Tucker Carlson refuses to apologize after sexist remarks resurface

The Fox News host Tucker Carlson has refused to apologize for sexist and controversial remarks he made on talk radio years ago, after they were brought to light in a video compiled by the liberal watchdog Media Matters.

The remarks, made on the air with Bubba the Love Sponge, a popular shock jock, included describing women as “extremely primitive” and “like dogs”. Carlson also insulted a number of women individually, calling Alexis Stewart “extremely cunty” and Britney Spears and Paris Hilton “two of the biggest white whores in America”.

In a statement on Sunday night, Carlson said he had been caught “saying something naughty” a decade ago.

“Rather than express the usual ritual contrition, how about this: I’m on television every weeknight live for an hour,” Carlson said. “If you want to know what I think, you can watch. Anyone who disagrees with my views is welcome to come on and explain why.”

Carlson made regular appearances on air with Bubba the Love Sponge between 2006 and 2011, when he worked for MSNBC. In 2006, he said it “gets women going” when men argue with them.

“If you’re talking to a feminist,” he said, “and she’s given you, ‘Well, men really need to be more sensitive,’ no, actually, men don’t need to be more sensitive. You just need to be quiet and kind of do what you’re told.”

Carlson also downplayed the actions of cult leader Warren Jeffs, then

on the FBI’s most-wanted list for his involvement in arranging illegal marriages between adults and underage girls. Jeffs, Carlson said, was someone with “a different lifestyle that people find creepy”.

Carlson said it was “bullshit” that Jeffs had been charged with felony rape for facilitating the marriage of a 16-yearold girl and a 27-year-old man. Jeffs was not convicted on those charges but is now serving a life sentence for the sexual assault of two girls, ages 12 and 15, he took as polygamous wives.

Carlson has been a lightning rod for controversy throughout his career. Recently he was widely criticized for calling historian Rutger Bregman a “moron” and telling him to “go fuck yourself”, after becoming frustrated during an interview that ultimately did not air.

This is not the first time a Media Matters reel has drawn attention to Carlson’s statements. In September, the group compiled another video depicting how the conservative commentator had become a darling of “white supremacists, antisemites, misogynists” and the alt-right.

Carlson’s show lost dozens of sponsors in December, after he said on air that immigration makes the US “poorer and dirtier and more divided”.