Tucker Carlson wonders if vaccine mandates are racist, cites voter ID laws: "I don't understand"

Last week, Carlson accused New York City health officials of being racist by considering race in COVID-19 treatment

By Jon Skolnik

Staff Writer

Published January 21, 2022 9:53AM (EST)

Tucker Carlson (Janos Kummer/Getty Images)
Tucker Carlson (Janos Kummer/Getty Images)

Fox News firebrand Tucker Carlson on Wednesday asked why vaccine mandates aren't racist if overly restrictive voter ID laws are. 

"I just have to ask – and this is a rhetorical question," Tucker said during an interview with Will Cain, co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend. 

"If it's racist to ask people to show a driver's license in order to vote, why is it not racist to ask for a vax card to prove their medical history before going to dinner or staying in a hotel?" Carlson continued. "I don't understand."

"I don't either," Cain chimed. 

It isn't the first time Carlson has falsely tarred certain COVID-19 policies as racist. Last Tuesday, Carlson specifically attacked New York City's recent policy to consider race in the city's provision of monoclonal antibody treatments. 

https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1480709361035055108?s=20

"It doesn't matter what kind of health they're in," he said. "All that matters is their skin color. Whites don't qualify."


Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.


Carlson's sudden concern about the allotment of COVID-19 treatments flies in the face of his past comments about the virus. In fact, the Fox host has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the disease by fear-mongering over common sense COVID-19 precautions. 

RELATED: Tucker Carlson tells his Fox News audience to call the police if they see children wearing masks 

Back in April, Carlson encouraged his audience to "call the police immediately" if they see children wearing masks to protect themselves from COVID, saying: "Your response when you see children wearing masks as they play should be no different from your response to seeing someone beat a kid in Walmart."

Carlson has also casted doubt over scientific value of the vaccines, and even labeled vaccine mandates as part of a conspiracy to "separate the obedient from the free."

"The point of mandatory vaccination is to identify the sincere Christians in the ranks, the freethinkers, the men with high testosterone levels and anyone else who doesn't love Joe Biden and make them leave immediately," he said of the Pentagon's vaccine mandate in September. 

RELATED: Tucker Carlson warns Pentagon's vaccine mandate is attempt to weed out "men with high testosterone"

Last year, when asked by Time whether he was vaccinated, Carlson called the inquiry a "super vulgar question" akin to asking someone what their favorite sex position is. In the end, he declined to disclose his vaccination status.


By Jon Skolnik

Jon Skolnik was a former staff writer at Salon.

MORE FROM Jon Skolnik


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Fox News Racism Tucker Carlson