Tucker Carlson won’t apologize, blames liberal 'mob' for outrage over misogynistic remarks

Stephen Proctor

On Monday night, Tucker Carlson responded to the outrage over unearthed misogynistic and sexist remarks he made years ago, but the response did not come with an apology.

Over the course of multiple interviews with shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge, Carlson defended Warren Jeffs, who facilitated child rape as the leader of a cult and is now in jail for sexually assaulting two children, referred to women as extremely primitive and used the C-word when talking about Martha Stewart’s daughter, among other things. But according to Carlson, the outrage isn’t because of what he said — it’s because of his political leanings.

“As anyone who’s ever been caught in its gears can tell you, the great American outrage machine is a remarkable thing,” Carlson said at the start of his show, later adding, “How many times have you seen it happen? Some conservative figure will say something stupid or incomplete or too far outside the bounds of received wisdom for the moral guardians of cable news. Twitter goes bonkers. The mob demands a response.”

Carlson’s response to the uproar was to put out a statement via Twitter on Sunday in which, rather than express remorse for his past comments, he invited people to watch Tucker Carlson Tonight. In fact, Carlson has flat-out refused to apologize altogether, but says he will when he’s done something wrong in the past. But he will never apologize just because it’s demanded of him.

“We’ve always apologized when we’re wrong and will continue to do that. That’s what decent people do, they apologize,” Carlson said. “But we will never bow to the mob. Ever.”

CNN’s Chris Cuomo didn’t buy Carlson’s reason for not apologizing, or the fact that he never directly referenced exactly what he’d said. Cuomo had some harsh words for his Fox News counterpart.

“He says apologizing to the mob costs people their jobs. What a coward,” Cuomo said. “Why don’t you repeat what you said if it’s not such a big deal?”

Cuomo went on a long tirade in which he brought into question Carlson’s character and integrity, and accused him of trying to protect his money and fame by not repeating what he’d said. Cuomo also accused Carlson of using the negative attention as an excuse to play the victim so he can say the Left is out to get him. But Cuomo’s not buying that either.

“You are a victim though,” Cuomo said speaking directly to Carlson. “Not of others, of yourself. Know that.”

While his response to the outrage was airing, Media Matters released two more recordings of Carlson. In one he uses a homophobic slur; in the other he uses racist rhetoric.

Tucker Carlson Tonight airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on Fox News Channel.

Cuomo Prime Time airs weeknights at 9 p.m. on CNN.

Watch Tucker Carlson make the case that women making more money leads to substance abuse:

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