Carlson: Khashoggi Media Outrage 'So False'

Tucker Carlson

Before a room full of adoring fans, Fox News host Tucker Carlson argued on Saturday that the media industry is conveying "moral superiority" and playing "a game" by acting outraged at the murder of American resident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

"The whole game is people who have no basis for moral superiority sort of impose their moral superiority on you," Carlson said of the widespread media backlash to Saudi Arabia. "The outrage is so false."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, he said that "Jamal Khashoggi" is a name nobody knew two weeks ago. "They use that to bully you into submission," he said of the unified outrage. "It's a game. Don't play along."

"Just stop lecturing me," Carlson said, before miming, "You don't care enough about Khashoggi!"

Carlson, who appeared at the Politicon conference along with Democratic strategist James Carville, conveyed no surprise at Khashoggi's grim fate, reportedly at the hands of individuals close to the ruling Crown Prince.

"The Saudis, and I don't mean this as a compliment, are acting entirely in character with their character," he said. "That's what they do."

Carlson called the Saudi kingdom "a primitive evil theocracy in the desert," and said he's not "pro-Saudi."