In a deeply disturbing moment at a recent Donald Trump rally in Duluth, Georgia, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson unleashed a bizarre, sexualized rant that left many observers aghast. Carlson, who was warming up the crowd before Trump took the stage, likened the ex-president to an angry father preparing to spank his daughter as punishment.
“Dad comes home. He’s pissed. Dad is pissed,” Carlson declared to the crowd. “And when dad gets home, you know what he says? ‘You’ve been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl, and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now.'”
The twisted analogy continued, with Carlson mimicking the supposed father’s threats: “‘I’m not going to lie. It’s going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me. And you earned this. You’re getting a vigorous spanking because you’ve been a bad girl. You’re only going to get better when you take responsibility for what you did. It has to be this way.'”
Portraying Trump as Disciplinarian-in-Chief
According to sources familiar with the rally, Carlson’s disturbing comments were meant to portray Trump as a disciplinarian figure coming “home” to the White House to mete out punishment to Vice President Kamala Harris for her term in office. The shocking sexual undertones and the characterization of Harris as a “bad little girl” in need of a “vigorous spanking” from Trump drew immediate backlash.
Critics slammed the rant as not just bizarre and unsettling, but blatantly sexist and wildly inappropriate given Trump’s sordid history. The former president has faced numerous sexual misconduct allegations over the years, including a recent one published by a major news outlet alleging he molested a former model in the early 1990s after being introduced to her by the late sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Crowd’s Chilling Reaction: “Daddy’s Home!”
Even more alarming than Carlson’s rant itself was the crowd’s exuberant reaction to it. As Trump took the stage following Carlson’s introduction, rallygoers erupted into chants of “Daddy’s home!” and “Daddy Don!” The chilling display evoked comparisons to a mini-Republican National Convention, where Trump had accepted the party’s 2024 presidential nomination to similar fervor just months earlier.
“The vibe in the room is like a mini-RNC,” remarked one reporter covering the event. “When Trump came on stage, they started screaming and chanting ‘Daddy’s home!’ and ‘Daddy Don!’. This is something I have not heard at a Trump rally so far.”
Trump Hurls Insults, Makes Bizarre Claims
For his part, Trump stuck to his usual script of hurling childish insults at his opponent. “She’s not a smart person. She’s a low-IQ individual,” the former president sneered about Harris. He then launched into a meandering speech that included the curious claim that he had “stopped a war with France” during his White House tenure, though he provided no details or evidence to back up this dubious assertion.
Carlson’s Controversial Past and Putin Ties
Carlson, once the highest-paid star at Fox News, was ousted from the network in April 2023 for “getting too big for his boots.” But his influence within Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement remains strong, as evidenced by the crowd’s disturbing embrace of his “spanking” tirade.
The pundit has courted controversy throughout his career, from promoting Nazi falsehoods to conducting a bizarre, softball interview with Vladimir Putin in Moscow last year, during which he and the Russian dictator commiserated over their shared disdain for America.
Normalizing Violent, Sexist Rhetoric
Critics argue that rants like Carlson’s, and the eager reception they receive from Trump’s base, contribute to the normalization of violent, misogynistic rhetoric in American political discourse. The eagerness with which the crowd lapped up the notion of Trump as a paternal figure doling out sexualized “discipline” to the nation’s first woman vice president struck a deeply unsettling chord.
“The whole ‘daddy’ thing is just gross and says a lot about the twisted mentality of Trump’s most fervent supporters,” commented one political observer. “It’s this cultish desire for an authoritarian strongman figure who will punish their enemies, combined with some really creepy quasi-incestuous and sexist undertones. It’s not normal or healthy.”
As the 2024 presidential race heats up, the Duluth rally provided a disturbing preview of the type of inflammatory, division-stoking rhetoric Americans can expect in the coming months. With Trump continuing to push the boundaries of acceptable political discourse, and surrogates like Carlson egging him on, the campaign looks set to be one of the ugliest in modern American history.
