08/29/2007
Tucker Carlson Admits Assaulting Man Who Hit on Him in Restroom
On MSNBC Live last night, MSNBC General Manager Dan Abrams, Tucker Carlson, and Joe Scarborough discussed the Larry Craig story. As the other anchors laugh, Carlson recounts how he once returned with a friend to a public men's room where a man had "bothered" him and proceeded to assault the guy.
Transcript via Media Matters.
CARLSON: I have. I've been bothered in Georgetown Park. When I was in high school.
ABRAMS: Really?
CARLSON: Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: Wow.
[[DIALOGUE OMITTED]]
ABRAMS: Tucker, what did you do, by the way? What did you do when he did that? We got to know.
CARLSON: I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him, and -- and --
ABRAMS: And did what?
CARLSON: Hit him against the stall with his head, actually!
[laughter]
CARLSON: And then the cops came and arrested him. But let me say that I'm the least anti-gay right-winger you'll ever meet --
[laughter]
CARLSON: -- but I do think doing this in men's rooms appears to be common. It's totally wrong, and they should knock it off. I mean that. I think it's -- I can't bring my son to the men's room at the park where he plays soccer because of all these creepy guys hanging around in there. I actually think it's a problem. I'm sorry.
UPDATE:
Daily KOS is calling on MSNBC to fire Carlson, and for Abrams to acknowledge the incident and apologize for giving the impression that premeditated violence is not only appropriate but amusing.
Tucker Carlson sent a statement to Media Matters this afternoon through an MSNBC spokeswoman, revising the story:
"Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived. Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me."
A pretty drastic change in the story, don't you think? But I guess this version may not have garnered the hearty laugh that it got from the other anchors.
Posted 1:55 PM EST by Andy in Idaho, Larry Craig, News, Tucker Carlson | Permalink
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Tucker Carlson is a fat pig. I can't imagine anyone wanting to hit on him...even a toilet troll.
I love the way he brings the issue of his son into the story, again implying that gay men are pedophiles.
Posted by: peterparker | Aug 29, 2007 2:07:02 PM
He's the least anti-gay republican, but has beat up a gay man for hitting on him. Says a lot about the republican party.
Posted by: Aaron | Aug 29, 2007 2:13:32 PM
So he had to go get backup? What a douche!
Posted by: Michael W. | Aug 29, 2007 2:13:54 PM
so great that they all laugh at the violence
I'm not condoning who ever allegedly "bothered" him, but come on ...
*sigh*
Posted by: gabriel | Aug 29, 2007 2:15:15 PM
I can actually have some sympathy for Carlson. A small amount, but some.
For while I think he was wrong to address his situation with violence, I can understand the violated feeling this situation leaves one with. I was followed home once by an 'older married STR8 man' - who parked his car in my driveway and proceeded to jack off in broad daylight, lifting himself up to make sure I could see what he was doing. I wanted to knock him upside the head. Instead, I wrote down his license plate number, called the police, and had him arrested. And I think many of us have been accosted at various restrooms - there is a bookstore here that is notorious for it and I told a guy once if he didn't get away from me I'd notify the guard - and don't find it a welcome proposition because we have more self-respect for ourselves.
So I don't have any sympathy for the Larry Craig types.
Meanwhile, many are lamenting the police patrolling places like the airport restroom where Craig was caught, as there are 'better things they could do.' And while perhaps in the greater scheme of things this is true, if people - married fucked up closet case assholes in particular - weren't behaving like idiots and bothering people, creating an unpleasant environment, it wouldn't be an issue. I don't want to be harassed when I'm trying to pee. If you do, that's what craigslist is for - meet them there and invite them to your house. Not the airport/bookstore restroom.
Posted by: DB | Aug 29, 2007 2:15:18 PM
Tucker Carlson has always been a total idiot. He is such a tool that it's usually funny to watch him, but this is disgusting.
Posted by: jackass fool | Aug 29, 2007 2:15:21 PM
Tucker Carlson? Beating up somebody?
C'mon people. He's lying.
Posted by: Wes | Aug 29, 2007 2:17:29 PM
Why would you want to associate hate crimes with these creepy, restroom lurkers? Getting assaulted by someone who feels violated by their actions is a risk they are apparently willing to take.
Posted by: stan | Aug 29, 2007 2:17:56 PM
I love how giggly and tittery and excited Abrams and Scarborough get when Carlson talks about being hit on in a restroom. Abrams even goes back to it later ("What did you do when he did that? We got to know!"). Yes, Dan and Joe, that sounds VERY INTERESTING, doesn't it?
