Fox News host Tucker Carlson once again dipped his toes in conspiratorial waters on Tuesday night, openly sympathizing with deranged conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and suggesting that the scientific community is currently contemplating “human engineering.”
Carlson, who fully embraces the theory that COVID-19 leaked from a Wuhan lab and believes Dr. Anthony Fauci was involved in engineering the virus, kicked off his primetime program Tuesday evening by wildly speculating that scientists are tinkering with human genomes to make us smaller.
His proof? Something a philosophy professor said a few years ago.
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With an on-air graphic blaring “Scientists Are Pushing ‘Human Engineering,’” Carlson highlighted comments made by S. Matthew Liao, a professor of philosophy and bioethics at New York University, during a 2016 panel discussion at the World Science Festival.
Over the years, Liao has written extensively on the ethical implications of biomedical modifications to humans, particularly with regard to combating climate change. In a 2012 paper, which Carlson referenced on Tuesday, Liao proposed the potential use of genetic engineering and hormone therapy that could result in birthing smaller, less resource-needy children. Liao has made it clear the paper wasn’t meant to advocate for any of these treatments but rather to offer up human engineering as one possible solution to climate change.
Calling Liao “among the most influential bioethicists in the world,” Carlson warned his viewers that the professor’s supposed prominence “would amaze you once you see this tape.” He then aired some of Liao’s remarks from the 2016 conference.
Regarding Liao’s suggestion that human engineering could possibly be done ethically to deal with climate change, Carlson said the very mention of the phrase “human engineering” should “make you pause and take a deep breath.” He also took Liao’s suggestion that a pill might be utilized to suppress a desire to eat red meat—a large producer of greenhouse gases—as a soon-to-be reality.
“It’s hard to believe a pill like that would be optional,” Carlson breathlessly remarked. “It would be mandatory pretty soon. Does that sound like a dystopian fantasy? He is deadly serious.”
After playing more video of Liao, the Fox News star wondered aloud why people would make fun of a well-known conspiracist in the wake of the professor’s comments.
“Human engineering,” Carlson said dramatically, adding: “Why do we laugh at Alex Jones again? Sincere question. Hehe.”
Carlson has repeatedly defended the Sandy Hook truther over the years and has appeared on the far-right provocateur’s network InfoWars in the past.
Perhaps because it was bound to happen in a segment like this, Carlson eventually invoked Godwin’s law, saying human engineering was “creepy” and that we tried in it “Europe 80 years ago and agreed that we were never going to try it again,” referencing Nazi human experiments.
As for Liao’s suggestion about birthing smaller children, Carlson likened that to “fiddling with the human genome” to create a “race of dwarves” before borrowing Jones’ hyperbolic style to mock Liao’s theoretical ideas.
“Imagine if we had smaller children? Little tiny children,” Carlson melodramatically intoned. “Think of how little they would emit in greenhouse gases. Think how easy it would be to pick them up, juggle them around, control them? All we need to do is experiment on human children, and we can solve climate change!”
Carlson concluded by implying the scientific community hasn’t just embraced the professor’s possible scenario but has gone even further.
“This was at a public conference five years ago,” the Fox star exclaimed. “Nobody said anything. Surprised? You shouldn’t be! What you heard is less ghoulish than things happening in labs right now.”
He concluded: “This is what science looks like when it’s completely decoupled from wisdom and from decency and Christianity. It’s a science fiction novel come to life, except it’s real.”
