By Jon Vitale
Elm Staff Writer
Tucker Carlson, a host of Fox News, has recently fallen under
heavy criticism for several comments he made in the past
about women that have resurfaced. The comments that have
garnered the attention came from various appearances on the
radio show “Bubba the Love Sponge” that Carlson made between
2006 and 2011.
In 2009, Carlson came to the defense of Warren Jeffs, who
was then being charged with facilitation of child rape. Carlson
claimed that Jeffs had not himself been guilty of rape and
was therefore being jailed for being “weird.” In 2010, Carlson
made remarks about Elena Kagan, then a Supreme Court
nominee, in which he said, “she’s never going to be an attractive
woman.”
Carlson has made several more controversial comments,
including “I love women, but they’re extremely primitive,
they’re basic, they’re not that hard to understand.” The bigoted
comments have fallen under heavy fire from media outlets
and entertainers alike. On “The Late Show,” Stephen Colbert
ridiculed Carlson, saying, “you’re awful on so many levels.”
Carlson has refused to apologize for the comments, claiming
that he is being unfairly attacked for things he said almost
a decade ago.
In his refusal to apologize, Carlson has made numerous
claims. One is that he should not be held accountable for
something he said so long ago. Another is that he is the victim
of a witch hunt. A third is that to force him to step down
would be a violation of his freedom of speech.
To Carlson’s point, the remarks he made were indeed ten
years ago, on a relatively small-scale radio program. It is very
common for public figures to make terrible remarks they later
regret. These are people who make the same mistakes as everybody
else. Additionally, awful as his comments were, they
are protected constitutionally. All of this being considered,
calls for Carlson to be forced to step down over these remarks,
or any remarks he has made should, in fairness, be dismissed.
However, unfortunately for Carlson, these are not the arguments
his critics are making.
While there have been some, there have not been too many
calls for him to step down, nor even many accusations that
he should be held entirely accountable for his remarks at all.
They have been commonly regarded, even by many of his
critics, as mere slip ups. All Carlson’s critics are asking for is
an apology, and while an apology should not be forced from
Carlson, he would be right to make one by his own choice, for
the sake of decency. His comments were disgusting, bigoted,
ignorant, and harmful.
Whether or not Carlson still believes what he said a decade
ago is anybody’s guess, but either way, he should admit that
saying those things was wrong. The Constitution gives Carlson
the right to say what he wants, but not the right to be free
of consequences for saying it, necessitating better judgement
on his part if he wants to retain any credibility.
Public figures do, like all of us, make mistakes and say bad
things. However, when a public figure makes such a mistake,
it is customary for them to apologize, lest they lend credibility
to whatever they said. By refusing to apologize for these old
remarks, Carlson is doubling down on them. He’s making a
bigger deal out of what could have been disregarded as just a
few slip-ups. The remarks he made were awful, and he would
do himself a great favor in acknowledging his mistakes and
apologizing. Until he does so, he will continue to fall victim
to justified bipartisan attacks that he might later find difficult
to recover from.