Fox News' Tucker Carlson accuses Democrats of double standards on masks after airing clip of Maxine Waters
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, on Tuesday, October 6, accused Democrats of double standards on wearing masks amid the pandemic. Carlson made the remarks after Democrats' heavy criticism of President Donald Trump for removing his mask after returning to the White House on Monday, October 5, despite being infected with Covid-19.
Carlson made the statement during his prime time show on Tuesday and said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "judges" those who do not wear a mask while the show simultaneously broadcast a video of a man confronting Democrat Congresswoman Maxine Waters for not wearing a mask. Carlson, in his criticism, pointed to CNN anchor Chris Cuomo denouncing the president for taking off his mask for a photo-op and the host then showed Cuomo's pictures which appeared to show the CNN anchor holding a cigar and not wearing a mask. Cuomo's pictures were taken in Long Island over the weekend.
Carlson said: "Chris Cuomo calls us immoral for doubting the rules. Then, in private, he whips off his mask the second he can. Again, we don't judge Chris Cuomo, Chris Cuomo judges us. And that's the point. Nancy Pelosi judges us, too. Watch Pelosi tell you that you've got no choice but to wear a mask at all times," he said, before showing a clip in which Pelosi tells Congress members and staff that they are required to wear masks in the premises.
The Fox News host then began discussing Waters and mockingly suggested that she must be taking wearing masks seriously. "So it goes without saying that Maxine Waters takes mask seriously," he said. "Right. Of course, she doesn't. And today we proved it. We talked to a man called Jason Giandomenico. He told us he saw Maxine Waters recently, and guess what she wasn't wearing? I think you know the answer: she wasn't wearing a mask. So he confronted her. It's all on video." Carlson then proceeded to show a brief clip of the video.
"We're not thinking through the message behind all of this or its consequences," Carlson said. "Democrats are framing total and unthinking obedience to their policies, which are haphazard, irrational and not rooted in science—they're framing obedience to these things as a matter of morality," he added.
Trump, over the past few days, has received widespread criticism for first, making a surprise trip outside the Walter Reed Medical Center to greet his supporters, putting his security detail at risk of contracting Covid-19, and later on Monday, when he came back to the White House but took off his mask — while still being infected — for a photo opportunity.
Speaker Pelosi had denounced Trump for his actions last week after his positive diagnosis, suggesting that "going into crowds, unmasked and all the rest was sort of a brazen invitation for something like this to happen." The Democrat leader also pushed for Americans to wear masks amid the pandemic. "The president should be an example," she said on June 28, months before Trump's diagnosis. "Real men wear masks, be an example to the country, wear a mask. It's not about protecting yourself, it's about protecting others."