In newly resurfaced audio, Tucker Carlson heard disparaging Iraqis, the Obamas

In unearthed audio released Monday night by Media Matters for America, Fox News host Tucker Carlson is heard calling Iraqis "semiliterate primitive monkeys," saying Afghanistan is "never going to be a civilized country because the people aren't civilized," and declaring that the Congressional Black Caucus "exists to blame the white man for everything."

Carlson made the remarks during calls to "The Bubba the Love Sponge Show"; he was a regular guest between 2006 and 2011. On the April 16, 2008, show, Carlson said Michelle Obama "is going to be problem" for then-candidate Barack Obama because she "turns into a sister," Media Matters says, and on August 5, 2008, he said it was "ridiculous" for Barack Obama to think people would attack him for being black, adding, "everybody knows that Barack Obama would still be in the state Senate in Illinois if he were white."

On March 11, 2008, Carlson said the situation in Iraq could turn around if "the Iraqis decided to behave like human beings or something," and on Sept. 3, 2008, he declared that "white men" deserve credit for "creating civilization." Over the weekend, Media Matters for America released audio from several 2009 appearances on the show, where Carlson made sexist remarks and, while discussing convicted sex offender Warren Jeffs, said the charges were "bulls--t" because "arranging a marriage between a 16-year-old and a 27-year-old is not the same as pulling a stranger off the street and raping her."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

On his show Monday night, Carlson said "the great American outrage machine is a remarkable thing," adding that it can be "pointless to try to explain how the words were spoken in jest, or taken out of context, or in any case bear no resemblance to what you actually think, or would want for the country." In Carlson's opinion, "the left's main goal, in case you haven't noticed, is controlling what you think," and his show "will never bow to the mob."