Posted by: JOE 2 | Aug 29, 2007 2:21:22 PM
Don't go to those restrooms. Easy as that. They have a responsiblity to their viewers to separate gay from perverts, and this simply doesn't. I can see this type of macho-manhood-enhancing behavior encouraging homophobic attacks from people that just look at a fellow person sideways.
Posted by: BIlly | Aug 29, 2007 2:22:36 PM
Holy shit. Maybe gay men wouldn't have to meet up and have sex in bathrooms if society didn't crucify them, ostracize them, and in essence drive them to supposed deviancy. (P.S. Most gay men are appalled at the notion of public bathroom sex.)
Posted by: jeff | Aug 29, 2007 2:34:45 PM
The only reason that guys engage in sexual activity in public restrooms is because they're afraid to be out of the closet, leaving that as their only option to satisfy their needs. The reason that people are afraid to be out of the closet is the hate-mongering that the right-wing promotes against gays. Therefore, the right-wing is at least somewhat responsible for creating an atmosphere where people that are frightened to be "out" are forced to pursue other options for which they do not have to be "out" while also achieving sexual release.
Posted by: Brandon | Aug 29, 2007 2:36:12 PM
So someone hits on you, and you react by getting a friend and slamming their head against a stall. Wow, how mature! Responding to misunderstanding with violence. Tucker Carlson truly has reclaimed the masculinity that was threatened by the implication that he might enjoy it. And lol, what a funny story! I just couldn't stop laughing it was so hilarious.
Btw, that "I can't take my kids to the mensroom because there are creepy guys" comment, what bullshit. That's just a tad paranoid and a tad homophobic, and I love it that he wants gay rights groups to apologize for the supposed "creepy men". Because you know, we don't deserve our rights until we do, and we should really be focused on cleaning up our nation's restrooms instead of making our laws equal.
Posted by: Donovan | Aug 29, 2007 2:37:24 PM
On all the recent bathroom "incidents" lately...Honestly, I'm 27 and have lived in nyc for about 6 years and have never really heard a lot about people cruising in public bathrooms and airports and engaging in sexual activity. I remember once I heard about some areas of central park and maybe some gay clubs/bars in the city but never in open public restrooms with hand signals and foot tapping and all that. Does this happen all over or just in small towns, or what?
Posted by: Davey | Aug 29, 2007 2:38:33 PM
While I certainly don't condone beating up the guy who hit on him (a simple call to the police or park security would have sufficed), I understand some of what he's saying. Why so many gay man or closeted straights or whatever feel that having sex in a public restroom is their right, I have no idea. And when they get arrested for lewd behavior and then claim it's homophobia is completely beyond me. It's a public restroom. And, having sex in a public restroom is illegal. I also don't think that mentioning not bringing his kid into the restroom equates homosexuality to pedophilia. He just doesn't want to walk in with his kid and have two guys going at it.
Posted by: Kamasutra Jones | Aug 29, 2007 2:38:50 PM
Tucker Carlson is an asshole. Oh, excuse me...he's a POMPOUS asshole.
Must have been a slow day in the men's room if somebody hit on him! Was he wearing his dorky bowtie?
Posted by: Jerseyboi | Aug 29, 2007 2:39:29 PM
Somebody actually hit on Tucker Carson? Where, the pisser at the Braille Institute?
Posted by: Digger | Aug 29, 2007 2:40:00 PM
Well, he did say he was still in high school which either means something to you or does not. I find the frat boy laughter to be equally as disturbing if not more so - I would expect this from douchie Scarborough and Carlson but Abrahms should know better.
Posted by: Giovanni | Aug 29, 2007 2:40:51 PM
first off, i would say to billy that nobody should have to avoid a restroom because perverts have taken it over. That sort of creepy behavior (from straight, gay or otherwise) is totally unacceptable.
Now i know beating someone up isnt the right thing to do, but quite honestly if someone was making advances at me in a restroom i would definitely condsider slamming the persons head into the wall as an option available to me. Then i would probably share the story.
personally, i wouldnt want to advocate for those behaving in such a poor manner.
Posted by: Nikk | Aug 29, 2007 2:43:01 PM
Hey listen everyone - Tucker's story of uberheterosexual manliness is what gets all the right wing girls a-twitter with desire. Ann Coulter doesn't even have to tweak her nips the next time she's in the same room as him - why, they're comin' up naturally this time!
