Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson probably wasn’t expecting this when he landed in Australia for the Australian Freedom Conference: a media that was just as dumb as the one at home. While answering questions from the press in Canberra, one reporter tried to ensnare the conservative commentator with a “gotcha” question. It was a plan that wasn’t thought through or well-executed. Someone like Carlson, who is quick, intelligent, and knows the liberal playbook, will annihilate anyone who tries ambushes like this—and the carnage was unimaginable.
The reporter asked about the former Fox News host’s remarks about the great replacement theory and then attempted a shoddy swipe at Mr. Carlson regarding the Buffalo shooter, who was a white supremacist, and support for gun control. Carlson could only laugh at this attempt to smear him, adding that the guilt by association and implication games are why everyone hates the media. Carlson also stumped the reporter when he asked if he ever said, “Whites are being replaced.” He wanted a citation, and nothing could be provided (via Newsweek):
Tucker Utterly Stumps Reporter By Simply Asking For A Citation pic.twitter.com/DwgKMgMTfB
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) June 26, 2024
Worth watching every second of this.
— L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) June 26, 2024
I sincerely fear for @TuckerCarlson's safety. He could well be the most dangerous voice in Western media. pic.twitter.com/z8hwSNbJ2k
In a roughly six-minute video, a female reporter from the Australian Associated Press asked Carlson about the great replacement theory and how he mentioned it on his former Fox News show some "4,000 times," which Carlson refuted, asking for citations.
"I said native-born Americans are being replaced, including Blacks," Carlson said. "African Americans have been in the United States in many cases for over 400 years, and their concerns are every bit as real and valid and alive to me as the concerns of white people whose families have been there 400 years.
"I've never said that whites are being replaced, not one time, and you can't cite it. We just met, but when our relationship starts with a lie it makes it tough to be friends," he said.
[…]
When the reporter said she wasn't calling him "racist," Carlson said her statements were indicative of a larger media environment consisting of "slurs" and implications that negate credibility.
She then brought up the theory again and its connection to a 2023 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, that resulted in 10 deaths.
"Oh God! Come on!" Carlson said. "How do they get people this stupid in the media? I guess it doesn't pay well. Look, I'm sorry, I've lived among people like you for too long. I don't mean to call you stupid. Maybe you're just pretending to be."
He went on: "My views are not bigoted against any group. They're honest, they're factual, and that's not hate, that's reality.... How dare you try to tie me to some lunatic who murdered people? How dare you, actually."
Carlson was then asked about supporting gun control. He responded that a sovereign person has a right to defend themselves and their families, adding that he is "opposed to harming anyone."
The reporter then asked if he "harbors any responsibility" for hate crimes, to which he laughed while some in the crowd jeered.
"I'm sorry, I'm trying to be charitable," Carlson said. "I was, like, maybe you're just pretending to be dumb. Now, I don't think it's an act.
Carlson owned this AP reporter, gracefully brutalizing her while exposing why the media isn’t trusted. The best part is that this reporter probably felt she had a winner here. Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth, and Carlson delivered a haymaker.