Tucker Carlson mocks Jill Biden, compares her title to Dr Pepper, Bill Cosby and says she has ‘status anxiety’
Fox News television presenter, Tucker Carlson, on Monday, December 14, weighed in on the controversy over a "misogynist" Wall Street Journal op-ed, which mocked Jill Biden's use of the title "doctor." Carlson, on his Fox News show, showed his support for the op-ed's writer, Joseph Epstein, and took a swipe at the soon-to-be first lady, saying that she held the same honorific as Dr Pepper and accused her of having "status anxiety." Epstein, in his article last week, had said Jill Biden, who has a PhD from the University of Delaware, was a "doctor of education, which means basically nothing."
Carlson agreed with Epstein and said that he was making a "true and obvious point." The Fox News presenter said: "Jill Biden is not a doctor, no. Maybe in the same sense Dr Pepper is. In 2007, at the age of 55, she got a doctorate in education, so she's got the same degree as Dr Bill Cosby." Carlson was referring to Cosby's doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1976. The comedian is currently serving a three to ten-year sentence for sexual assault.
Carlson also noted that Jill Biden, in 2009, said that she wanted to get a PhD because she was tired of letters to "Senators and Mrs Biden." The presenter accused her of having "status anxiety," saying she "decided to cure that, as so many do in our country, with another pointless title."
Carlson's backing of Epstein came as The Wall Street Journal's opinion editor, Paul Gigot, defended the op-ed amidst demands of his resignation and retraction of the piece. Epstein, in his op-ed, referred to Jill Biden, a teacher, as "kiddo," adding that she should forego the use of 'Dr.' Epstein, in the piece titled 'Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D' said: "A wise man once said that no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child. Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc. In the social sciences and humanities, calling oneself Dr. is thought bush league."
Epstein's op-ed, soon after its release, drew widespread outrage, particularly on social media. President-elect Joe Biden's team and even Jill Biden herself tweeted: "Together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated, rather than diminished."
WSJ opinion editor, Gigot, in response to the criticism, wrote an opinion piece on Sunday, December 13, called 'The Biden Team Strikes Back.' Gigot wrote: "Why go to such lengths to highlight a single op-ed on a relatively minor issue? My guess is that the Biden team concluded it was a chance to use the big gun of identity politics to send a message to critics as it prepares to take power. There's nothing like playing the race or gender card to stifle criticism. It's the left's version of Donald Trump's 'enemy of the people' tweets."
"The difference is that when Mr. Trump rants against the press, the press mobilizes in opposition. In this case the Biden team was able to mobilize almost all of the press to join in denouncing Mr. Epstein and the Journal," Gigot continued. "Nearly every publication wrote about the Biden response, reinforcing the Biden-New York Times line: 'An Opinion Writer Argued Jill Biden Should Drop the 'Dr.' (Few Were Swayed)."