Fox News host Tucker Carlson was enraged that former President Barack Obama gave such a stirring eulogy for the late Rep. John Lewis, who was buried in Atlanta on Thursday.
According to Carlson, who went on an extended rant at the beginning of his show Thursday evening, Obama was making a blatantly political speech, and that’s simply not acceptable at a funeral. And the Fox host also attacked the Black Lives Matter movement while he was at it:
“Their first instinct is to manipulate rather than persuade. They hide their real beliefs. They say precisely the opposite of what they mean every time. They accuse you of the crimes they themselves are committing.”
One part of Obama’s eulogy in particular seemed to vex Carlson. It was when the former president declared that renewing the Voting Rights Act would be the best way to pay tribute to Lewis:
“If you want to honor John, let’s honor him by revitalizing the law that he was willing to die for.”
That, according to Carlson, was when Obama went from eulogizing the late civil rights pioneer to delivering a “divisive and deeply dishonest campaign speech.”
And then the host went as low as he possibly could, calling Obama “greasy” and suggesting the eulogy was improper:
“It’s hard to believe that clip is real, but it is, down to the cloying fake accent, Mr. Hawaii Guy.
“Imagine if some greasy politician showed up at your loved one’s funeral and started throwing around stupid partisan talking points about Senate procedure. Can you imagine that? You would be shocked if that happened. You’d probably walk out. Desecrating a funeral with campaign slogans? What kind of person would do that?”
Here’s the thing that Carlson conveniently neglected to mention: The mourners at the funeral were hanging on every word Obama said. They loved his eulogy. And Lewis would likely have loved it, too, because he believed in using the political process to advance the cause of those who are discriminated against by society, be they black, brown, LGBTQ, disabled, or poor.
What Tucker Carlson and so many on the right always fail to comprehend is that the personal is often political and vice versa. Until they can accept that, they’ll continue be seen as hateful and out-of-touch.
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