Carlson: Iraqis Are “Semi-Literate Primitive Monkeys”

The Daily Beast reports:

Tucker Carlson described Iraqis as “semi-literate primitive monkeys” in past comments made on the Bubba The Love Sponge radio show, according to new audio recordings uncovered by Media Matters.

The Fox News host also claimed Iraqis don’t “behave like human beings” and said he had “zero sympathy” for Iraqis or their culture during a May 2006 discussion of the Iraq War on the popular radio show.

“A culture where people just don’t use toilet paper or forks,” Carlson said—adding that Iraqis should “ just shut the fuck up and obey” the U.S. because “they can’t govern themselves.

Joan Walsh writes at The Nation:

None of this should be shocking to any sentient being: Carlson is a sexist pig, who has lately become the white-nationalist defender of fragile white men. But it is particularly not shocking to me—because, nine years ago, Carlson called me the C-word to a Salon intern, multiple times, and told the young man I needed to get “fucked.” I remember it because of the firestorm it caused in our small office.

The intern, Ethan Sherwood Strauss, remembers it too, telling Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple that he’d called to ask Carlson to do an opinion piece about President Obama (I don’t remember that detail, and, assuming it’s true, I apologize for our news judgment), when, out of nowhere, Carlson began calling me the C-word and sharing his views on my sex life. Strauss, understandably, was shocked, and told his supervisor what happened.

The Hill reports:

CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Monday called out Fox News host Tucker Carlson after audio surfaced of Carlson making derogatory comments about women, Muslims and other groups, challenging Carlson to repeat his words or apologize.

“Would he say the same things today? No, no, he’s too busy playing the victim. He’d only say that he was ‘naughty.’ ” Cuomo said on his prime-time show. “Come on, big man. Read the list of all the things that you said and do it again and show that you mean it. He says apologizing to the mob costs people their jobs,” Cuomo added.