coverage of afghanistan

Fox News' Tucker Carlson blames Taliban gains on 'grotesque' gender studies

While the world watched in horror on Monday as the Taliban quickly unraveled 20 years worth of work in Afghanistan, Fox News, offering a semblance of normalcy, continued to do what the network does best — make outlandish and politicized claims during a moment of national reflection. 

Tucker Carlson, host of Tucker Carlson Tonight, used his primetime slot to claim Afghanistan's fall is a result of a "grotesque," American-imposed "neoliberal program" in which "men can become pregnant" and Afghan women can serve in government roles. "It turns out that the people of Afghanistan don't actually want gender studies symposium," said Carlson.

He also purported that a swell of Afghan refugees are now coming to overrun American neighborhoods — "so first we invade, and then we're invaded," he said.

Laura Ingraham, host of The Ingraham Angle, seemed to agree, asking viewers if they were the ones who promised "thousands of refugees from Afghanistan" that they were welcome in the U.S.

Earlier Monday, The Five took issue with President Biden having cited the invasion of Afghanistan as the beginning of the conflict, rather than the events of 9/11. 

And although not on the network itself, popular Fox host Sean Hannity used the fall of Afghanistan to promote a cell phone sponsor on the Monday edition of his radio program, The Sean Hannity Show, Media Matters reports.

Unsurprisingly, in addition to the baseless claims from Carlson and Ingraham, plenty of Fox News coverage on Monday focused on blaming Biden, at the hands of former administration veterans. Read more at Media Matters.