Fox News host Tucker Carlson fired back at Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), calling him a “coward” after Schumer refused to appear on Carlson’s show to discuss Schumer linking Carlson to the Buffalo massacre in which 10 people were killed.
On Tuesday, Schumer sent a letter to Fox News quoting The New York Times’ claim regarding the “Great Replacement Theory” that Carlson had, as Schumer wrote, “amplified this dangerous and unfounded theory in more than 400 episodes of his show.”
Schumer had also vilified Carlson on the Senate floor on Tuesday, ranting, “Every time MAGA Republicans or pundits vilify wrongly immigrants and call them invaders … Every time they falsely claim that millions of undocumented people cast ballots in our elections … Every time loud bigoted voices bemoan the disintegration of an imagined ‘classic’ America …The subtext is clear: these hard-right MAGA Republicans argue that people of color and minority communities are somehow posing a threat — a threat — to the American way of life.”
“And let’s be clear: it’s a message that has also found a special home in several right-wing outlets, and on one cable news channel in particular: Fox News,” he continued. “In a craven quest for viewers and ratings, organizations like Fox News have spent years perfecting the craft of stoking cultural grievance and political resentment that eerily mirrors the messages found in Replacement Theory.”
He quoted The New York Times claim targeting Carlson, saying, “Four hundred times. This is a poison that is being spread by one of the largest news organizations in our country,”
But Schumer also fired off a tweet announcing he had declined an offer from Carlson to appear on his show:
.@TuckerCarlson invited me on his show tonight to debate the letter I sent to @FoxNews.
I'm declining. Tucker Carlson needs to stop promoting the racist, dangerous ‘Replacement Theory’.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 17, 2022
That triggered Carlson to fire back, “Schumer is sending a letter to our bosses here at Fox News blaming this show for the mass murder in Buffalo as well as several other mass shootings in recent years.”
“According to Chuck Schumer, this show spreads ‘dangerous rhetoric’ and needs to be pulled of the air immediately in the name of public safety. Now again, Chuck Schumer is a federal official; he is the leading Democrat in the United States Senate, and he is calling for media censorship,” Carlson said.
“Now there was a time, like maybe 18 months ago, when that would be considered a direct violation of the First Amendment. Now we hear it every day: ‘Let’s throw them in jail,’” he added.
“We wanted to hear more from Chuck Schumer about this; we invited him on the show tonight, as we always do, and because he is a coward, this is the only media appearance probably in history he’s turned down,” Carlson stated.
Tucker Carlson blasts Chuck Schumer for calling for media censorship and then refusing an invitation to go on his show to discuss it:
"Because he is a coward, this is the only media appearance probably in history he has turned down." pic.twitter.com/1sNA0jUrpp
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) May 18, 2022