Thursday, Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson hammered the Biden campaign and media for what appeared to be contrived efforts to make Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, a victim of sexism at the hands of Vice President Mike Pence during and after Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate.
Carlson took issue with the use of the term “mansplaining,” as well. He noted how, when Trump or Biden had interrupted one another, there were no gender-based accusations, suggesting a double standard was applied for Harris.
Transcript as follows:
CARLSON: Did you catch the VP debate last night? If you did, if you saw it, you’ve got to think the Biden people are beginning to regret picking Kamala Harris for the ticket. Maybe on paper, Harris made sense as the old guy’s running mate. Apparently, she did.
But on stage, not appealing to put it mildly. Unless you enjoyed being lectured in school by substitute teachers who tried to mask their insecurity with aggression, you probably don’t want four more years of that, even 90 minutes of it was hard to take.
The good news is we did learn at least one important new thing from watching. We learned how Democrats plan to use identity politics going forward. We already knew that identity politics is an effective, maybe the most effective way to get Democrats to the polls in an election year. That’s why they do it.
What we learned last night is that identity politics has a bigger purpose. It is the justification that Democrats will use to tear down our centuries-old system of government and replace it with one party rule with themselves in charge.
The evidence came toward the end of last night’s debate when Mike Pence asked Harris what the moderator didn’t ask, but should have. Does she and Biden plan to pack the Supreme Court of the United States? Does the Biden administration intend to convert our third branch of government into a partisan super-legislature with lifetime tenure?
It’s a pretty simple question. It’s a vital question. Political courts are the hallmark of banana republics and dictatorships. We don’t want that here.
Yet, for weeks, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have refused to say what they will do if elected. So last night, Pence pushed again, here’s what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are you and Joe Biden, if somehow you win this election, going to pack the Supreme Court to get your way,
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Joe and I are very clear, the American people are voting right now, and it should be their decision about who will serve on this most important body for a lifetime.
SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, “U.S.A. TODAY”: Thank you, Senator Harris.
PENCE: Well, Susan, they are voting right now. They’d like to know if you and Joe Biden are going to pack the Supreme Court if you don’t get your way in this nomination?
HARRIS: Let’s talk about packing the court then. Let’s talk about.
PENCE: Please.
HARRIS: And yes, I’m about to. And do you know, that of the 50 people who President Trump appointed to the Court of Appeals for lifetime appointments, not one is black? This is what they’ve been doing. You want to talk about packing a court? Let’s have that discussion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Wait a minute, you might ask, what does court-packing have to do with the number of black judges on the Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals? Those seem like completely unrelated concepts. Was Kamala Harris trying to dodge the question?
Unfortunately, she was not dodging it. She was answering the question and she was answering it honestly, believe it or not. If she and Joe Biden win next month, they will indeed pack the Supreme Court. They’ll justify doing that in the name of diversity.
They will tell you the Trump administration is racist for not selecting judges based on the color of their skin. They’ll tell you that nine is a very racist number of Supreme Court seats. In fact, it’s the number of some dead white guy came up with a long time ago. See, it’s racist.
They’ll tell you we need to diversify the court. And of course, that means a supermajority of partisan Democrats. That’s what they’re going to tell you. For now, they are not telling you anything, though. Joe Biden repeated that position today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You’ll know my opinion on court-packing when the election is over. Now, look, I know, it is a great question for you all, and I don’t blame you for asking. But you know, the moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Did you hear that? Has any presidential candidate in history ever use that line? You feel like all lines have been used before, but this one? I can’t answer your question, because if I do answer it, everyone will talk about my answer.
What does that even mean? Truly, we have no idea what it means. But we do know that none of this is going to stop with Supreme Court.
This summer, Barack Obama used a funeral service to tell us that the filibuster is a relic of Jim Crow. It’s a racist procedure. Any Senate procedure that limits the power of the Democratic Party is by definition racist. That’s the new standard.
Identity politics is the most powerful political weapon they have. Don’t take it at face value. There’s a purpose for it. And of course, identity politics is also a handy shield. We saw that repeatedly last night.
At one point, Pence pointed out the Democrats have attacked Amy Coney Barrett for the crime of being Catholic. That seems out of bounds. How did Harris respond? She responded by describing herself as a person of faith.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: First of all, Joe Biden and I are both people of faith, and it’s insulting to suggest that we would knock anyone for their faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Oh, come on, a person of faith now? How? What exactly does Kamala Harris worship apart from power? Honestly, we’d like to know. If you know, tell us. She seems like the most secular candidate ever to run for national office. That’s not an attack on her, by the way, plenty of decent secular people.
But it’s true. Not that truth matters in this case.
For the purposes of last night’s debate, Kamala Harris identified as a person of faith, and that’s all that matters. The progressive left understands race and gender and yes, religious faith as a means to an end, they are identities.
They don’t have independent meanings. They are tools used to win arguments and achieve power.
Kamala Harris cycled through various identities last night. “I’m speaking,” she barked again and again when Mike Pence tried to respond to her. In other words, I’m a woman. That’s why you’re interrupting me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The Vice President said when asked, well, why didn’t you all tell anybody? He said, because the President wanted people to remain calm.
PAGE: Well, let’s go —
HARRIS: But Susan, this is important.
PENCE: Susan, I have to weigh in here.
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I am speaking.
PENCE: I have to weigh in.
