Okay, I’ll admit that I rarely watch Fox News, much less Tucker Carlson, but even from what I have watched, his latest attack Tuesday on the new White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, was more homophobic and racist than usual.
I guess Carlson really wanted to say how much he hates that a Black, out LGBTQ+ person was in a position of power. That wouldn’t fill enough air-time, though, so he went on a vicious, bigoted attack.
He begins his monologue by disparaging the role of the White House Press Secretary in general, by saying the job’s “not easy” but neither is it “rewarding,” adding “you’re not making decisions or policy, you’re repeating the party line,” and “under normal circumstances, it’s a lot more creativity to say, sell lipstick for Loreal” than to be press secretary. I guess that includes Trump’s team with Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, or Kayleigh McEnany.
As for the current White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, Carlson suggests she doesn’t really know what the acronym LGBTQ+ means. Psaki introduced her successor by saying that she is the first Black, out LGBTQ+ person in the White House’s history.
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“It [LGBTQ+] is one of those terms you’re not supposed to define. One day you just start using it… and anyone who asks what it means is immediately presumed to be in the ‘out-group.’” He goes on to say that “it’s not actually a word… it’s a litmus test and you can fail.”
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Well, not knowing what LGBTQ+ means won’t fail you, Tucker, but saying what you say every time you open your mouth on Fox will.
But the most outrageous and infuriating thing Carlson said during his rant was that Jean-Pierre was hired purely because she’s Black and a member of the LGBTQ+ community. Carlson made sure to add that this is also how “they”—presumably “they” being everyone left of “outright white nationalists”—pick Supreme Court Justices, a not-very-subtle dig at recently confirmed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. “The all-important press secretary gig has gone to someone on the basis of group,” Carlson said.
“It’s really simple,” he continued. “Show us your picture, and we’ll tell you if you’re qualified for the job.”
So, let’s unpack who this unqualified new press secretary is.
According to the White House website:
“Jean-Pierre is currently the Principal Deputy Press Secretary and Deputy Assistant to the President. Karine is a long-time advisor to President Biden, having served in senior communication and political roles in the Biden Administration, the Biden campaign, and to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama Administration.
“Prior to her role on the campaign, she served as Chief Public Affairs Officer for MoveOn.org and an NBC and MSNBC Political Analyst. Jean-Pierre served as Regional Political Director for the White House Office of Political Affairs during the Obama-Biden administration and as Deputy Battleground States Director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She served as Southeast Regional Political Director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign, Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin O’Malley for President, Campaign Manager for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Initiative, and Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Legislative and Budget Affairs for two members in the New York City Council.
“Previously, she worked at the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, pushing major companies to change their business practices, and is a published author. Born in Martinique and raised in New York, Jean-Pierre is a graduate of Columbia University.”
Carlson also focuses his tirade on a montage of comments Jean-Pierre has made while discussing racism in the U.S, including unequal voting rights, the actions and words of conservative Republicans, and the influence of Fox News. In one clip, Jean-Pierre specifically mentions Tucker Carlson, so now you see why his panties are all in a bunch.
This commentary was personal for Tucker. Being called out for the racist that he is couldn’t go unanswered. He had to belittle her and scoff at the idea that the nation we live in—the one that allows his discriminatory outbursts on national TV—isn’t racist. A faulty view he effectively spreads by sitting at his Fox News desk and saying racist shit all day long.
