Friday on FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson discussed the controversies involving the Georgia General Assembly’s efforts to shore up election integrity through the legislative process, which has resulted in a backlash from Democrats and corporate America.
Carlson questioned the wisdom of Major League Baseball’s decision to remove its all-star game from Atlanta and aggressive statements made by Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola executives, whose companies are both headquartered in Georgia.
Transcript as follows:
CARLSON: A radical black nationalist drove a car into two police officers near the Capitol in Washington this afternoon. One of the officers was killed along with the suspect. Now, it’s interesting, there is still much we don’t know about this. We know very little. But this is one high-profile murder that didn’t somehow set off an avalanche of hysterical media attacks on an entire racial group.
You didn’t see stories about how all black people are bad or blackness is a virus. And thank God, that stuff is garbage. It’s poison. All decent people hate it.
Attacking entire races is evil, no matter what the race is. It’s really hurting the country and the people in power should stop doing it.
Today, for once, they didn’t do it. Thank God for small blessings.
But that doesn’t mean our leaders turned down the opportunity to leverage the tragedy, of course, they did.
Ilhan Omar immediately called for gun control, even though the assailant apparently didn’t have a gun, but just a knife. She’s not a genius as we’ve noted before. Then the usual experts told us the lesson was we need even more barbed wire around the Capitol. It is too open to the public, they said. To keep our democracy safe, we must wall off voters from the leaders who supposedly represent them.
Well, that’s already happening, of course, across the country, both physically in the green zone style barriers you suddenly see everywhere on government buildings, and also on a far deeper level, on a level that can’t be undone as quickly as a fence.
In a democracy. The people rule. If voters want something done, over time, it happens. That’s what self-government is. But what do you call a system in which all the major, all the really important decisions are made by big companies without any reference at all to what voters want?
Well, that is not democracy. It is corporatocracy, and it is starting to look a lot like what we have now. Here’s the latest example. Major League Baseball announced today it is pulling two of the biggest events in sports, the all-star game and the MLB draft out of the State of Georgia.
Why is Major League Baseball weighing in on this? Why is it doing it? Well, because voters in the State of Georgia made a decision that the Biden administration doesn’t like. And as with so many big corporations, Major League Baseball believes it now has veto power over the democratic process. And by the way, it may have veto power, we’ll find out.
In the case in Georgia, the state passed a law to reduce voter fraud. That law requires voters to provide some form of identification before they cast a mail-in ballot. That identification could be a driver’s license or free state-provided ID, Georgia makes it pretty easy to prove who you are.
There’s nothing crazy about this law. In fact, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t already on the books in Georgia, it should have been. But when it was proposed, it sailed through the State House. Georgia’s House of Representatives approved this bill by a 25-vote margin; in the State Senate by a vote of 34 to 24.
So unlike say Obamacare, it wasn’t a squeaker, and you can see why. Nationally, the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with it. They support mandatory photo ID for voting.
According to recent poll by the AP, fully 72% of people in this country believe that required IDs are a good idea. And why wouldn’t they think that? You already have to show an ID when you fly in a plane or drive a car, open a checking account, hold a job, live in an apartment or get a vaccine. But you don’t need one to vote? Come on, it’s ridiculous.
In fact, it’s worse than ridiculous. It is sinister.
Anyone who opposes voter ID laws is encouraging voter fraud, which is to say encouraging the destruction of democracy. It’s that simple. And you can now put Major League Baseball in that category.
Now, baseball was supposed to be America’s pastime — happy, unifying; fundamentally, non-political, so it is strange to see this happen. How did we get here?
It’s not at all complicated. We have a new President now and that President is willing to destroy even something as wholesome as the country’s traditional game purely to increase the power of his political party.
Just the other day, Joe Biden went on ESPN to demand that professional sports franchises boycott any state whose voters step out of line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that.
People look to them, they are leaders. Look at what’s happened with the NBA as well. Look at what’s happened across the board?
The very people who are victimized the most are the people who are the leaders in these various sports and it’s just not right.
This is Jim Crow on steroids what they’re doing in Georgia and 40 other states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: So that’s the considered judgment expressed out loud by the President of the United States: Georgia’s voter ID law is Jim Crow on steroids. Asking people to show their identity before they vote is worse than segregation and lynching. It’s Bull Connor and fire hoses and snarling German Shepherds on steroids.
You’ve got to wonder how long our leaders can keep saying things like this, reckless things like this before they really cause the society to fall apart.
Joe Biden seems determined to find out. One thing Biden doesn’t seem very interested in is his own home state, Delaware. Unlike Georgia, Delaware has never permitted mass early voting. Apparently, Delaware is a white supremacist state. About 80% of Georgia voters cast their ballots early last fall. In Delaware, that number was 29%. So why isn’t that voter suppression? Why isn’t it racism?
