In an apparent attempt to stoke outrage over what he described as Bernie Sanders’ hypocrisy on climate change late Monday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson asserted that the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate should walk from Vermont to D.C. for work so as to “live by the standards” he’s setting for others.
Politico reported Monday morning that Sanders had been criticized by former Hillary Clinton campaign staffers for requesting the use of a “carbon-spewing private jet for himself and his traveling staff” when he served as a Clinton campaign surrogate during the final stretch of the 2016 election. Carlson seized on that report to suggest Sanders himself must not believe that climate change is really an “imminent” and “profound” threat—an argument that was swiftly shot down as “BS” by his guest, progressive activist Adam Green. Green had pushed back on the Politico story earlier Monday, calling it a “hit piece” and a bad argument for hypocrisy on climate change.
Acting outraged, Carlson demanded answers from Green on how anyone who believes carbon emissions are destroying the planet could ever fly on a private jet, prompting Green to shake his head and calmly note that this was not one of Carlson’s stronger arguments. The two then went back and forth for a bit over the merits of Carlson’s assertion that Sanders was a hypocrite on climate change—a charge he has made before.
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After Carlson chastised Sanders for also owning too many houses, Green fired back that the Tucker Carlson Tonight host was engaging in a “fake hypocrisy argument.” The primetime Fox News star retorted that “if you think adultery is wrong, don’t cheat on your wife.”
With the discussion heating up and the two talking over each other, Green asked Carlson if he was arguing that the independent Vermont senator should walk to work every day.
“Should he walk from Vermont to D.C.?” Green pressed Carlson.
“Yes! Yes!” the Fox News host replied.
“You just said yes, he should walk from Vermont to D.C.? That shows the BS argument that you just described,”Green said, adding, “I’ve seen you make better arguments.”
Carlson ended the interview by angrily telling Green that “this is idiotic” and that he was just “making excuses” for Sanders. Green, meanwhile, shot down Carlson’s claims as not a “real argument.”
“You got me, Adam, you got me. You’re a brilliant guy,” Carlson mockingly huffed at the end.
