Tucker: This is what the collapse of democracy looks like

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Tucker: This is what the collapse of democracy looks like

Fox News host shreds light on Canada's crackdown of the Freedom Convoy protesters on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," February 21, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT.

You've got to feel a little bad for the many heads of Western democracies. For them, the end of the coronavirus pandemic is really the worst thing they can imagine. Put yourself in their position.

For two years, you've wielded unprecedented power over your country. You've told citizens where and when they can work and shop and worship and go outside. You've controlled what they wear. You've decided how their children will be educated and what drugs they must put into their bodies.

For a person with no useful skills and limited job prospects in the real economy -- and that describes all of them -- it has been an extraordinary experience. No Democratic leader in history has ever been this powerful, as powerful as you are right now. You're like a god.

Each morning, you wake up and survey your creation and you revel in your omnipotence. You can hardly believe how far you've come. The last thing you want is for all of it to end.

But of course it is ending. The virus that gave you these powers is in retreat. It's no longer a public health emergency. The vaccine that you promised would be a panacea didn't work in the ways you pledged they would. They didn't stop infection or transmission. Now you've done your best to hide that fact, but everybody knows it.

So for you, the jig is up. The ball is over. It's almost midnight. Just a few hours from now, you will once again be merely a scullery maid. You'll be taking orders from your citizens rather than giving them and the thought of that sends you into a panic.

What do you do next? How do you make this moment last forever? There's only one way, you must find a new emergency that justifies making your powers permanent. If you're going to remain god, you're going to need the devil to fight.

So if you're wondering why so many Western leaders suddenly are vilifying their own populations, people they were supposed to represent. This is why: Find an enemy, create a crisis, stay in power forever. It's the oldest recipe for tyranny that there is.

If we don't recognize it in our own age, it's only because nothing like this was supposed to happen in a democracy, but it is happening, most clearly in Canada.

Last week, Justin Trudeau used a peaceful trucker strike to declare martial law. Trudeau seized control of the police, he shut down opposition media coverage, he declared himself the final arbiter of all financial transactions in the nation of Canada.

These are dictatorial powers, but they were necessary Trudeau explained because this was an emergency. White supremacist and other sedition-minded forces backed by foreign saboteurs -- sound familiar -- threaten the very existence of Canada. The truckers were effectively an invading army.

Well, over the weekend, Trudeau defeated that army. They were unarmed. He is not. Trudeau cleared the trucker strike by force, yet his emergency powers remained.

Today, Justin Trudeau explained that he will remain in full control of Canada indefinitely. And that's essential, he said, to keep Canada safe.

But the video tells a very different story. In fact, its Trudeau's crackdown on human rights that has put Canadians in danger. Watch Trudeau's forces tell this woman that she is no longer allowed to record what happens in her own city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to get a coffee, okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is the camera in my face right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I get a coffee?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you here partaking? Right now, you're in the red zone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You walked up to me. I'm scared. I want to go for a coffee down there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what's going on all day? We see you again, it'll be different.

Take your camera and get out of here. Do you understand that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am walking away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Walk away. Your phone doesn't need to be in our face while you're walking away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am walking away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: "I just want a cup of coffee." Get out of here. Multiply what you just saw by an entire country and that's Canada tonight. There is no longer any pretext that this is about the COVID pandemic. No one in Trudeau's government is trying to protect Canadians from anything much less a virus. This is political repression.

If you doubt that, consider what happened to a place called the Ionic Cafe, that's a coffee shop in Downtown Ottawa. On Sunday, riot police tried to break into the cafe and shut it down. Why? Because the proprietors had dared to serve coffee to the truckers during the protest. Under Justin Trudeau that is now a crime.

A man called Enrico who works at the cafe said he saw Trudeau's forces mistreat a civilian on the sidewalk possibly like the mistreatment you just saw. When he told them to back off, hey, this is Canada. They turned on him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, share this out you, guys. Get it out everywhere now. Get it out. There saying they're going to break the window. They already walked around back, you guys, so here's your tax service.

