On Tuesday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson slammed Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) as a “moron,” and called her “coward” for refusing to come on his show without a public apology.
During his segment, Carlson claimed his show reached out to Duckworth’s office to invite her on the program to have a “vigorous, reasoned exchange between adults.” But he said a representative “informed us that before even considering our request, we must first issue a public apology for criticizing” the senator.
“Keep in mind that Tammy Duckworth is not a child, at least not technically – she is a sitting United States senator, who is often described as a hero, yet Duckworth is too afraid to defend her own statements on a cable TV show. What a coward,” Carlson said in a manic escalation of his recent attacks against the Illinois Democrat.
Carlson and Duckworth have been feuding since the right-wing pundit criticized her for backing a “national dialogue” on changing the names of military bases named after Confederate leaders.
“You’re not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military,” Carlson said during his monologue on his Monday show. “Most people just ignore her. But when Duckworth does speak in public, you’re reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is.”
Duckworth fired back at Carlson’s comments in a tweet, asking if the Fox News host wanted “to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?”
The senator is a combat veteran who lost her legs in 2004 after a Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting in Iraq was shot down.
On his Tuesday show, Carlson criticized Duckworth’s comments, saying, “That’s what passes for an argument in modern identity politics.”
“They don’t address the points that you make,” he said. “They question your right to make them at all.”
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