Tucker Carlson on Friday suggested that fathers of students should inflict violence upon teachers whom he claims are “pushing sex values” on them.
The Fox News host spoke with Ohio GOP Senate candidate JD Vance about how, as he put it, President Joe Biden “wants to determine what your kids learn about the deepest and most important issues there are.” Biden, he added, is therefore aiming for “control over your family, and your values, and your beliefs.”
“I don’t understand where the men are. Like where are the dads?” Carlson asked. “You know, some teacher is pushing sex values on your third grader. Why don’t you go in and thrash the teacher? Like this is an agent of the government pushing someone else’s values on your kid about sex, like where’s the pushback?”
Carlson has made comments like this before. Last month, while defending Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill—which is now law—the Fox News host said that teachers who discuss gender identity with students “should be arrested” and “beaten up.” The legislation’s passage came as many on the right have charged, deceptively, that it’s necessary to prevent “grooming” kids.
In response to Carlson, Vance criticized the “crazy lunatics” he deems responsible for the hypothetical scenario the Fox News host described.
“I mean I agree with you [that] there should be a ton of pushback. I’m the father of three young kids and I would get enraged if I found out this was happening at my kids’ school,” Vance said.
“One of the things we’re learning, Tucker, is that this is being forced by some of these really radical teachers and they’re hiding it from the parents. That’s maybe the most pernicious part.”
“Unacceptable,” Carlson replied.