My favorite part of this transcript - "Gays really have to disavow this sort of thing." OK, Tucker - tell ya what. You and the rest of your str8 brothers prevent every drunken frat boy reeking of Red Bull and Drakkar Noir from accosting str8 girls everywhere (and as a dedicated fag to a bevy of attractive hags - trust me, str8 guys know nothing about "being bothered"), then I and all my gays will work on lonely queer guys looking for a quick fumble with a marginally attractive shrimp in a Georgetown bathroom. This is not a *gay* problem. It's a straight-identified, conservative Christian Republican closet case problem. Next time Tucker's at some wingnut gala, he can deal with it *directly*.
What's so funny about the story is how much it reveals about him, then anything. I've been in plenty of bathrooms where cruising takes place and I've simply done my weeing and left. Yes, sometimes a dude will stand next to you strokin' it or linger in the backround, but if you don't flirt back - tap your foot, if you will - usually you're not bothered. So what was Tucker doing in that bathroom? Stop lingering, Tucker! Stop sneaking a peek at other urinator's wangs! I'm on to you, bowtie!
Posted by: Joe Marrazzo | Aug 29, 2007 2:44:19 PM
Ask yourselves this question: How believable is this story that Tucker Calrson is telling? Do you really think a toilet troll is going to remain in a bathroom waiting for Tucker and his "Friends" to return after Carlson threatened him? I think most toilet trolls would probably have taken off rather than waiting around so that Carlson and his "friends" could come back to assault him and then have him arrested. More than likely this story is just another lie out of Carlson's two-sided mouth, a lie designed to make himself look less like a sniveling worm and more butch. Carlson is still a huge geek today. Can you imagine a geek and his friends doing what he claims they did while in high school. I think not. Carlson is (yet again) trying to make himself out to be something he's not just so that he can be accepted by somebody. That is, after all, why he's a whining conservative, because he's failed to socially fit in anywhere else except amongst the idiot, looser conservative zealots. Carlson is a Republican-Nazi because nobody else would give him the time of day. He's deceitful human filth and should be thrown out with the rest of the conservative trash...
Posted by: Robert In WeHo | Aug 29, 2007 2:44:35 PM
This is a sad comment on the level that a supposed news division of a major network has been reduced.Microsoft and NBC should be embarrased. Abrams is Carlson and Scarborough's BOSS.This FRAT boy "discussion" of a very serious issue is just a symptom of the dumbing of American discourse.These idiots should be only employable in some "family" business NOT broadcast news.
Posted by: brian | Aug 29, 2007 2:55:35 PM
Clearly the next big Tearoom Bust will be of Tucker Carlson.
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Aug 29, 2007 3:01:21 PM
You're probably right, Joe Marrazzo!! I see nothing gay in this behaviour. Self righteous bigots! Oh and he beat up someone back in high school? Girl, please!
Posted by: Shabaka | Aug 29, 2007 3:04:57 PM
Tucker couldn't beat up the toliet paper roll.
Posted by: DJSauvage | Aug 29, 2007 3:07:24 PM
Tucker Carlson is a swine and a prude. His sickening and cowardly behavior in getting a friend to help him assault the guy who 'bothered' him is rightly condemned by all of us.
However I was amazed to find that his prudishness and uberchristian revulsion for promiscuity and gay sexuality are shared by a few gay men. Yesterday in the discussion of the Craig arrest they climbed out of the woodwork to insist that no gay man, ‘in’ or ‘out’ should ever look for sex anywhere but in a bar or on the net.
What a bizarre idea. There are, as of 1530 GMT on August 29th, 2007 about 302,703,021 Americans, so that means there are about 15 to 30 million gay men, give or take a million. There just isn’t room for us in the bars. Not all of us live in cities, we’re not all 18, some of us works our asses off and take it (safely) where and when we can find it, some of us just don’t like bars, and some of us do like roaming around looking for (safe) sex. What millions of us have in common is that we don’t want to listen to this barely disguised christian bullshit about sex and nudity and all that ‘dirty’ stuff being verboten. That’s why we don’t go to church, or temple, or face Mecca, or dance with rattlers, etc. Hopefully these judgmental prigs will climb down off their hobby horses and show a little respect. If not they’ll just have to trot on down St. Patrick’s and say a novena for our lost souls. Just remember not to tap you toes when you get into the confessional. You could be arrested.
