — were not accurate. McDougal never “approached” Trump let alone directly threatened him with “humiliation.”
