John Avlon devoted his Reality Check segment today to building the case against Tucker Carlson.
"You know what's unpatriotic? Calling your opponents unpatriotic," he said.
"But Fox News Tucker Carlson might have picked on the wrong combat veteran."
"Now, before we get into what so offended Carlson, here's a little bit more about the person he called deeply silly and unimpressive. Duckworth was born in Thailand to an American father, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, and a Chinese Thai mother. By the way, they have served in every American war since the Revolution. Tammy joined the ROTC as a grad student, and became a commissioned officer. In 2004 she went to Iraq as one of the first American female combat pilots. Her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by an RPG, and she lost both her legs, along with half of the blood in her body. She earned the Purple Heart, among many other medals, and spent a year recuperating, but she never let her disability hold her back. 'I'm not about to let some guy who got lucky with an RPG decide how I'm going to live my life.'
"But she became director of the Illinois VA the same year that Carlson was on 'Dancing With The Stars' after a career as a conservative writer and co-host of 'Crossfire.' In 2009, Duckworth became assistant secretary of the V.A. 2012, she was elected to the House. 2016, the Senate, and went on to become the first U.S. senator to give birth while in office. Got all that? Now here's what she said that really teed off Tucker.
DUCKWORTH: Well, let me just say that we should start off by having a national dialogue on it. What really struck me about this speech that the president gave at Mt. Rushmore, he spent more time worried about honoring dead Confederates than he did talking about the lives of our -- the 130,000 Americans who lost their lives to Covid-19 or by warning Russia off of the bounty they're putting on American heads.
"To which Tucker replied:"
"In response, the senator tweeted, 'Does Tucker Carlson want to walk a mile in my legs and then tell me whether or not I love America?' "
"This isn't just about whether Tucker Carlson or Donald Trump served and sacrificed for their country the way that Duckworth did. They didn't. It's about the ugly rush to demonize your political opponents, which Carlson did again last night. Desperately calling Duckworth a moron, a coward, a fraud, someone who was once injured while serving in the Illinois National Guard and, because irony is dead, 'a callous hack.' He did all this allegedly to defend George Washington, whose statues Duckworth never said should be taken down -- and for what it's worth, I don't think they should be.
"But he might want to refer back to Washington's warning that we should guard against 'the impostors of pretended patriotism.' And some folks fear-monger when they don't have facts on their side. Speaking of facts, here's something to ponder if you're wondering who you can trust in this hailstorm of hate. Fox News' own lawyer argued in federal court that Carlson's audience doesn't expect him to report the facts.
"And that's your reality check."
Trump and @TuckerCarlson want a fight?! Unlike those cowards, @SenDuckworth is battle-tested. Bring it on! #ToughAsHell#CadetBoneSpurs pic.twitter.com/Zgdx2HfMlt
— VoteVets (@votevets) July 8, 2020