Posted by: Bill Perdue | Aug 29, 2007 3:09:57 PM
Tucker is such a butch thing, isn't she?
Posted by: Esther Blodgett | Aug 29, 2007 3:11:54 PM
I'm so glad that these two assured us that they are straight--especially with all the tittering and giggling.
Posted by: db | Aug 29, 2007 3:24:57 PM
Wonder what public bathrooms would be like if they were all open and unisex... straight people groping each other in all hideous sorts of places. Because, clearly, only GAY men engage in such behavior.
Posted by: jeff | Aug 29, 2007 3:28:06 PM
"I'm so glad that these two assured us that they are straight--especially with all the tittering and giggling."
Yea at first I figured that was just a joke. But when I saw how straight faced they BOTH were after saying it, I realized they were completely serious.
The fact that they felt the need for a disclaimer like that is really pathetic. Do they really feel like they can't talk about anything within 6 degrees of homosexuality without clearly stating that they are not gay?
Posted by: Wes | Aug 29, 2007 3:33:26 PM
I live in NYC. I can't imagine having sex or soliciting for it in the public restrooms. They are dirty places that reek! I do know, however, that these can be places that married 'straight' men think of as trolling grounds. It is unfortunate that we are all painted with the same brush.
And Tucker Carlson deserves to be Deliverance-d.
Posted by: Gary | Aug 29, 2007 3:35:23 PM
Memo to Mob Bearing Torches: Tucker said, "bothered." While he COULD have meant groped, rubbed up against, or in some other way actually touched against his will, he did not say that. So we are free to believe that he and his prep school homeys "hit him against the stall with his head" simply for Carlson being offended.
Even had the other guy exposed himself to Carlson, or shown himself masturbating, which, believe it or not, is common behavior among experienced tearoom queens, all that was assaulted was Carlson's homophobic sensitivities. HIS and his friend's VICTIM could have pressed assault and batter charges against but had the sense to know that nothing would happen, or to expect that they would invoke the "gay panic" defense.
Adams and Scarborough probably got major boners and sticky boxers listening to Carlson do his own momentary variation on Jason Patric's character in "Your Friends & Neighbors." His "predator" was lucky that Carlson and his manlier friends didn't rape or beat him to death. Remember Elizabeth Vargas still wants the world to believe that Matthew Shepard contributed to his own death by making a pass at his killers [which even THEY have recanted].
Actual pedophiles should be locked up and have the key thrown away, but MSNBC is contributing to self-righteous violence against gay men AS gay men.
I knew it was a mistake for Hillary not to keep Carlson at his promise to eat his REAL shoe.
Posted by: Leland Frances | Aug 29, 2007 3:40:23 PM
I really expected better of Dan Abrahms. He has usually appeared to be a voice of reason. I wonder if any of these clowns personally or professionally know ANY gays; and if so, do they also associate them with pedophilia and perversion?
Posted by: BigBaller | Aug 29, 2007 4:32:33 PM
Tucker Carlson jokingly admits to commiting battery against a man who thought he was 'up for it'.
Why aren't you, or some other former Editor's of National Magazine's; finding out all the details and possibly having him named at the perp he is??????? Although the statute of limitations has run out he admitted to committing a hate crime.
I'm gay. I accompany newphews and male charges into public restrooms and other hidden areas as a point of safety. Too bad their children aren't worth as much to them.
Posted by: lexxicuss | Aug 29, 2007 4:47:35 PM
Leland - I completely agree.
Would it be ok to beat someone up because they flirted with you but you are not attracted to them? Should ugly women be assaulted by men because the ugly women's advances "bothered" them?
I've been to a nude beach in New Jersey many times, so I have seen my fair share of trolls waving their dicks at me, both on the beach and in the bathroom there. I ignore them and move on.
Someone finds you attractive, and makes their attraction known. Granted, it can be repulsive and disgusting. But it does not call for assault!
Posted by: Gregg | Aug 29, 2007 4:56:11 PM
A hate crime?...more like misguided self-defense. AS long as we of the gay community make continue excuses for bathroom-trolling we're just condoning illegal behavior that in the end hurts our community. It's a public bathroom stall, not a gay bathouse cubicle; and what's appropriate for one is not in the other....regardless of straight or bi, open or closeted.
