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Man confronts Tucker Carlson in Montana fishing store: ‘You are the worst human being’

‘What you have done to people’s families and everybody else,’ says man in Montana fishing store to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson

Clara Hill
Monday 26 July 2021 21:22 BST
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A man posted a video of himself telling Tucker Carlson that he was ‘the worst person alive’ in a fishing goods store in Montana
A man posted a video of himself telling Tucker Carlson that he was ‘the worst person alive’ in a fishing goods store in Montana (Dan Bailey)
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Tucker Carlson was confronted about his on-air rants by a shopper in a fishing equipment store in Montana.

The exchange was captured on video as the shopper, Dan Bailey, told the conservative Fox News host what he really thinks of him. Mr Bailey shared the footage on his Instagram page.

“You are the worst human being known to mankind. I want you to know that,” Mr Bailey told Mr Carlson in the Livingston shop.

Much of their conversation is hard to decipher. However, Mr Bailey appears to not hold back with his opinion of Mr Carlson. Mr Carlson refers to Mr Bailey as “son” throughout the encounter. He is also heard telling Mr Bailey that he has his daughter with him.

Mr Bailey is heard saying, “What you have done to people’s families and everybody else...”

The video’s caption read, “It’s not every day you get to tell someone they are the worst person in the world and really mean it!! What an a***hole.”

“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,” it continued.

Tucker Carlson Tonight regularly tops the cable news ratings rankings. On 21 July, the network beat the CNN presidential town hall with President Joe Biden in viewers. Fox News had 2.36 million people tuning in, while Mr Biden’s question-and-answer session brought in 1.28 million people. Mr Biden used a significant part of his appearance on CNN to promote vaccinations and to rally against misinformation around the jab.

At the same time it was airing, Mr Carlson spoke out about news channels advocating for the Covid-19 vaccine, citing competitor CNN.

He said, “CNN shouldn’t have a position on whether you should take medicine or not, because it’s a news channel, it’s not a health agency.”

This comes the same week that two prominent Fox News hosts, Steve Doocy and Sean Hannity, urged viewers to get vaccinated.

Additionally, Mr Carlson has been repeatedly called out for using language endorsed by white supremacists, such as “replacement theory”, a theory argues that white people are being ‘replaced’ by other ethnicities. Mr Carlson said this was happening in the US during a broadcast of his show in April.

The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, said he was using the same language as white supremacists.

“It is antisemitic, racist and toxic. It has informed the ideology of mass shooters in El Paso, Christchurch and Pittsburgh. Tucker must go,” he tweeted following the segment. Fox supported Mr Carlson when the ADL called for his firing.

Media Matters for America labelled it “a passionate defense of white replacement theory”.

The store that the two had their confrontation is shares a name with the person who shared the video.

“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,” said Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in a statement on their website.

Fox News also said in a statement: “Ambushing Tucker Carlson while he is in a store with his family is totally inexcusable — no public figure should be accosted regardless of their political persuasion or beliefs simply due to the intolerance of another point of view.”

The Independent reached out to Mr Bailey and Mr Carlson for comment.

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