Here's your taxes at play everyone. Welcome to absolute tyranny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So that kind of thing is happening all over the capital city of Canada. The virus is in retreat, but there is a new crisis and that crisis is disobedience.

Last week, we showed you the footage of Trudeau's forces trampling a woman with horses. Now, internal texts show the officers who rode those horses celebrated what they did, quote, "Just watch that horse video. That is awesome." Said one officer. Awesome, an elderly woman being trampled by a horse.

The Canadian government has confirmed that those texts are real. But none of the supposedly progressive politicians in Canada care in the least. No one on the Canadian left or the American left for that matter has condemned any of this or any other grotesque violation of human rights in Canada.

State media aren't even reporting that it is happening, but it is happening.

Over the weekend, this show obtained footage of a particularly brutal beating in Ottawa during the crackdown. Watch as the man in the orange jacket is kneed repeatedly by Trudeau's men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You hear the noises of people getting shoved around outside, being arrested and being kneed there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Kneeing him again and again and again. He wasn't resisting. And the man who shot that footage is called David Paisley. He runs a website called shedmedia.ca.

Police have arrested Paisley and seized the camera equipment he used to shoot that -- $5,000.00 worth. Now, we thought that video was remarkable, so we alerted several Canadian media outlets over the weekend, including CBC and CTV to this footage. We gave them David Paisley's contact information, news organization to news organization, but none of them reported on it, so we looked into it ourselves.

Several protesters who were there said that a trucker in an orange jacket called Csaba Vizi was attacked by police officers during the crackdown. We reached Csaba Vizi and he confirmed it and provided footage.

It shows him exiting his cab calmly, kneeling down in front of his truck and clasping his hands behind his head. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CSABA VIZI, TRUCKER: I'm proud you're here.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Speaking in foreign language.)

VIZI: I don't speak French.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It's very hard, but, you don't lose.

VIZI: No, I am not.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Second battle.

VIZI: As soon as they let me out, I'll be back. I'm going down. I'm going down on my knee, hands behind my back. I am so ready I know. I'm peacefully protesting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So the man surrenders, on camera, and then he is kneed repeatedly into submission. Now, we'd love to have more footage, but it turns out none of Justin Trudeau's men was wearing a body camera at the time. That's pretty weird. No one in Canadian state media cares to follow up on that story, and so they're not. They don't care, either.

In a moment, we are going to speak to the man who you saw being beaten on camera, Csaba Vizi and he will give you all the details. He joins us in just a moment.

The brutality though is just one element of this crackdown. On Saturday, Ottawa's new police chief promised to hunt down the regime's enemies no matter where they are in coming months and ruin them financially. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF STEVE BELL, OTTAWA POLICE: So, I will stand here today again and say this demonstration is over. Go home. If you don't go home, we will remove you from the streets.

If you are involved in this protest, we will actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges. Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: If you are involved in a protest, you'll be sanctioned and charged. What does that mean exactly? Well, last night, Justin Trudeau's government announced that it is also going after anyone who quote, "directly or indirectly participated in the protests."

According to Mark Strahl, who is a member of Canada's Parliament, the dragnet has ensnared one of his constituents. It's a woman called Briane. Her crime? Donating $50.00 to the truckers. In response quote, "Her bank account has now been frozen. Briane is a single mom from Chilliwack, working a minimum wage job." She now has no money at all.

So under Trudeau's new order, she won't simply lose access to her bank account. She will also lose access to credit unions, co-ops, trusts and loan providers.

This is what the collapse of democracy looks like. It's not simply beating people in the streets, it is making it impossible for them to live because you steal all their money. You award yourself the power to control every dollar in your country. Where does that power come from? Well, it's a self- appointed power that Justin Trudeau now has, and you prevent anyone from speaking out against you.

So Trudeau is not just targeting people who parked their trucks in Ottawa, he's crushing anyone who supports them. He is going after their employers.