What might be exciting and erotic behavior in the backroom toilet of a sleazy gay club or a Titan porn-video is not acceptable behavior in a public restroom. And "just call the cops" either gets ignored in the real-world; or you wind-up getting tarred with the same broad-brush as the troll.
As for me, an unwelcome advance by a troll in an inappropritate melieu, especailly if I'm cornered, might just result in his getting at-least a well-deserved broken wrist.
Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) | Aug 29, 2007 5:17:52 PM
Jeff brings up a really interesting point with the unisex bathroom think. I think straight men do far worse than any gay men do in bathrooms. The way they treat random women on the street is really repulsive. Whenever I spot some guy staring down some poor girl and making lewd remarks I make sure he catches me staring at him so he knows what it feels like. I love the sheepish looks they always get when just a second ago they were being so gross. They know exactly what they are doing. Anyway, back to point. i don't see straight guys getting trouble or being demonized for the s**t they pull. They think they are morally superior when they are just as bad and they don't have the decency to do it in a closed stall.
Posted by: MT | Aug 29, 2007 5:30:29 PM
Dan Abrams is hot. That is all.
Posted by: Jordan | Aug 29, 2007 5:55:09 PM
Something about Tucker's story is a little off. The Georgetown Park is mall near Dupont Circle. He went to HS in RI and college in CT and was born in San Fran. His dad was involved in PBS so I could see him living near DC but the Georgetown Park is a high end mall and not an arcade and McDonald's mall. It's not the place a teenager would hang out.
Something about the whole story just smells fishy to me.
Posted by: Ed | Aug 29, 2007 5:55:51 PM
"UPDATE: Media Matters received the following statement from Tucker Carlson by email from an MSNBC spokeswoman:
Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.
Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me."
I'm sorry, but according to the transcript, grabbing his 'you-know-what' and hittng his head against the stall does NOT sound like the way to make a citizen's arrest to me.
Posted by: gayjaybird | Aug 29, 2007 6:13:53 PM
Tucker Carlson should go to jail for assault and battery, unless of course he made the whole story up in which case he should lose his job at MSNBC for intentionally misleading viewers with his on-air comments...
Posted by: Robert In WeHo | Aug 29, 2007 6:27:47 PM
I should think that all this big macho guy should have to say is "leave me alone". But then again I have always said that I do not worry when guys hit on me, I worry when they stop hitting on me.
Posted by: Jeff | Aug 29, 2007 6:33:20 PM
I'm no fan of Tucker Carlson, and even lessa fan of solving shall we say 'disagreements' with physical aggression.
But this is ludicrous. Aside from the fact that we're talking about something that happened when he was in high school, the simple fact of the matter is that--hello?!--using public restrooms as a place to have sex is deeply inappropriate! In fact, it's sick. Grabbing random strangers or soliciting them to join you is even more so. I don't blame Carlson for his reaction then or now.
If Carlson gets fired for this it will be an absolute mockery. And the fact that so many of you are railing against him is just deeply sad. How misguided are we as a community when we defend the right of someone to try to fuck in a public restroom in a park. THIS IS NOT A HATE CRIME. Don't denigrate the experience of being the victim of a hate crime by construing this as one. SOLICITING PEOPLE FOR SEX IN A RESTROOM SHOULD NOT BE PROTECTED BY HATE CRIME LAWS. Give me a break.
Posted by: John | Aug 29, 2007 6:51:37 PM
I did lots of research for a national sex foundation and Tearoom solicitors don’t grab people nor do they approach people they haven’t gotten signals from, most usually repeated heavy eye contact and nodding, winking or smiling.
Posted by: novocentro | Aug 29, 2007 6:56:21 PM
Let's cut Tucker some slack. He is not an enemy. He supports gay marriage. He does not support Bush or his foreign policy. He supported the Iraq war but soon disavowed it. He has called the National Review and the Washington Times "rags." He supporsts Ron Paul (the best of the worst, but still).
If indeed Tucker's story is accurate, remember that he was in high-school (well, boarding school) when this happened. he's 38 now. Let's, for the sake of argument, say he was 16 at the time, and the year would have been 1985. Can we expect that he would have reacted much differently from the way he did, really? I did a number of things when I was a teen that I regret now. I know that my straight teen-age son would just ignore this kind of crap and go on about his business, but it it is 2007, 22 years later.
I am not trying to excuse anything about that past incident. Should he have assaulted the man -- much worse leave to get a friend to help him? Of course not. But should a man be skulking in a public restroom propositioning boys?
