Tucker smears war hero Duckworth as a “coward” then blows wild white supremacist dogwhistle
It should be no surprise to us that Tucker Carlson is FOX News’ main attraction in the era of Trump. Like Donald Trump, he is a spoiled and pampered brat with a dangerous, nakedly white supremacist agenda and a callous disregard for the consequences of his actions — and like Donald Trump, he has seized this highly charged political moment as the perfect opportunity to fully rip off his hood and prove just how dangerous he is to our nation and the ideals of equality and tolerance that we struggle to live up to.
During last night’s show, Carlson doubled down on his attacks on Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), trashing the Iraq war hero as a “coward” and a “fraud” for refusing to debate Carlson until he apologized for insulting her on the previous night’s show.
Tucker Carlson calls Tammy Duckworth a coward and a fraud pic.twitter.com/JV2YPWiIqy
— Andrew Lawrence (@ndrew_lawrence) July 8, 2020
The idea that a sitting U.S. Senator has any reason to engage in a debate with a bad-faith grievance preacher like Tucker Carlson is just as preposterous as the arrogance with which he demands it. The insinuation that they are intellectual equals and that Tucker Carlson’s fascist “ideas” are worthy of consideration at all is even more offensive than his appalling personal attacks on her patriotism and her valor.
Not content with those petty insults, Carlson then made it clear that all he has to offer is blood and soil white supremacy by putting up a picture of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar next to Duckworth’s picture under the caption “WE HAVE TO FIGHT TO PRESERVE OUR NATION AND HERITAGE.”
We have every right to fight to preserve our nation, heritage and culture. When vandals like Tammy Duckworth and Ilhan Omar tell us that we’re not allowed to question their patriotism, as they scream about how horrible this country is, we have every right to laugh in their faces. pic.twitter.com/0xjVtUaG3P
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 8, 2020
Those words are eerily and deliberately reminiscent of the white supremacist slogan known as the “fourteen words,” which goes “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” By putting the images of a Thai-American Democrat war hero and a refugee Muslim Somali-American up next to those, he is all-but saying that these women, these “vandals,” are who must be fought to protect white America and its white heritage.
By picking his original fight with Duckworth over her comments about reconsidering the appropriateness of George Washington statues because he was a slave owner, it becomes clear that the “heritage” he wishes to protect is that of slavery and institutionalized white supremacy.
These comments are incredibly dangerous, especially for Ilhan Omar, who already must deal with daily death threats and an unceasing barrage of the most soul-wrenching racism and white hatred you have ever seen. The way that Rep. Omar rises above it all and continues to fight for what she believes in when men like Tucker Carlson openly incite violence against her is a display of lionhearted courage and moral fortitude rarely seen in American politics — and it is why those weak and cowardly men like Carlson and the rest of the psychotic right-wing media machine are so terrified of her.
The dangerous venom that issues from Carlson on a nightly basis is a grim reminder that even after Trump is long gone, the battle for the soul of America is only just beginning.
Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America.