Fox News host Tucker Carlson dropped a crass comparison Friday as he insisted that “the left” criticizing Donald Trump’s behavior in contracting COVID-19 is the same as blaming the victim of a sexual assault.
Critics have pointed out that the president could have vastly reduced his chances of getting the coronavirus by following the strongly recommended guidelines of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as avoiding crowds, wearing a mask and maintaining appropriate social distancing.
Instead, he has hosted crowded campaign rallies — against the advice of several local officials — where few people, including the president, have worn masks or maintained a safe distance.
Carlson falsely insisted that CNN said Trump “deserved the sickness that he got.” He played a clip of CNN’s John Harwood, for example, who said that the president’s behavior has put a “lot of people” in “jeopardy,” including the “president himself.”
“Imagine,” said a disgusted Carlson. Trump “just announced he was infected ... he deserved it,” the Fox News host added, repeating what he imagined the “left” had said. “They didn’t wait long.”
Carlson summed up his view of the media’s — and the Democrats’ — perspective on Trump as: “He asked for it. He was dressed provocatively.”
Critics on Twitter couldn’t quite believe it.
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