According to his explanation, he and a friend grabbed the perv and held him while the police came. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Posted by: nic | Aug 29, 2007 6:58:59 PM
I'm a gay man that has been hit on a time or two. I cannot condone someone putting ones hands on somebody uninvited-gay, straight or otherwise.
But violence as a response-other to defend oneself-is not so funny. And this constant snickering by nice straight men over the notion that gay men hang out in washrooms to assault boys is kinds old. If grabbing people for sex was such a huge issue straight men would lead the way as the exposed perpetrators...my sister has told me all about it!
My partner and I taught our two sons about not putting uninvited hands on people...very simple.
Posted by: malcolm | Aug 29, 2007 7:37:00 PM
Tucker Carlson evidently has a very active fantasy life, because as a figment of his imagination is the only way this entire episode sounds remotely plausible.
Posted by: Frank L | Aug 29, 2007 7:58:29 PM
I have been accosted in a public restroom and when I was 17. It's not nice and it it's degrading. I threatened physical violence against the person, because he reached over and grabbed my dick. Str8, gay or otherwise, thats sexual assult.
Tucker was a teenager, teenagers are not always **mature** as several of you seem to think he should have been. They also don't always stop to rationalise a situation, just as some of you are doing in your defense of a man who grabs underage kids cocks in a PUBLIC restroom. I have no sympathy for the guy....he got what he deserved.....and it should be the same for str8 guys who pull stunts like this as well.
As to his being mad because he feels he can't take his son to use a PUBLIC restroom because of the creepy guys....well, he's right.....creepy guys should be creeping in the baths or adult bookstores or whereever they can meet other creepy guys, not in PUBLIC restrooms. Trying to equate this disgusting behaviour with how str8 men treat women makes you look like a fool.....just because **they** do it, dosen't mean it's any more ok.
What really makes me angry about this, is the reaction of Abrams and Scarbough.....there is no excuse for GROWN, MATURE adult men in their public profession to act the way they do.......they, not Carlson owe us and the public a very public apology and possibly suspension or firing from those positions they hold.
Posted by: Joshua | Aug 29, 2007 8:32:18 PM
Wait a minute... Was Larry Craig the guy in the bathroom?
>;@
Posted by: Br!on | Aug 29, 2007 8:33:40 PM
Even if we are to take Mr. Carlson at his word on how and if this happened it would have been best had he gone to the police immediately rather than going, getting a friend and coming back to hold the guy down. It does seem kind of odd.
Posted by: db | Aug 29, 2007 8:41:18 PM
Tucker is an ass-hat! He shouldn't lose his job though. He's never thrown anybody against a wall. Liar,liar pants on fire!
Posted by: Pugzz | Aug 29, 2007 9:57:34 PM
if somebody came onto me in a bathroom i'd beat the shit out of 'em too...thats gross. its a bathroom. anyone who'd want to get it on in there, needs an ass whupping just for being retarded. and not having any taste.
Posted by: dan | Aug 29, 2007 10:21:31 PM
Tucker is obviously a homophobe (and probably gay). Any man who does not allow himself to be groped in a public bathroom is a self-loathing closet case.
Posted by: Leland Francine | Aug 29, 2007 10:56:12 PM
Well, Tucker was in HS, so his actions were not those of a mature man, but he didn't disavow them now either when he had the chance. He often tries to interject macho humor into his "routine".
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Aug 29, 2007 11:45:24 PM
Jesus, if this incident happened as Tucker says, and they held the man until security guards came, surely there was an arrest and a police report to prove his story. He also claims he did this with his friend. Who is this friend? Name the friend and have him come forward to confirm the story. I doubt any police report exists or that any friend can be named who captured this pervert.
If Tucker is lying, his lies can be proven.
Posted by: Bryce | Aug 30, 2007 12:26:12 AM
I am gay I have had sex with men I just met online. However of some creep hits on me in a restroom I would knock his teeth off. I don't know the politics that Tucker supports but I would have done the same thing and I am gay.
However yes I do think they shouldn't have joked about it like this. But then TV has been cheap ever since Murdoch spoke his first word.
Posted by: SJ | Aug 30, 2007 4:30:56 AM
Oh you poor fucking queens, having your uptight middle-class beige pants and polo shirt sensibilities upset by those gross, nasty and bad-mannered men hanging around in toilets where there are, like, germs and stuff.
