When a local fly fishing guide spotted noted vaccine skeptic Tucker Carlson at a sporting goods store in Livingston, Montana, he did not waste time.
“You are the worst human being known to mankind. I want you to know that,” Dan Bailey can be heard telling the Fox News host in a video posted to his Instagram page Friday night.
He captioned the video: “It’s not everyday you get to tell someone they are the worst person in the world and really mean it! What an asshole!”
Although the video was filmed inside Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop on Friday, the store is not affiliated with the man who filmed the video, according to a statement on its website.
“This person has no affiliation with our business, other than he shares the same name as our founder, who passed away in 1982. To be clear, we treat every customer equally and respectfully. Our staff was professional and cordial to Mr. Carlson, as we are with all of our customers,” the store’s owner, Dale Sexton, said in a statement.
In his Instagram caption, Bailey wrote of Carlson, “This man has killed more people with vaccine misinformation, he has supported extreme racism, he is a fascist and does more to rip this country apart than anyone that calls themselves an American.”
Much of the brief conversation ― apparently filmed by a shaky mobile phone ― is difficult to make out. Carlson, in a plaid button-down and a gold watch, can be seen holding his hand up against Bailey’s chest, making his trademark exaggerated facial expressions. He appears to grimace, and then, realizing he is being filmed, spreads his mouth into a grin and turns away.
Bailey can be heard saying: “What you have done to people’s families, what you have done to everyone else ― ”
Carlson then appears to condescend to the man, calling him “son” as he walks away.
The Fox host, whose weeknight opinion program regularly leads the nightly news ratings, has attracted special attention for continuing to cast a mountain of doubt on COVID-19 vaccines even while fellow conservatives pivot their messaging in favor of inoculation. Thanks in large part to the highly contagious delta variant, cases are steadily rising once more in conservative-leaning regions of the country that lag behind other regions in vaccination.