Dutch historian Rutger Bregman rose to progressive stardom last month when he declared the wealthy need to face higher taxes — right in front of those wealthy people at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Fox News' Tucker Carlson later interviewed Bregman about his Davos discussion. Things didn't exactly go well.
Carlson's interview with Bregman started out civil, with Carlson even saying, "If I was wearing a hat, I'd take it off for you." That's because Bregman brought up what he called Davos attendees' "hypocritical" avoidance of wealth taxes — something Carlson compared to billionaires "flying private" on carbon-spewing planes "to talk about global warming." Carlson even remained calm as Bregman pointed out that Fox News, like those billionaires, isn't considering higher taxes for the rich a "mainstream" idea.
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But when Bregman brought up Fox News' billionaire owner Rupert Murdoch and suggested Carlson himself has "been taking ... dirty money" from the "Koch billionaires," things got heated. Carlson called Bregman a "tiny brain" and "moron," and told him to "go f--k yourself" after Bregman said that he was a "millionaire funded by billionaires" and told him he was "part of the problem."
After the interview was recorded, Bregman tweeted that he got an email from Carlson telling him it wouldn't air — along with a couple more insults. Check that out below. Kathryn Krawczyk
Update, 9:58 p.m. ET: Carlson responded in an online-only video Wednesday night, saying the interview didn't air because Bregman "launched into an attack on Fox News." Bregman said that management tells Fox News hosts what they can and cannot say, and
"that was too much" for Carlson. "Nobody in management has ever told us what positions to take," Carlson said, adding that the segment, which was pre-taped, could not be aired because he cursed.