Listen to yourselves! What a fucking bunch of pansies.
If you don't like the guys that are cruising for sex (often older men who don't have the benefit of bar/club-appropriate looks, or the internet), then simply do what I do, and say
"No thank-you. I'm not interested".
It's that easy.
But to go on about toilet sex like it's some abomination says more about your own discomfort with the often unattractive realities of human sexuality than it does about the practices of those who use public toilets as beats.
Posted by: Chaq | Aug 30, 2007 4:40:41 AM
Dan, SJ, and Chaq: You guys are really stupid.
Do the rest of you guys not get it?
To reiterate: Tucker Carlson is NOT the enemy. I do not agree with many of his Old-Republicanism ideals. Nevertheless, he supports gay marriage. He does not support Bush or his foreign policy. He has called the National Review and the Washington Times "rags." He supports Ron Paul, a Libertarian (republican-lite). He is not a right-wing ideologue.
Any person has the right to protect him/herself against physical assault. Unless anyone of us was witness to what he alluded to, we cannot judge.
The real losers in this lamentable segment on CNN were John Scarborough and Dan Abrams. Scarborough lamely lobbed references, apropos of nothing, (Clinton and George Michael) as if to say, "Hey wait, I'm witty and hip, too." But, the bigger loser, given his position, was Abrams. He sank to the 13-year-old-boy mentality of guffawing, "Yeah we are men, so let's laugh as if something is seriously funny," when there was nothing funny at all.
Scarborough is an idiot. Abrams should apologize.
Posted by: n | Aug 30, 2007 5:52:29 AM
The "N" above should be "NIC"
Posted by: nic | Aug 30, 2007 5:56:23 AM
Nappy Headed Ho is pretty tame compared to violence. Stick a fork in this guy, he's done.
KevinKevin
Posted by: Jumpin' Jehosephat | Aug 30, 2007 7:11:17 AM
Getting your ass kicked is an occupational hazard of hitting on a stranger in a public toilet.
As the saying goes, "saying that violence solves nothing is wishful thinking at its worst."
Posted by: Zlexar | Aug 30, 2007 8:30:55 AM
If you cruise for sex in a public restroom you should expect to get roughed up if you approach the wrong person. These deviants that hang out in restrooms to have gay sex in public are disgusting. It is absolutely, positively wrong and the leaders of the gay community need to put the word out that it needs to stop.
Posted by: Jimmie | Aug 30, 2007 8:36:20 AM
JIMMIE,
Since you're pissing against the wind and pissing on yourself, YOU tell the leaders of the heterosexual community that having sex in any public place is "positively wrong." Once you've done that, come back here so that I can tell you what to do next. Here's a hint: the first word in the instructions is for you to: "Go." I'll let you guess what the next two words are.
Posted by: nic | Aug 30, 2007 9:06:43 AM
Oops!! Too late,Carlson...The original video is still up. No going back and changing your words now.
Posted by: Shabaka | Aug 30, 2007 9:37:09 AM
I call shenanigans on Tucker.
A guy "grabbed" him? Is that how this sort of thing works? These toilet trolls just grab whatever/whoever they want? If that's how this all goes down, definitely these people should be locked up.
But instead, I just think Carlson is a big liar. "Grabbed" him, indeed.
Posted by: Liar Liar | Aug 30, 2007 10:13:21 AM
I've already questioned the event--I think the place Carlson is really wrong, though, is when he says that it's nobody's business that these homophobic right wing politicians who vote against gay rights are then having sex in public restrooms. If Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs were valid news these incidents surely are.
Posted by: db | Aug 30, 2007 1:13:32 PM
I think the stupid one is you "Nic", for totally missing the point of what I was saying.
I couldn't give a fuck what, or who, these politicians are, as I am not American and don't live in the US. In other words, I don't care about your opinions on who-said-what, or the dynamics of the incident
My point was simply that it is ridiculous for people to carry on about public sex as if it is, in itself, something horrible.
Being assalted does indeed deserve punishment, and that is precisely why I did not say that what happened to this journalist, if it is true, was OK.
OK?
So before you go calling me stupid, perhaps you should read what I actually said.