Well, because Delaware is a one-party state controlled by the Democrats. It’s working for them. They’re not going to change it.
Georgia, by contrast, is a swing state. So, in the estimation of Joe Biden, it is worth using racially divisive lies to win it for his party permanently.
According to Joe Biden, the real problem with Georgia’s new election law is that it could cause dangerous dehydration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: What I’m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It’s sick. It’s sick.
Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line, waiting to vote; deciding that you’re going to end voting at five o’clock when working people are just getting off work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Every word of that was false. Maybe The Washington Post will start a Joe Biden lie meter. Just kidding.
In fact, the Georgia law bans political organizations from bringing gifts to people who are standing in line to vote. That’s called electioneering. It is banned in an awful lot of places, probably where you live.
But there is no prohibition in Georgia or anywhere else against people getting water and food in line if it comes from someone other than a political operative. If it comes from a friend or a family member, for example. And by the way, they can also bring their own water. Hydrating is still legal in Georgia.
As for the claim that this law will end voting at five o’clock, that’s a lie, too. Wait a second Joe Biden just said it on TV. So where did he get the idea of voting ends at five o’clock? Well, it turns out that the big paper in Atlanta The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the law would ban voting after five o’clock.
The paper’s reporters apparently hadn’t read the law. They had to append this correction to their piece, which effectively was the same as admitting they were repeating talking points without doing any research, which is what they were doing. Here it is, quote: “A previous version of this story said the new law with limit voting hours. On Election Day in Georgia, polling places are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and if you’re in line by 7:00 p.m., you are allowed to cast your ballot. Nothing in the new law changes those rules.” End quote.
That’s the truth, finally appended to a lie. Now, Joe Biden got his research on that bill from reporters who did not research.
See how that works?
Today at the White House press briefing, one reporter did ask an interesting question: why is Joe Biden on television demanding a boycott of an American state while not demanding a boycott of China? After all, the Biden administration just declared that China was committing genocide against ethnic minorities.
Well, Joe Biden’s grumpy little flak wasn’t happy about that question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: The President had voiced his support for MLB making a decision about the all-star game in Georgia. I’m wondering when can we expect a final determination from the President about United States participating in the Beijing Olympics given that he said the Chinese President doesn’t have a democratic bone in his body?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I think the U.S. Olympic committee would play a big role —
QUESTION: But he did weigh in on Major League Baseball here in the United States.
PSAKI: He actually didn’t — I think I don’t know if you heard the answer – – the question and the answer that happened a few minutes ago where we addressed this, and I answered the question.
So — and I’d given a little more context, but maybe you weren’t paying attention to that part.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: I’m not going to answer the question, and suddenly pretend that I already did, and you didn’t hear it because you’re dumb. It’s your fault. We looked, there’s no answer. No one at the White House explained why a law against voter fraud in Georgia justifies a boycott, but a genocide in China does not. It doesn’t matter.
The domestic boycott against Georgia grows anyway. Huge parts of Corporate America have joined it. They decided that Georgia is reinstating Jim Crow.
Here’s a great one. Coca-Cola, which is based in Atlanta now tells us that Georgia’s anti-voter fraud law is unacceptable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES QUINCEY, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, COCA-COLA: Let me be crystal clear and unequivocal, this legislation is unacceptable. It is a step backwards and it does not promote principles we have stood for in Georgia around broad access to voting, around voter convenience, about ensuring election integrity. And this is — this is frankly, just a step backwards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Not clear how long the CEO of Coca-Cola has been in this country, but just to restate, just because you run a soft drink company doesn’t mean you get to control our democracy. He may not know that. “It’s a step backward,” he told us, which is pretty funny if you think about it.
So Coca-Cola is very, very concerned about black people, which makes you wonder, since we’re on the subject, how many black people have died in the last hundred years from diabetes caused by Coca-Cola products? We don’t have those numbers. Someone ought to find out. We bet money, it’s far more than the Minneapolis Police Department has killed ever.
And here’s the even funnier part. China is one of Coca-Cola’s biggest markets. And that’s why last year, Curt Ferguson who is the President of Coca-Cola Greater China and Korea went out of his way to praise the Communist Party of China for unleashing the coronavirus on the world. This is a verbatim quote, “Thank you very much to the government with your quick, decisive actions. Once again, thank you. You’ve really controlled a worldwide epidemic and should be very much congratulated for all your hard work.”
May I kiss your feet? May I slobber on you? Have a Coke and a smile. Unbelievable.
But Coca-Cola wants you to believe that whatever is happening in China, it really cares most about its Type 2 diabetes victims here in the United States.
