Tucker Carlson tees off on Trump, Kushner: ‘People will not forgive weakness’

Tucker Carlson teed off on President Trump and senior White House adviser Jared Kushner on Monday night amid sometimes-violent protests over the police killing of George Floyd, with the Fox News host arguing that if the president “can’t be bothered to protect” the American people, “then you’re done.”

“You can regularly say embarrassing things on television,” the conservative Carlson said in addressing the president directly during a 26-minute monologue. “You can hire Omarosa to work at the White House. All of that will be forgiven if you protect your people. But if you don’t protect them — or, worse, if you seem like you can’t be bothered to protect them — then you’re done. It’s over. People will not forgive weakness.”

Carlson also broached Fox News correspondent Leland Vittert and his crew being chased and harassed during a protest near the White House late Friday.

“Vittert and the crew were punched and hit with projectiles as they fled, and a Fox News camera was broken when a member of the mob tried to grab it,” Carlson said.

“That was in Lafayette Square in the center of our capital city,” he continued. “And the tape raised a troubling question: If you can’t keep a Fox News correspondent from getting attacked directly across the street from your house, how can you protect my family? How are you going to protect the country? How hard are you trying?”

“On Twitter the next morning, the president reassured America that he and his family were just fine,” Carlson added. “The federally funded body guards had kept them safe. He did not mention protecting the rest of the nation, much of which was then on fire. He seemed aware only of himself.”

Carlson also took aim at Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, saying he subverts the president’s “famously sharp instincts” at every level.

“The president’s famously sharp instincts, the ones that won him the presidency almost four years ago, have been since subverted at every level by Jared Kushner,” the former CNN and MSNBC host said. “This is true on immigration, on foreign policy and especially on law enforcement. As crime in this country continues to rise, Jared Kushner has led a highly aggressive effort to let more criminals out of prison and back on to the streets.”

“Several times over the past few days the president has signaled that he would very much like to crackdown on rioters, that is his instinct,” Carlson said. “But every time he has been talked out of it by Jared Kushner and by aides that Kushner has hired and controls.”

Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old African American man, died while in police custody in Minneapolis. Video of the arrest shows a police officer kneeling on his neck while Floyd said he could not breathe. The officer has been fired and charged in Floyd’s death.

The resulting protests, which have at times included mass looting and violence, continued for a seventh straight night on Monday.

Carlson was co-hosting “Fox & Friends Weekend” in 2016 before being moved to prime time after the departure of Greta van Susteren from the network. He eventually took over the 8 p.m. time slot once occupied by “O’Reilly Factor” host Bill O’Reilly.

In the first quarter of this year, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” averaged more than 4 million viewers per night.