Tucker Carlson ripped Weekly Standard editor at large, Bill Kristol, for apparently accusing him of “rationalizing slavery” and being anti-Semitic.
Carlson slammed Kristol’s comment as “libel, but also really stupid” on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Wednesday.
“Last night at the top of the show, we addressed the removal of Civil War monuments from public places around the country. We made the point that the sudden outrage isn’t entirely about slavery, horrifying as slavery is. It’s also part of a larger effort on the left to discredit the Founders of this country and the beliefs they enshrined in law,” Carlson began.
“Once you believe that any figure in history who once owned slaves is illegitimate and should be erased, it’s hard to take our founding documents very seriously. How can you accept a Bill of Rights when it was written by slave owners? You can’t. Which is why so many on the left don’t — and ignore the First and Second Amendments, among many others,” he explained. “That was the point we were trying to make. You may disagree but it didn’t seem crazy or mean spirited.”
Kristol, who once worked with Carlson at the Weekly Standard, reacted to the show in a tweet.
They started by rationalizing Trump. They ended by rationalizing slavery. https://t.co/1BYhLF9YQY
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 16, 2017
Carlson added that Kristol later appeared to libel him in a tweet about anti-Semitism.
Next: Luther, Voltaire and Marx were anti-Jewish. So why’s it a big deal that the marchers were chanting, “Jews will not replace us?” https://t.co/1BYhLF9YQY
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) August 16, 2017
“That is libel. But it’s also really stupid,” Carlson responded.
“And yet Bill Kristol isn’t stupid. I know that because I worked for Bill Kristol for more than five years in the 1990s. I knew him well. He was a genuinely smart guy. He was a good boss, too. He was humane and fair-minded,” Carlson said. “He was the kind of person I never would imagine would write something that nasty and dishonest about an enemy, much less an old friend. What happened?”
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The Fox News host speculated that the current climate of “hysteria” may be why Kristol did not explain himself.
“Kristol refused to explain himself today. Part of the explanation has to be the moment we’re living in where hysteria has supplanted rational debate. No longer to explain your beliefs but to highlight what a morally upstanding person you are, a virtuous guy you are, using by contrast of your opponent who is by definition, evil. It’s childish, obviously. But to many people, it’s tempting. Even 64-year-old men with Harvard degrees fall for it, apparently,” Carlson said.
He recalled that decades ago, Kristol “talked through ideas with his friends” and then spend “hours” writing a piece that showed there was “thinking involved in the process.”
“Now he just goes on Twitter and stays on Twitter all day, every day, dashing off thoughts and impressions, scoring tiny little points against strangers in cyberspace, keeping obsessive track of his likes and retweets,” Carlson said. ““At an age when he could be playing with his grandchildren, he’s glued to social media like a slot machine junkie in Reno.”
Carlson warned that this behavior “distorts” a person after a while, and added that it is “depressing as hell.”
“Kristol isn’t the only one who does this. Washington is littered with formerly impressive people who shout and preen on social media,” he concluded. “I hate to see it with him. I liked Bill Kristol once and thought he liked me. What a shame.”
Twitter users who were paying attention rose to Carlson defense as they called out Kristol for his “demonstrably false” tweet.
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That’s silly. All those things he said are correct, and Tucker was a great writer for you. I’ve never seen him attack you. Not a good look.
— Christopher Bedford (@CBedfordDC) August 16, 2017
He was explaining history, not defending slavery. Worlds of difference.
— Brian Moore (@moorekb98) August 16, 2017
That’s demonstrably false and this sort of smear should be beneath you. The segment wasn’t about slavery at all.
— John D Davidson (@johnddavidson) August 16, 2017
That’s not how I interpreted it. But @BillKristol is so deeply anti Trump and pro own ego now that the truth has stopped mattering to him.
— Eric Kalhoefer (@kalhoefer) August 16, 2017
Are you accusing your friend of anti-Semitism? On Twitter? That’s really, really disappointing.
— Christopher Bedford (@CBedfordDC) August 16, 2017
Thank God for Tucker Carlson who reports the news while @BillKristol reports unproductive opinions with no basis in fact. Nasty man!
— Irish Girl (@fighting4USA) August 17, 2017
What a moronic response. Nowhere did he rationalize slavery. Expect that from a hopeless lefty. Not you.
— John Steigerwald (@Steigerworld) August 17, 2017
That’s not what was said and you know it. Playing these games gets no where. You should know better.
— Brian Moore (@moorekb98) August 16, 2017
Yet more evidence, Mr. Kristol, of why you are a shadow of your former self. Social media is sucking you dry. Sad to watch.
— Joshua Charles (@JoshuaTCharles) August 17, 2017
You twisted what he was saying Bill. He wasn’t justifying but saying bing a slave owner isn’t sufficient reason to be removed from monuments
— Nathan Hunter (@Know_4yourself) August 17, 2017
Bill, have the strength of character to go on Tucker’s show. Using tweets is weak.
— Nathan Hunter (@Know_4yourself) August 17, 2017
Your Trump Derangement Syndrome is gross. If and when you do emerge from your hysteria your gonna find it hard to look in the mirror.
— Brandt Ackley ?? (@MemphisGators58) August 17, 2017
CNN journo demands a ‘fact-check’ when Ben Carson shares personal stories of intolerance, racism
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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