HARRIS: I’m speaking.
Joe Biden has been very clear. He will not raise taxes on anybody who makes less than $400,000.00.
PENCE: He said he is going to repeal the Trump tax cuts.
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I am speaking.
PENCE: Well —
HARRIS: I am speaking. I’m so glad we went through a little history lesson. Let’s do that a little more.
In 1864 —
PENCE: I’d like you to answer the question.
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I am speaking. I am speaking, OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Democrats thought that was appealing, what world do they live in? They must have because already you can find t-shirts and mugs online with the phrase “I’m speaking.” Obviously, it was planned.
Kamala Harris’s many allies in the media were impressed, too. They knew exactly what Kamala Harris was really saying, I’m a woman. And they were unanimous in their conclusion.
Mike Pence, who has been married to the same woman for 35 years interrupted Kamala Harris because he is a sexist who hates women.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: She was not overly assertive throughout this entire debate.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Pence was a mansplainer in chief.
SANTORUM: I get.
JONES: Mr. Mansplainer all night.
SANTORUM: I understand that.
JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: He repeatedly interrupted her. He demanded — well, he also repeatedly interrupted the other woman in the room, which is the moderator who seemed to at some point lose control of him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have a reporter and a woman candidate, and both of them you’re interrupting, both of whom you are attacking. Not a good sign.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I think a lot of people were noticing some mansplaining going on tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He kept interrupting his moderator, a woman, and his opponent, a woman. Some may feel that that showed lack of respect.
CLAIRE MCCASKILL, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, let me start with Pence. He was patronizing, which drove all the women crazy.
LAWRENCE O’DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Mike Pence, who was mostly polite, but did interrupt and did do the guy thing of demanding and getting more time to speak than the woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Oh, so as a scientific matter, the category women doesn’t really exist, neither does the category men, because gender fluidity is real. You can choose your gender.
But women are also simultaneously so different from men that you have to treat them in a completely different way or you’re a bad person. Are you following this? And if you do that, you’re mansplaining. That’s what they told us on TV last night.
What kind of adult uses the term “mansplaining”? Get some self-respect.
And by the way, think it through. Why did no one accused Donald Trump or Joe Biden of mansplaining when they repeatedly interrupted each other at last week’s debate? Whatever.
When a man interrupts a woman, it must be sexism. There’s no other explanation. In order to treat women equally, we have to treat them very differently for men so as not to disturb their delicate sensibilities. It’s insane.
And if the consequences for this country weren’t so serious, it would be amusing. But they don’t even follow their own rules, which makes sense because the rules are incoherent. Last night, the same people who denounced Pence as a sexist went on at length about Kamala Harris’s charming girlish smile.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kamala Harris with a smile pushed back on Mike Pence’s repeated talking over time and interrupting her.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: So did you notice the smile that was on her face a time all the time, when she — and that’s hard when you’re getting interrupted constantly.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Every shot Kamala Harris, when she is looking at him would smile. She had a smile on her face far more than Pence ever had a smile on his face.
MCCASKILL: Kamala on the other hand, she was strong. She was in command and she had a hint of joy. You sense that there is joyfulness in her spirit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Obviously, these are partisans. Obviously, these are people who are projecting their own sad, empty, hollow personal lives onto the rest of the country.
No matter what they’re doing, though, it’s just too stupid for a great nation. At one point during the debate, Mike Pence, to his credit, tried to elevate it a little bit, talk about something that actually matters. The habit we’ve all fallen into, of thinking of each other as members of categories rather than as human beings and as individuals, as creations of God. That’s how people of faith think, by the way, Senator Harris.
Whatever they’re calling this kind of thinking right now, intersectionalism, identity politics, Critical Race Theory, systemic racism, whatever. It’s terrible. It’s a cul de sac, it will wreck the country.
So Mike Pence tried to make that point. No, he said last night, the police aren’t systemically racist, whatever that is. This is a fundamentally good country.
Now, that’s a conversation would be worth having. That would be edifying. That does mean something. But the media ignored it. They spent most of the night talking about a housefly that landed on Mike Pence’s forehead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAYLE KING, CBS NEWS HOST: At one point when they were talking about systemic racism, I think it’s very interesting timing, that a fly would land on Mike Pence’s head at that particular time, when he said that there really wasn’t systemic racism. I saw the fly basically go and say what? I mean, it was very interesting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: It was very interesting. What you have here, what you have so often is yet another unhappy rich lady complaining about oppression. No wonder the American population is so desperately unhappy.
Look at who is leading them. The most privileged in our society who never stop whining about their own lives. It’s unbearable. In fact, if we’re being honest about it, and this was one bright spot from last night’s debate, some annoying behavior aside, it was a pretty respectful affair, all things considering — considering we’re three weeks out in the most intense political year of our lifetimes.
There were a handful of minor interruptions, as you would expect, but for the most part, both of them, Pence and Harris kept to their time limits. In fact, they spoke roughly for the same amount of time last night. That’s worth noting, maybe celebrating.
And yet for our media class, the main takeaway was still that Mike Pence is a sexist and by the way, there was a fly in his forehead. We definitely deserve better than that.
The presidential election is a little over three weeks from right now. We still have no idea who is going to win. But no matter who does win in November, there’s one thing for certain, this country desperately needs a better class of leaders in charge. These people are ridiculous.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor