Fox News’s Tucker Carlson said Sen. Tammy Duckworth is “a callous hack” and “coward” after she refused to join his show unless the host apologized for his criticisms of the Illinois Democrat.
The feud began when Carlson criticized Duckworth Monday night after the senator said she would consider removing statues of George Washington. Duckworth said on Sunday that she wants to have a “national dialogue” about removing the statues and that the country needs to “listen to everybody” while debating the issue.
“A national dialogue, please,” Carlson said after airing footage of Duckworth’s remarks. “They are not looking for any kind of colloquy. What they want is a soliloquy. We speak, you shut up and listen. … It’s long been considered out of bounds to question a person’s patriotism. It’s a very strong charge, and we try not ever to make it. But in the face of all of this, the conclusion can’t be avoided. These people actually hate America.”
Duckworth tweeted in response Tuesday, “Does @TuckerCarlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?” The senator lost her legs while deployed in the Middle East.
Carlson said he then invited Duckworth onto his show for a Tuesday segment, but he claimed her office shot down the offer unless he apologized for his criticisms of the senator.
“We played that for you last night, and we noted how grotesque it was,” Carlson said of the video clip of Duckworth addressing statues of Washington. “Only someone who hates the country would suggest ripping down monuments to its founder.”
Carlson said Duckworth saw his Monday segment and didn’t “disagree” with his remarks, but “questioned our right to criticize her at all, since she was once injured while serving in the Illinois Army National Guard. That’s what passes for an argument in modern identity politics. They don’t address the points that you make. They question your right to make them at all.”
“Tammy Duckworth is also a fraud,” Carlson said, referring to how she didn’t investigate “the widespread mistreatment of sick veterans” at a Veterans Affairs hospital and “refused to help” whistleblowers.
“This is the person lecturing the rest of us about her moral authority as a veteran. Spare us. Tammy Duckworth is a callous hack who ignored the suffering of actual veterans when it actually mattered. She has no moral authority, she is just a politician like the rest of them,” Carlson said after he called her a “moron.”
“How can you lead a country you despise?” he asked.