Posted by: Chaq | Aug 31, 2007 4:56:27 AM
Here's how I view this as a straight man. I don't necessarily condone assaulting this man, depending on how he came on to or grabbed Tucker. But if I was in high school,remember you're talking about 14 to 18 years old, this would have scared the hell out of me and pissed me off once I was away from this jackoff. I definitely would have told my buddy, as my mind would have been reeling. To go back and get revenge for the way he made me feel wouldn't take much urging by my buddy. This type of behavior is totally unacceptable and is also a source of the reason that a straight man like myself wouldn't trust my son's well-being in any bathroom that looks seedy. Thus linking, if you choose to look at it that way, homosexuality to pedophiles. Do I beleive that all gays are pedophiles, certainly not! But are there some, yes, which is why I wouldn't trust my son's safety going in alone to any public restroom that looked suspicious. This type of behavior makes me sick and I feel no remorse for the victim of the assault. If this was told to me exactly the way Tucker told it by a buddy of mine I also couldn't have avoided laughing. Does this make it right, no. But stories like this set back your fight for gay rights. By the way I've had a gay friend and hated it when others bashed him. I also know another gay man who I have a lot of respect for, and I am from a very small farming community that is not what you would say is progressive. Redneck Central.
Posted by: BB King | Aug 31, 2007 9:13:52 AM
Come on! No one gets accosted in a public bathrooms unless they are unnecessarily lingering or giving of signals that they are in the bathroom for suggested contact. In Carlson's case it seems certain that he only got what it was assumed he was looking for by his behavior in the bathroom. He needs to own some responsibility here. No one who looks for quick encounters in public restrooms will take the kind of risks that are being suggested. There are entire websites dedicated to listing bathroom locations for same-sex encounters and the biggest visitors are white married men.
Posted by: TR | Aug 31, 2007 1:57:21 PM
Chaq,
apparently you do care a little, since you responded. i misspoke; clearly, you're not stupid. i apologize. i did understand what you were saying. men, straight or gay, will get sex whenever or wherever they can get it. getting it in a public restroom is not for me, however. but i don't look down on people who do.
the subject at hand, though, was not the propriety of tea-room sex, but rather the propriety of three grown men tittering and guffawing like adolescents over a serious incident in an obstensibly serious program. it is deplorable that the "state" feels it necessary to monitor and punish human sexual behavior in any of its manifestations. the state's responsibility is to prevent and punish crime, not to entrap. however, sen. craig got caught in his own trap. that's poetic justice.
MY point was that tucker carlson, despite his macho posturing, is not the ogre that he was being made out to be.
Can we agree to hate on BERNARDO? now he is definitely stupid.
Posted by: nic | Aug 31, 2007 2:13:09 PM
damn! yes, i know, the spelling is "ostensibly."
to "BB KING," thanks for your take on this.
Posted by: nic | Aug 31, 2007 2:23:02 PM
Lets remember that Tucker was 14, and this man did put his hands on him and tried to rape him. I think GLAAD sounds like it is supporting same-sex rape. GLAAD could be part of NAMBLA.
Posted by: Larry | Sep 1, 2007 7:11:43 PM
First of all, the incident happened when he was in high school. He was a teenager. Would any of you not expect a teenage boy to defend himelf against a man who accosted him in a public bathroom? Carlson is now 38 years old, so the incident happened at least 20 years ago. The question should be: Would Carlson react the same way now? Or would he just tell the guy to mind his own business? Or call a cop?
This doesn't sound like a gay bashing, as much as teaching the man a lesson, because Carlson does have a point - when guys use public restrooms, they shouldn't have to put up with behavior from other guys who are looking for sex...
He said he responded to "an unsolicited sexual attack." The only fault I find with his actions is that he should have done it the first time, and not waited to come back and do it, because it's no less than what we would expect any child or woman to do if they were sexually assaulted - "defend yourself."
When I think of gay bashing, I think of someone being followed on the street and being beaten by others only because they suspect or know the person is gay.
Wikipedia defines gay bashing as this:
Gay bashing is an expression used to designate verbal confrontation with, denigration of, or physical violence against people thought to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered (LGBT) because of their apparent sexual orientation or gender identity.
The other guy made the first move. Carlson didn't react because the guy was gay. He reacted because the guy assaulted him.
Posted by: Robert | Sep 4, 2007 4:09:41 AM
www.exodusinternational.org
Posted by: Exodus | Sep 17, 2007 8:09:21 AM
OK... Let me get this 'straight' he RETURNED to washroom WITH A FRIEND? For what reason? This whole story sounds like a load...
Posted by: GAYCANUCK | Nov 18, 2007 9:16:02 PM