Over the weekend, the owner of a trucking company in Ontario received this threatening call from Trudeau's authorities. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Well, my job is to phone the registered owner of the trucks to ask them if they're still in Ottawa and if they are still in Ottawa, I wish to tell the registered owner that now they can be subject to the new measures under the Emergency Measures Act, so they can like seize assets and freeze bank accounts and all that kind of stuff.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CARLSON: So, Trudeau's government is promising to seize company assets and zero up bank accounts because one company truck parked on the street in Ottawa. It's not simply an overreaction, a grotesque overreaction to a peaceful protest, it is a wild and unprecedented expansion of powers that is permanent, and that make democracy impossible.

Canada's Finance Minister explained that Trudeau is not going to give up this power -- ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRYSTIA FREELAND, CANADIAN FINANCE MINISTER: We will be putting forward measures to put those tools permanently in place.

The authorities of FINTRAC, I believe, do need to be expanded to cover crowdsourcing platforms and payment platform and their payment providers. So that is something that we need to do and we will do and that needs to be in place permanently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: You'll notice that some of the harshest authoritarians, not simply in Canada, but across the West, speak in light, lilting voices going up on the last syllable. They don't sound like Mussolini, but they've awarded themselves greater powers.

By the way, this all seems to have happened overnight in Canada, but that's simply because most Americans don't pay attention.

A year ago, Canada's government began debating something called C-36. That bill would allow activists to head to court and accuse someone of quote, "contemplating hate speech," not even saying something unauthorized, just thinking about saying it.

So, what is hate speech exactly and what does it look like to contemplate it? Well, back around 2020, a man living in British Columbia wrote to complain to a Canadian government official called Bob Rae. The man wrote that quote, "You and your government have blood on your hands for not quarantining Canada's borders before we'd imported COVID from around the world." End quote.

Now you can agree with that or disagree with it, but it's hardly a wild opinion and of course, it will always be permitted in an actual democracy, but the Canadian official's response to Bob Rae's response quote, "Worthy of a block. Hate speech."

Criticize me, the person in power, and now it's hate speech. Now, contemplating saying something like that is itself a crime. Canadian government officials like Bob Rae can send people who criticize them to jail.

Trudeau's government has moved to reintroduce Bill C-36 quote, "as quickly as possible."

Now, the Biden administration, you should know and not forget, has encouraged all of this. "Vladimir Putin is the tyrant," they tell us, "not Justin Trudeau." At this point it's pretty clear that if you want to know the future they are planning for us in the United States, look north to Canada.

Now, as promised, we're joined by Csaba Vizi, he is one of the truck drivers who were attacked by Justin Trudeau's police. He arrived in Canada, by the way after fleeing communism in Romania. He joins us tonight.

Mr. Vizi, thanks so much for coming on.

VIZI: Good evening, Tucker.

CARLSON: So, good. Thank you.

So the video that we showed appears to have you surrendering peacefully to the police, and then the next we see, you're being kneed in the ribs by Justin Trudeau's men. Did you fight them?

VIZI: No, sir. Not at all.

I get down from my truck. I went down right to my knee. I put my hands behind my head, and I was waiting for them to take me away.

So in that moment, the police officer, they start to push me with those sticks. They said -- they were yelling to me, "Go back, go back." And I just told them, "Hey, I'm the driver." Then suddenly somebody yelled, "Arrest him, arrest him."

So they dragged me in. They lay me down on my belly. I don't recall how many of them that was on top of me. They were squeezing there, slowly, slowly I feel like I was beaten but I took it like a man.

CARLSON: Good for you, at least someone is behaving like a man. You seem to be having trouble breathing. I could hear it through my earpiece. Were you injured by this?

VIZI: Yes, sir. They break my body a little bit, but not by spirit.

CARLSON: Not your spirit. Is this this -- so lived, if I got it right, under Ceausescu in Romania -- did you expect this kind of behavior in the formerly free nation of Canada?

VIZI: No, sir. Not at all. When I moved to Canada, you know, everything was wonderful. People, they are talking with you on the street without knowing you like, asking you: Hey, how are you? You know, I never experienced stuff like that before.

So I was like, so happy and said, "Jeez, that's so nice." You know, everything was beautiful in Canada in the last 20 years. I can say, the last two years, it is like impossible to live here anymore.

CARLSON: Well, you're all -- we hope you'll come to this country, which is, whatever its problems, fairer than Canada. And we appreciate your coming on tonight. Csaba Vizi, god bless you. Thank you.

VIZI: You're welcome, sir.

CARLSON: Well, speaking of tyranny, it is a weird experience, but probably not entirely unexpected to be denounced as unpatriotic by people who despise our country. You see that a lot all of a sudden.

The very same politicians who claim the United States as systemically racist, a White supremacist hellscape defined by slavery. In other words, an evil nation. Those people are always the first to claim that you hate America if you dare to disagree with them. That happened to us over the weekend.

For months, we have criticized Joe Biden's lunatic push for war with Russia, nothing about that make sense. It's not foreign policy, it is self- harm and it is a lie.

Russia is not America's greatest international rival by every measure, that is of course, China. Ukraine is not our vital ally. We have no legal or moral obligation to defend Ukraine's territorial integrity even as we surrender our own to the rest of the world, letting millions in, in a single year. Ukraine is not even a democracy despite what Joe Biden endlessly claims.

Ukraine is a corrupt Eastern European autocracy that has spent millions of dollars lobbying politicians in Washington, and by the way made Joe Biden's family rich.

Those are not Russian talking points, they are entirely true and because they are true, no one in the administration is willing to debate or rebut them, not for a second. Instead, they just call you a traitor. Here's MSNBC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it say that you have people like Tucker Carlson and FOX News, drumming up support for Putin?

REP. DAVID CICILLINE (D-RI): Yes, I mean, look, it's not frustrating. It's sickening. It's un-American. This is the same person who went to Hungary to interview Viktor Orban.

But this is you know, a continuation of the propaganda machine of FOX. So, it's not surprising but really, really disappointing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So now it is quote "un-American" to defend America's national interest. Shut up in support war with Russia. That was Congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island. Cicilline has particularly exercise that this show had sought to interview Vladimir Putin.

NBC News interviewed Vladimir Putin not long ago, that was completely fine, but our efforts to do the same are not allowed. They are quote "un- American." Joe Biden's legal adviser, Larry Tribe agreed with this. On Twitter, he accused us of quote, "treason," which is a former Harvard law professor who knows perfectly well is a death penalty offense. "Arrest the talk show host."

So how seriously should we take this? Well, it is pretty clear where it's going. First, the N.S.A. spied on our e-mails and texts. Now, they're accusing us of treason. We got it. They want us to be quiet, but we won't be quiet and not just because this is a news organization, because we're Americans and we can talk to anyone we want.

We can have any opinion we feel like having, that is not treason. It is not un-American. It's the whole point of America. It is our Bill of Rights distilled.

So today we sent another letter to Vladimir Putin asking for an interview. We hope we get it. We also sent a message to the President of Ukraine. We would like that interview, too.

Now, neither one of these men runs a democracy by traditional American standards. Both of them are tyrants, but they're in the news and we would love to talk to them. An interview is hardly an endorsement. In that same spirit, we have also reached out to Congressman Cicilline's office inviting him on this show.

David Cicilline is a former mafia lawyer who represents one of our most corrupt states. He is a repulsive man. Is it immoral to talk to him? No, it's not immoral. It would be interesting, and so we hope Congressman Cicilline accepts our invitation.

GoFundMe routinely cuts off crowdfunding to any group that opposes progressive causes. Look at the truckers in Canada. Meanwhile, they allow BLM to crowdfund for violent criminals.

Some politician think that's a fair standard. We've got details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: So we broke down on Friday and reviewed the new book about Sandy Cortez entitled "Congresswoman from Westchester," which was ridiculous, and of course, it was -- hagiographic doesn't begin to describe it. They compared her to Jesus. And of course, she responded to it because it was about her and anything about her immediately crosses her radar and she can't resist either.

So then she gets on Twitter and assumes her natural pose, which is victimhood, so here is the most powerful people in the country telling you that she is oppressed. She is an oppressed person of color. Right?

Quote: "I genuinely want to know why Tucker Carlson is allowed paid to engage in clear targeted, libelous harassment that endangers people and drives so many violent threats that people have to fundraise for their own safety. Why should they have to pay for his harassment? Make it make sense?"

Again, note the narcissism, but note above all, here is once more, one of the most powerful people in the United States of America, the world's most powerful country telling you that she is a victim.

She is a lawmaker, but she's oppressed. This is the posture they all assume. It is passive aggression, its feline. There is something especially disgusting and dishonest about it.

But here's the most interesting part. So Sandy Cortez talks about how she is threatened and she's got to pay for protection. Well, taxpayers fund her ample bodyguards, of course, even if she defunds the cops for everybody else.

But the truth is, some people do need to fundraise for protection in the society that she created, where political differences can invite violence. Those people who do need to fundraise for protection would include, say the Canadian truckers, or the January 6th defendants or Kyle Rittenhouse to name just a few examples, but they're unable to do that anymore.

Why? Because people like Sandy Cortez agitate to choke off their fundraising. This is an attempt to suppress their speech and put them in danger.

So if there is a victim of the system, a system that she helped create and supports, it's not her, it is the people who actually need protection, but can't raise money. They always accuse you of what they themselves are doing.

So we brought you this story a couple of days ago, a BLM activist called Quintez Brown, a gun control guy walked into the office of the Louisville mayoral candidate, Craig Greenberg, last Monday and then opened fire. It was an assassination attempt.

Here's the weird part. The gun control advocate who started shooting at people is out of jail. How did he get to jail so fast? Well, BLM helped him crowdfund his bail on GoFundMe.

Now GoFundMe, you may remember is the same website that just cut off donations to nonviolent groups like the Canadian truckers.

How exactly does this work? This is kind of what Sandy Cortez was talking about. No?

Miranda Devine is a columnist at "The New York Post," honestly one of the best journalists in America and we're always grateful to have her on this show. Miranda, thanks so much for coming on.

So, GoFundMe got this attempted assassin out of jail like instantly?

MIRANDA DEVINE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, Tucker. Yes, well, Quintez Brown's BLM comrades managed to crowdfund $100,000.00 to get him out of jail within 48 hours for this attempted assassination of a Jewish mayoral candidate and of course, Quintez Brown has some sort of affiliation with Jewish anti-Semitic groups. Anyway, it's judging by his social media output, and he is a darling of the Joy Reid class.

So of course, he has privilege, he has BLM privilege, and he is a protected person. Whereas if you're a Canadian trucker, nonviolent, don't try to kill anyone unarmed. If you're a January 6 defendant who is nonviolent, not charged with any violence, was completely unarmed and have spent more than a year in jail, then you are not eligible for GoFundMe funds because GoFundMe deems you to be dangerous, but not BLM attempted assassins, and not Antifa rioters who also have no problem raising funds on GoFundMe.

CARLSON: Well, I mean, so what you're seeing is GoFundMe and other tech companies like GoFundMe are acting as enforcers for the most radical and violent political factions in our country. I mean, that's my takeaway.

DEVINE: Exactly. They are enforcers of the regime just like Facebook and Twitter, censor and punish people who say things that are anti-ethical to, you know, the narratives that we're all supposed to go along with.

Anybody who steps outside the regime's favored behavioral norms is punished by big tech.

CARLSON: Really remarkable and you yourself had been punished by running that amazing series of stories on Hunter Biden's laptop, which was suppressed. We appreciate you coming on tonight. Miranda Devine, thanks.

DEVINE: Thanks, Tucker.

CARLSON: So Kyle Rittenhouse attempted to defend himself in the summer of 2020 when people tried to murder him, including a convicted child molester. He was brought up by murder charges for that, he was found not guilty.

Now we followed his trial for an episode in our documentary series, Tucker Carlson Originals and now Kyle Rittenhouse has a major announcement and we are pleased he will make on this show, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: District Attorney's backed by George Soros refusing to enforce certain laws in this country against certain people. If you live in this country, you know that because it's all around you, the collapse.

But new jailhouse audio shows that criminals including child molesters also know it. FOX's Bill Melugin has that story for us tonight. Hey, Bill.

BILL MELUGIN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Tucker. Good to see you.

So this case has to do with a 26-year-old transgender child molester who was sentenced to only two years in a juvenile facility because LA County DA George Gascon refused to prosecute him as an adult. Take a look.

This is 26-year-old Hannah Tubbs, who was recently convicted of sexually assaulting a 10 year old girl inside of a Denny's restroom in LA County back in 2014. Now at the time of that crime, Tubbs's first name was James and he was a couple of weeks away from his 18th birthday.

CCTV showed Tubbs going into that Denny's restroom and then fleeing the scene after assaulting the little girl, but Tubbs wasn't connected to the sexual assault until being arrested for another crime in 2019, and prosecutors say Tubbs began identifying as female after being taken into custody and despite having multiple violent crimes on record already, Gascon refused to prosecute tubs as an adult and just last month, a Judge sentenced Tubbs to serve two years in a juvie detention facility at age 26.

And get this, Tubbs will not have to register as a sex offender.

Now, I've obtained some of Tubbs phone calls from when Tubbs was in custody here in LA County back in November before being sentenced. In them, Tubbs is on the phone with his dad and he talks about gloating about avoiding prison time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HANNAH TUBBS, CONVICTED SEXUAL ASSAULT: Don't worry about it. It's a strike, but they're going to plead -- I'm going to plead out to them and plead guilty. They're going to stick me on probation and it can be dropped. It's going to be gone. Then I won't have to register (inaudible) nothing.

FATHER: For offender, you don't have to register.

TUBBS: I won't have to do none of that.

FATHER: So what are they going to do to you then?

TUBBS: Nothing.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MELUGIN: And in that same call, Tubbs went on to make some extremely crude disparaging sexual comments about the 10-year-old victim openly discussing the sexual attraction for her and laughing about it, so crude, we've decided not to air that audio.

That victim is now 18 years old, and she is speaking out for the very first time telling FOX News in part, quote: "The things he did to me and made me do that day were beyond horrible for a 10-year-old girl to have to go through. It's something I struggle with and it is insulting that this is all he was given as punishment. And I want something done about it."

As for DA George Gascon, he says he didn't even know about these jail call recordings until I reached out to him last week and told his office about it. He says if he had known about these calls, he would have handled the case differently, and now Gascon is claiming that he plans to change policy moving forward. He says he will consider prosecuting some juveniles as adults, but only in extreme circumstances, like this one.

I'll send it back to you, Tucker.

CARLSON: Let's hope he's recalled, too. Bill Melugin, thanks so much. Great to see you tonight.

You should know that there are a lot of people in this country, mostly in positions of power who are more upset about the fact that we refer to the man you just saw, the child molester in that video as a man because that's what he is, than they are about the crimes he committed against a 10-year- old girl. Tells you a lot.

So for over a year, media outlets in this country lied about Kyle Rittenhouse in an effort to have him put behind bars for the rest of his life. They called him a White supremacist, which he is not. They told us he crossed state lines with an AR-15, which he did not and therefore he was a terrorist. Here's a selection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what does it say when a White teenager can cross state lines with a long gun, kill two people at a racial justice protest and gets to walk away a free man?

AL SHARPTON, MSNBC HOST: Now, we're being told that someone can cross state lines with a semi-automatic rifle and kill people and say it is self- defense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is a 17-year-old who came across state lines with a firearm that he purchased illegally, driven by his mother

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Self-defense on its face is not White supremacy, but traveling across state lines with an AR-15 to intimidate people is absolutely White supremacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: White supremacy. No one he shot was not White, everyone involved in the story was white, of course, but it's White supremacy.

They are lying to put the kid in prison for the rest of his life. What they just told you there are lies. Rittenhouse's mother didn't drive him across state lines with an AR-15. He borrowed the gun from a friend in Wisconsin. He lived about 15 minutes from Wisconsin. He worked in Wisconsin.

So the question is, after a full year of watching these people lie in order to imprison a kid for the rest of his life, who is going to hold the liars accountable? Kyle Rittenhouse understandably has thought a lot about this. He joins us tonight to explain his plan going forward.

Kyle, thanks so much for coming on tonight. I can't think of many people who've been at the receiving end of this much sinister lying from so-called news organizations as you have. How are you going to respond?

KYLE RITTENHOUSE, THE MEDIA ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: Well, Tucker, thank you for having me.

CARLSON: Of course.

RITTENHOUSE: Me and my team have decided to launch the Media Accountability Project as a tool to help fundraise and hold the media accountable for the lies they said and deal with them in Court.

CARLSON: Interesting. So the idea is, maybe like the Covington Catholic kids, you will be suing news organizations that maliciously lie about people who are in the news. Is that the plan?

RITTENHOUSE: Yes, sir. We're going to be holding them accountable, Tucker.

CARLSON: Do you -- I mean, I guess I have to ask a kind of a dumb question, but you know, why isn't there a group like this that exists already since the media so often are not observers, they are players, they are participants in the news? Why hasn't someone done this before?

RITTENHOUSE: That's a good question, Tucker, and I'm not sure to be honest. But I don't want to see anybody else have to deal with what I went through. So I want to hold them accountable for what they did to me, because I don't want to see anybody have to go through what I went through.

CARLSON: Yes, I mean, they tried to imprison you for the rest of your life. It wasn't coverage, it was advocacy.

You have a lot of potential targets to sue yourself. Will you be suing any of these news organizations? And if so, when?

RITTENHOUSE: Well, right now, we are looking at quite a few. Politicians, celebrities, athletes. Whoopi Goldberg is on the list. She called me a murderer after I was acquitted by a jury of my peers. She went on to still say that, and there are others, don't forget about Cenk from the Young Turks. He called me a murderer before verdict and continues to call me a murderer.

CARLSON: Interesting. And what about the people who called you groundlessly, a White supremacist which makes it pretty hard to get a job for the rest of your life if you're a White supremacist? Will you be responding to them?

RITTENHOUSE: Absolutely. We're going to hold everybody who lied about me accountable, such as everybody who has lied and called me a White supremacist. They're all going to be held accountable and we're going to handle them in a courtroom.

CARLSON: Kyle Rittenhouse, I appreciate your announcing that tonight, The Media Accountability Project, and of course, we're rooting for justice as we always are. So thank you very much. Good to see you.

RITTENHOUSE: Thank you, Tucker. And if anybody wants to help join us in this battle, they can donate at TMAP.org.

CARLSON: Thanks a lot.

So of course, we documented the whole Rittenhouse trial. It was on our documentary series Tucker Carlson Originals. We had behind the scenes access during that. The episode is called "The Trial of Kyle." We're proud of it. It's available on FOX Nation, and you can get it free on tuckercarlson.com.

So here is an assault on democracy you haven't heard much about. Democrats nationally trying to prevent Republicans from running for office from getting on the ballot. They're having some success in the State of North Carolina against Congressman Madison Cawthorn, keeping him off the ballots so voters won't be able to vote for him.

Did you know that was happening? Congressman Cawthorn joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: "The New York Times" has been so completely discredited so many times over so many decades, it is tempting for rational people to dismiss it. Who cares what "The New York Times" thinks? But the truth is "The New York Times" has more power maybe than it's ever had. "The New York Times" has more power than any single elected legislator in this country. In case you think democracy is real? "The New York Times" can destroy Members of Congress. They can't destroy "The New York Times." They're incredibly powerful.

Ashley Rindsberg is a novelist who has thought a lot about this and then decided to look into it at book length. The book he produced is called "The Gray Lady Winked: How The New York Times's misreporting, distortions, and fabrications radically alter history," which they have and do.

Here is conversation we had with Ashley Rindsberg on "Tucker Carlson Today."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY RINDSBERG, NOVELIST: "The New York Times" is shaping the news agenda, it is shaping the policy agenda. It is shaping the reality around us because it amplifies the message it or its message gets amplified by the rest of the media, and we're talking about thousands and thousands of other outlets who syndicate their content, who license their content, publishing industry people who spread these ideas like we've seen with the 1619 Project. Now, they've got this crazy new book out about it.

So, you've got this echo chamber, and they are the ones making the most noise all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Wish we had more time tonight. You should listen to that whole thing. It's absolutely worth it. It's all on "Tucker Carlson Today."

Now, we're hearing a lot about democracy under attack. Well, democracy is a system under which you get to vote for whomever you want, because it's your country. You're a citizen. The people rule.

But Democrats are working and they're effectively working to subvert the most basic element of democracy, which is your right to vote for whomever you want.

Madison Cawthorn is a Congressman from North Carolina and he's seeing this up close. Activists are trying to get the state's election board to keep him off the ballot in this fall's election, so you can't vote for him -- ending democracy.

A group called For the People because irony is not dead is trying to do that. They're alleging that quote: "Cawthorn is constitutionally disqualified from public office under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution based on reasonable suspicion that he has helped facilitate the January 6, 2021 insurrection."

In other words, he's like a Confederate General. He's like a foreign adversary. That's what they're arguing. And they may win, and so we want to talk to Madison Cawthorn directly tonight to hear where this all stands.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. I can't think of a clearer assault on democracy itself than preventing voters from voting for the candidate of their choice. How close are they to preventing you from running for office?

REP. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-NC): Tucker, they are actually very close. Now, what's going on in North Carolina is that the State Board of election, a panel of five people is asserting that they have the ability to bar 740,000 plus Americans in my district from being able to elect me to send me to Washington to be their weapon to fight against the Deep State.

Why they're saying that this is a viable choice in North Carolina and it is because of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. I'm sure that you were puzzled by it as I was after following January 6th, when they started saying that we are insurrectionists, you're seditionists, you're traitors. I thought they were just trying to get a flashy headline.

But the reason they were trying to set this basis for fact is because they had a plan to execute a version of law fair hashed I'm sure by Marc Elias, the quarterback for hijacking our election in 2020 to try and actually bar America First candidates from being able to hold office in 2022.

Now, does the reason they try to set the stage because they knew that their geriatric despot Joe Biden was going to be so bad in the midterms, we are going to be a slashing? I don't know. But what's going on here is that they are actually very close to being able to subvert the will of over 700,000 Americans.

And make no mistake, Tucker, this is not just about a 26-year-old from Western North Carolina in a wheelchair, this is about the future of our very nation. If they're able to set this precedent in North Carolina, they will be able to keep anybody who had valid and legitimate concerns about what happened in the 2020 election from being able to ever hold office, thus ending the America First Movement.

CARLSON: I think your analysis is so smart. You're exactly right. That's why they call the rioters insurrectionists, and so many conservative officeholders and news organizations have ignored it. They're so embarrassed.

They don't see what this is really about, which is ending democracy. And I hope you will keep us apprised of what happens in your state because I think this really, really matters.

Congressman Madison Cawthorn, joining us tonight, appreciate it.

We've got a FOX News Alert coming in from Canada.

The House of Commons just passed a motion to extend Justin Trudeau's dictatorial powers in the country. The power over all financial transactions over all people in the nation of Canada. It's tyranny. We'll keep you posted.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Virtually, every person on American television right now is demanding the United States immediately go to war with Russia over Ukraine. But interestingly, Bill Maher seems to disagree. CNN is deeply offended. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAHER, TALK SHOW HOST: Ukraine is the ancestral home of Russia. Kyiv -- that's where the Russian state started in Kyiv.

KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL, JOURNALIST: They have a deep interest.

MAHER: Kievan Rus' is the first era of Russian history. No, I'm just saying. I am saying he shouldn't -- he is a good guy or that he should invade it.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Let's let the Ukrainians decide whether they want to be taken over by Russia.

VANDEN HEUVEL: Ukraine is deeply divided.

AVLON: Not deeply divided. You're absolutely muddying the point and echoing Russian talking points.

MAHER: But I'm just saying that is --

AVLON: You are. But just so you know, you are making a --

VANDEN HEUVEL: That is where the debate in this country has broken down.

AVLON: No.

VANDEN HEUVEL: You don't say to someone who is speaking from 30 years of knowledge about NATO, Russia, Gorbachev and you say I am parroting Russian talking points.

AVLON: What Putin wants to do -- no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Amazing. Sean Hannity, it just took six seconds. Sorry, Sean.

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