Here's what Tucker Carlson said that's sparking calls for an ad boycott
Fox News host Tucker Carlson is facing new pressure after transcriptions of past radio appearances were published in which he compared women to "dogs" and described them as "extremely primitive."
The radio interview transcriptions were published by Media Matters for America, a liberal-leaning nonprofit group that monitors politically conservative media. Carlson made the comments between 2006 and 2011, when he called into shock-jock radio program "Bubba the Love Sponge," the group said.
The comments sparked new calls for an advertising boycott of Carlson's show. The controversy comes only months after his show lost sponsors following the conservative host's comments about immigrants making the U.S. "poorer and dirtier." At the time, advertisers including personal finance website NerdWallet and Pacific Life insurance pulled spots from the show.
Carlson, who defended his track record in a tweet, said he wouldn't give the "usual ritual contrition" after his previous comments about women surfaced. Instead, he invited viewers to watch his show to understand how he thinks.
On Monday, consumers posted lists of his show's advertisers, citing Allstate and AstraZeneca among them. Some wrote to Carlson's advertisers directly on Twitter, asking why they were supporting the conservative host. Allstate didn't immediately return requests for comment.
AstraZeneca said it stopped advertising on Carlson's program earlier this year. "We will not be advertising on this program in the future," the company said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.
"He should be fired by @FoxNews & the companies advertising during his show should boycott — immediately!" one consumer wrote on Twitter.
Carlson's comments on "Bubba the Love Sponge" overlaps with his hiring at Fox News in 2009. During his radio appearances, he used misogynistic terms to describe women as a gender and to single out specific women, such as singer Britney Spears, politician Hillary Clinton and journalist Arianna Huffington. Carlson also made comments that appeared to minimize statutory rape and underage marriage.
Below are some of Carlson's comments, transcribed by Media Matters for America, that are triggering calls for an advertiser boycott:
- "I am not defending underage marriage at all. I just don't think it's the same thing exactly as pulling a child from a bus stop and sexually assaulting that child."
- "I'll tell you one thing that can be done immediately is to eliminate rape shield laws ... we always had these feminists on who kind of, 'Well, because no one would ever report rape.' Really? I don't know. Women seem to be adults to me. I mean, in other words, if you are grievously injured by another person, it's not your fault. I don't understand why, if you're an adult, you just can't get up and say, 'This is what the person did to me.'"
- "Now the problem with Hillary [Clinton] is you look at Hillary and you know in your heart that if she could castrate you, she would."
- "I got to be honest with you. I don't like [Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan] and I wouldn't vote to confirm her if I were a U.S. senator. But I do feel sorry for her in that way. I feel sorry for unattractive women. I mean it's nothing they did. You know, she didn't. Nobody deserves that. And men are just mean."
- "You debate politics with a woman and just go — just full blown out there, especially feminism. If you're talking to a feminist, and she's given you, "Well, men really need to be more sensitive," [say] no, actually, men don't need to be more sensitive. You just need to be quiet and kind of do what you're told."
- "Because [women] hate weakness. They're like dogs that way. They can smell it on you, and they have contempt for it; they'll bite you.
- "I mean, I love women, but they're extremely primitive, they're basic, they're not that hard to understand. And one of the things they hate more than anything is weakness in a man."