Coca-Cola hates discrimination. OK, so why isn’t Coca-Cola saying anything about Phil Scott? He is the Governor of Vermont. He’s Republican by the way. This week, Governor Scott declared that Vermont would be passing out vaccines on the basis of skin color. Vermont wants to check your racial purity before they give you life-saving medicine.
Well, that doesn’t seem like a good idea or legal or ethical or something that would ever happen in America. Is Coca-Cola OK with that? Apparently, they are. You can still get a Diet Coke at Leunig’s in Burlington, great restaurant, by the way. Coke hasn’t said a word about it.
Another is Delta, which despite being an airline and not a super PAC, has also decided to condemn Georgia’s elections bill. According to the CEO of Delta, people in the black community are upset about the law, so, of course, Delta is very upset, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED BASTIAN, CEO, Delta Air Lines: This is about protecting the voices of our people. When I speak to our people, particularly within the black community, and we’re here in Atlanta, we’ve got a very, very large black employee base, almost universally, they are hurt by the law and the legislation that was enacted and we need to make certain their voices are heard.
We spent a lot of time in the last year reaching out to those most vulnerable and telling them that we hear them, that we see them, that their voices matter, and if we can’t stand with them now, when will we?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Yes, so he’s just reading something the H.R. Department wrote for him, but it doesn’t seem like he has paused to think through the implications here.
So, Delta Air Lines operates because U.S. taxpayers and the Congress lawmakers, our democracy allowed Delta to. You can’t just start an airline and run it. You need the cooperation of the public.
But part of the deal is if you’re Delta Air Lines or some other big company benefiting from all the good things that America offers, you’re not allowed to override the democracy just because you’re rich. You’re not allowed to do that. And if you do, maybe we should punish you. Maybe we should.
Delta says its quote, “Very large black employee base is almost universally hurt by the law.” Really? Did you take a poll, Delta?
Remarkably, and this is amazing, that’s not what Delta was saying about the very same law a few days ago before the Biden administration leaned on them. At the time, Delta issued a statement declaring, quote: “The legislation improved considerably during legislative process and expands weekend voting, codifies Sunday voting, and protects the voters’ ability to cast an absentee ballot without offering a reason.”
Delta even at the time praised the laws protections for ballot drop boxes, quote, “For the first time, drop boxes have also been authorized for all counties statewide and poll workers will be allowed to work across county lines.”
OK, before we even get into how they changed their view. Again, this is an airline. Why are they weighing in on a voting law? Who do you think you are, Delta Air Lines? We should shut you down.
Now, Delta has decided the law doesn’t meet its standards. Requiring voter identification says Delta is Jim Crow. But wait a minute, you might be wondering, doesn’t Delta Air Lines require photo ID in order to board its planes? Whoa, that sounds like Jim Crow. Why isn’t that racist? Because it’s not, shut up.
One of the Democratic Party’s top election law enforcers, a trollish man called Marc Elias tried to answer that question on Twitter, quote: “The new Georgia law will require voters to submit ID to vote by mail,” he wrote, “If they use their driver’s license, they need to provide the number. One of the two numbers below is correct. If they put the other down, it will be rejected.” Are you sure you would pick the right one?
Elias posted a photograph of a sample driver’s license below his tweet and the implication was pretty clear. According to Marc Elias, black people can’t find their driver’s license number even when it’s clearly identified on the driver’s license card.
Marc Elias, like Delta just doesn’t think they can read it.
So, who is the racist in the story? Seriously. When you treat adults like children, what does that say about how you feel about them?
Well, CNN is here to calm you right down, banish those thoughts in your mind. CNN would like to assure you. The racist is not the one who believes black people can’t navigate a driver’s license. No, no, no. The racist is the one who is trying to reduce voter fraud. Those people, CNN just told us and this is a real tape are essentially recruiting for the KKK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Jim Crow is making a comeback. The fictional blackface character for minstrel shows who came to symbolize second-class citizenship for millions of America.
Jim Crow is also the name used to describe unequal racial segregation rules that banned black people from eating at white-owned restaurants, staying in white-owned hotels, and fully participating in the election process.
Now, as hundreds of new proposals to scale back voter participation in elections make their way through state legislatures, the parallels with the past are inescapable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: So, CNN literally went to its archives to find footage of minstrel shows. Why does it even have that tape? At CNN? We should find out.
But just in case the point wasn’t clear enough, they put it on the screen. Has propaganda ever, ever been this heavy-handed? You ever seen the official North Korean news site? It has a lighter touch than that.
Next, CNN will be announcing Republicans in Georgia as Kulaks and running dog lackey Trotskyists wreckers. That’s got to be coming at this pace.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor