Tucker Carlson thought anti-elite historian would be an easy interview, but ended up telling him "go fuck yourself"

You may have seen the Dutch historian Rutger Bregman in a viral video last month, in which he appeared on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos and berated the attendees for their tax-evasion and insisted that no amount of philanthropy can make up for starving the state of the money it needs to provide for everyone under democratic guidance.

The net-fame earned Bregman an invitation to appear on Tucker Carlson’s show, presumably as part of the wave of extremely selective right-wing interest in trustbusting and railing against elites.

But Bregman was capable of understanding that just because Carlson thought he was on Bregman’s side, it didn’t follow that Bregman should be on Carlson’s side, especially not after Carlson’s years of carrying water for sinister, manipulative, pro-monopoly billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and David Koch.

So Bregman lit into Carlson, calling him a “millionaire funded by billionaires” who was “part of the problem.”

Carlson lost his shit, flipped out, called Bregman a “moron” and a “tiny brain” and told him to “go fuck yourself,” adding that he “tried to give you a hearing but you were too fucking annoying.”

Predictably, Carlson never aired the segment, but thankfully Bregman made his own recording and leaked it to Now This news, and it’s online for all to see.

Bregman then accuses Carlson of being bought by the Murdoch family and the Cato Institute, a rightwing thinktank of which Carlson was a fellow until 2015. Bregman says Tucker took the “dirty money” of the institute, which is funded in large part by the Koch brothers and opposes higher taxes.

He says Carlson is “a millionaire funded by billionaires” and “not part of the solution” but “part of the problem, actually”.

Bregman finishes by acknowledging that the interview probably wouldn’t be aired, but saying that he “went to Davos to speak truth to power and I’m doing exactly the same right now”.

Carlson, near-speechless for much of the interview, replies by saying: “Why don’t you go fuck yourself, you tiny brain. You’re a moron. I tried to give you a hearing but you were too fucking annoying.”

Historian who confronted Davos billionaires leaks Tucker Carlson rant
[Sam Wolfson/The Guardian]

(Image: Gage Skidmore, CC-BY-SA)