Tucker Carlson is a smug jerk who thinks he’s an expert on every topic, much the same as his fellow Fox News host Bill O’Reilly does. What makes Carlson even more galling is that he actually seems to be under the impression that what he’s doing is journalism.
Last night on his show, Carlson had Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who admitted in 2001 that he is an undocumented immigrant from the Philippines. Vargas told Carlson the United States treats immigrants from his home country differently than those from Mexico or the Middle East. To that, Carlson interrupted and said:
“You’re not 12 now and you’re making the case, in effect, that the U.S. doesn’t have a right to say to people who are here illegally, ‘You’re not allowed to be here.'”
A visibly agitated Vargas replied:
“Wait a second, The country has a right to define its borders. Absolutely. Any modern country has a right to do that. But, at the same time, we have a right to ask harder questions of ourselves about why are people even coming here?
“Tucker, do you think I came to this country so you can beat me up and call me illegal and criminal on national television? Words matter here.”
Then the debate shifted to Carlson’s repeated use of the word “illegal,” which led Vargas to lay some facts on Carlson: Being undocumented, Vargas reminded Carlson:
“(Is a) civil offense, not a criminal offense. Almost half of the people who are here illegally came here legally and overstayed their visas. They didn’t cross the Mexican border.”
Trying to be pretend he still controlled the conversation, Carlson whined:
“These seem like non-sequiturs.”
That’s when Vargas shut down Carlson by reminding him:
“No, these are facts, Tucker. The problem is you don’t actually operate in facts…I’m a journalist, I operate in facts, you’re a pundit. There’s a difference between the two.”
Tucker Carlson is a hack and a stooge for the right-wingers who own and control Fox News. He wouldn’t know how to report a story if you gave him a map and a head start.
Here’s the confrontation:
Featured Image Via Fox News Screengrab
