Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, who became a viral sensation for his blunt talk on taxing the rich, was recently interviewed by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
The pleasantries didn’t last long, as the chat quickly turned nasty when Bregman pointed the finger at Carlson and his ilk for being part of the problem. “Tucker Carlson just called me a ‘fucking moron’ during a prerecord for his show, for pointing out that he’s a millionaire funded by billionaires,” he said afterward.
Fox News ultimately opted not to air the segment.
“Tucker is someone who appreciates many points of view,” Justin Wells, senior executive producer for “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” said at the time. “Sadly, the guest turned an opportunity to have a substantive, informative discussion into an obviously calculated personal insult campaign. We were disappointed in the segment and respect our audience’s time too much to consider airing it.”
(Fox News parent 21st Century Fox FOXA, +0.47% FOX, +0.42% and MarketWatch parent News Corp NWS, +1.00% share common ownership.)
But Bregman wasn’t finished, as he dangled this tantalizing tweet:
Good morning @TuckerCarlson, why didn't you air the interview with me last night? Couldn't handle the criticism? I think you should just show it. And try to resist the temptation to edit, I've recorded the full thing - including that moment when you start swearing profusely.
— Rutger Bregman (@rcbregman) February 12, 2019
And, a week later, here it is, courtesy of NowThis:
Watch Fox News host Tucker Carlson call one of his guests a 'tiny brain...moron' during an interview. NowThis has obtained the full segment with historian Rutger Bregman that Fox News is refusing to air. pic.twitter.com/kERYPUaGLY
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 20, 2019
For the internet, all that “Dutch directness” was well worth the wait:
Here’s a clip of Bregman talking taxes on the wealthy at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which started the whole thing:
‘It feels like I’m at a firefighters conference and no one’s allowed to speak about water.’ — This historian wasn’t afraid to confront the billionaires at Davos about their greed pic.twitter.com/TiXSJZd89M
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 29, 2019
Carlson tweeted an explanation Wednesday night:
Here’s why we didn’t air that segment last week. https://t.co/cQHlfEQZT1
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 21, 2019
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