Fox News host Tucker Carlson has dismissed comments he made on air more than ten years ago where he calls Iraqis “semiliterate primitive monkeys” and women “extremely primitive” and “basic”.
The decade-old recordings, uncovered by Media Matters, were allegedly made between 2006-2011 when Carlson was a guest panelist on controversial radio program Bubba the Love Sponge.
On one of the recordings, while discussing foreign affairs, Carlson is heard saying he “zero sympathy” for Iraqis.
He said: “A culture where people just don’t use toilet paper or forks.
He is also heard saying: “Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys”.
It is the second leaked recording to come out over the past 48 hours, with the political commentator dismissing calls for his resignation.
Carlson has been thrust into the spotlight after the leaked tapes on Sunday revealed him labeling women as “extremely primitive” and “basic”.
On one tape, when discussing women’s response to weakness in men, Carlson said: “They’re like dogs that way … They can smell it on you”.
He also said: “I mean, I love women, but they’re extremely primitive, they’re basic, they’re not that hard to understand”.
In separate interviews, he also said Oprah Winfrey and Hillary Clinton both “hate the penis”.
The racist and sexist leaked tapes have led people to call for sponsors to cut ties with Fox News.
In a statement released on social media on Monday, Carlson dismissed the comments, labeling them as simply “naughty”.
He said: “Rather than express the usual ritual contrition, how about this: I’m on television every weeknight live for an hour.
“If you want to know what I think, you can watch”.
Carlson backed his comments on Tuesday in a video titled The Great American Outrage Machine.
In it, he said the “left’s main goal is controlling what you think”, and that “since the day we went to air, they’ve been working hard to kill this show”.
“First, Fox News is behind us, as they have been since the very first day. Toughness is a rare quality in a TV network and we are grateful for that.
“Second, we’ve always apologised when we’re wrong and we will continue to do that, that’s what decent people do.
“But we will never bow to the mob”.
However, the commentator does have a number of supporters, including Donald Trump Jr, who tweeted: “Obviously a serious policy show where no satire would be made.
“The left is not going after Tucker Carlson for any reason other than he’s effective at destroying their agenda”.
Fox News is yet to comment.
