NEW YORK ā Television's most popular political host, Tucker Carlson, says leaders of the Democratic party should be disqualified from running the country because they ādespiseā it.
That led the Biden campaign to accuse the Fox News Channel host on Tuesday of using āhate speech masquerading as journalismā and acting as an accomplice to President Donald Trump.
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Days after reports surfaced that some Republicans were discussing Carlson as a potential 2024 presidential contender, he delivered a monologue Monday night striking in its language and amplification of points made by Trump over the Fourth of July weekend.
Trump said at Mount Rushmore that the āradical ideology attacking our countryā in protests that followed George Floydās death in police custody āwould demolish both justice and society.ā Trump has been critical of efforts to remove monuments to the Confederacy, which has led to reevaluations of other historical figures.
While some analysts called it divisive, Carlson praised it as the best speech the president has made in his life.
He played clips of cable TV hosts and analysts critical of some of the nationās actions historically. Carlson said that āthese people hate America. Thereās no longer any question about that.ā
āThe leaders of todayās Democratic Party ... despise this country,ā he said. āThey have said so. They continue to. That is shocking but it is also disqualifying. We cannot let them run this nation because they hate it. Imagine what they would do to it.ā
He contrasted Trump's speech with one made over the holiday weekend where former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, said Americans had the chance to rip out the roots of systemic racism. Carlson said Biden was wagging his finger āin the face of the nation that promoted someone as mediocre as you to the position you held.ā
āTucker Carlson and his colleagues who traffic in hate speech masquerading as journalism are accomplices to Donald Trumpās perverse mission to use division and bitterness to tear this country apart,ā said Biden campaign spokesman T.J. Ducklo. "It is the polar opposite of what Joe Biden stands for, and exactly what he means when he talks about a battle for the soul of America.ā
Fox News did not immediately comment on Ducklo's statement.
Questioning patriotism has long been a part of politiciansā playbooks, from suggestions that anti-Vietnam War protesters ālove it or leave itā and harsh criticisms of Democrats after the Civil War, said Thomas Patterson, former head of Harvardās Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy.
āThings are really heating up and I do think there is an air of desperation on the part of Republicans in this,ā said Patterson, author of āIs the Republican Party Destroying Itself?ā
Carlson has been among biggest television beneficiaries during the busy news period. He's been reaching 4 million viewers a night and in recent months has pulled slightly ahead of Fox News colleague Sean Hannity.
Besides Biden, Carlson on Monday singled out U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a former military helicopter pilot who lost both legs during a 2004 attack in Iraq.
Carlson was critical of the Democratic senator for an interview with CNNās Dana Bash where she was twice asked about whether or not statues of George Washington should be removed. Duckworth didnāt give her opinion, but said Americans should have a ānational dialogueā about it.
āYouāre not supposed to criticize Tammy Duckworth in any way because she once served in the military,ā Carlson said. āMost people just ignore her. But when Duckworth does speak in public youāre reminded what a deeply silly and unimpressive person she is.ā
Duckworth tweeted in response: āDoes Tucker Carlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?ā
The senator spoke Tuesday night at a fundraiser for Biden, where the former vice president referenced Trump attacking her patriotism.
āI found it sickening,ā Biden said to Duckworth: āI know you can handle yourself, youāve already done that. But I just think itās a reflection of the depravity of whatās going in the White House right now.ā
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Associated Press Writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.