Fox News host Tucker Carlson called in Drexel University’s George Ciccariello on Thursday to discuss his recent admission that giving troops first-class airplane tickets makes him want to “vomit.”
A 13-minute debate on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” between the conservative journalist and Mr. Ciccariello touched on everything from college protests of conservative speakers to the guest’s December “satire” calling for “white genocide.” The Fox anchor eventually turned to a March 26 tweet by the political science professor, which said regarding giving U.S. servicement plane-ticket upgrades, “I’m trying not to vomit or yell about Mosul.”
“Was that satire, too? What does that mean?” asked Mr. Carlson.
“I think it’s really irresponsible to blindly support, for example, wars that send off young people into combat, risk their lives, kill many others as we’ve just seen in Mosul — 200 people incinerated by U.S. bombs — and to not do that in a way that expand anyone’s freedom, that makes anyone less secure,” Mr. Ciccariello replied. “The Iraq War has not protected anyone.”
Mr. Carlson was not satisfied with the answer.
“You’re blaming the soldier. You’re not blaming the policymaker,” he replied.
“Absolutely not,” said the guest.
“You’re saying giving up a seat for a soldier in uniform made you want to vomit. You’re not saying giving up a seat for the guy who made the war policy — but for the soldier, the guy who is risking his life,” replied Mr. Carlson. “Why did that make you feel like throwing up?”
The Drexel professor then said that what U.S. troops need is “real support.”
“They don’t need symbolic gestures,” Mr. Ciccariello said, Mediaite reported. “What they need is not a first-class seat. What they need is health care support, psychological support. Women in uniform need to not be subjected to an epidemic of sexual assault. And more than anything, they don’t need to be deployed, have their lives risked, be taken away from their families, for wars that do nothing and no good for anyone.”
Mr. Carlson, exasperated, then replied: “Someone is trying to be nice to the guy who is going through all these hardships you’ve just described and that makes you mad.”
Mr. Ciccariello locked his Twitter account after his “vomit” commentary made national headlines. His settings were also privatized in December while school officials mulled over consequences for his “white genocide” tweets.
Drexel University President John A. Fry released a statement on Dec. 29 defending his faculty’s ability to “express their opinions in the course of academic debate and discussion.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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