FOX News host Tucker Carlson came down hard on Roll Call columnist Jonathan Allen Friday for his article titled “Jeff Sessions Is Unfit For The Cabinet.” Carlson called Allen’s article similar to “a pure download from the DNC website.” 

Jeff Sessions — Pro-KKK? Seriously?

Among other charges, Allen stated in his article that “Sessions is a favorite of Stormfront, the white-nationalist web community founded by former Klansman Don Black.” Carlson challenged Allen about his lack of supporting evidence: “Is there any evidence that he’s had contact with Stormfront, endorsed Stormfront? Or are you just smearing him on the basis of their endorsement of him?”

“Look,” Allen responded, “I’m not saying he’s a member of Stormfront or anything …” Carlson shot back, “What are you saying?” Allen fumbled a bit on the answer but said, “I’m saying he’s a favorite among people who hold bigoted views.” “So, if someone you don’t like says something nice about you, you’re tainted by that?” asked Carlson, adding that Sessions would likely disavow Stormfront’s endorsement immediately. “So why is it fair to write that?” he asked.

Carlson told Allen that people have a “right to the expectation that if someone’s going to throw out a charge, that it’s substantiated, it’s not just by implication in a McCarthyian way.”

Sessions and Racism

Allen also used a rhetorical question to further the racist narrative. “Surely,” he pondered, “Sessions wouldn’t try to resegregate American armed forces, in which he served. …” Carlson was incredulous. “Really? Jonathan Allen, surely you wouldn’t batter a child! What does that mean? Nobody’s suggested he would resegregate the armed forces. Why would you throw something like that out there?” Allen responded, “Well, Jeff Sessions has been opposed to the Voting Rights Act in the past,” to which Carlson replied: “Is that the same as resegregating the American armed forces? That’s really an appalling thing to say!”

Carlson asked Allen to provide one example of Sessions acting in a racist manner during his 20 years as a senator in Alabama. As an example, Allen came up with Session “complaining” that his state had to feed and clothe illegal immigrant children. “That’s your example of him being racist?” Carlson asked. “Are you being serious?” Allen said, “I don’t think I called him racist.” Carlson replied, “You called him racist nine times in the column!” Then Allen explained, “In 1986 he called the NAACP ‘un-American’ …” “Really?” asked Carlson. “Because I think the NAACP is a totally discredited group, does that make me a racist? I mean, let’s get back to reality!”

Sessions and the ‘Ideological Fringe’

Allen’s claim that Sessions is “beyond the ideological fringe” drew Carlson’s ire.  The FOX News host told Allen that he had looked up Sessions’ views on various issues and found that not only was he not on the ideological fringe, he was squarely in the middle. “Why don’t you, since we’re on TV live, give me an example of an opinion he has that is on the ‘ideological fringe.'” Allen quickly answered, “He wants to ban same-sex marriage — that’s on the ideological fringe.” Carlson responded, “Is that true?” When Allen posited that the majority of Americans supported same-sex marriage, Carlson noted that when the states held referendums on that very issue, they passed. Carlson laughed. “What world do you live in?”  

Get the Facts

“You’re carrying water for the Democratic Party!” Carlson told Allen. “You’re smearing this guy without engaging his ideas.”

When Carlson suggested that Allen go back and write an article that examined Sessions’ policies and critiqued them rather than pushing blatant opinions, Allen said, “He said that the KKK was okay until he found out they smoked pot.” Carlson looked stunned. “Do you really think Jeff Sessions is pro-KKK? Is that what you’re saying?”

“What I’m saying is he said he thought they were okay,” Allen replied.

Carlson was clearly familiar with the context of Sessions’ statement and proceeded to clarify. “What he said was, ‘I told a joke about marijuana that was a bad joke,’ he never said ‘I’m for the KKK.'” When asked once again whether he thought Sessions was pro-KKK, Allen said, “I don’t know.” Carlson retorted, “Then why are you suggesting he is? All I’m saying is, engage the guy on the facts.”

Sessions’ Policies

Sessions was an outspoken opponent of the 2007 amnesty bill as well as the 2013 “Gang of Eight” amnesty bill. According to Senator Sessions’ website, “The Gang of Eight bill eviscerated immigration enforcement, opened up welfare and citizenship to millions of illegal aliens, issued an astonishing 33 million green cards in a single decade, and doubled the annual flow of temporary workers to fill jobs at lower wages.” Sessions, according to his website, is committed to an immigration policy that ends the “unprecedented flow of immigration” and keeps illegal immigrants from taking jobs from American workers.

Sessions has repeatedly denied the accusations of racism, both in the past and recently. Thirty years ago, Sessions was denied a federal judgeship based on accusations of racism during the 1960s by a black assistant U.S. Attorney, who incidentally, did not bring up the accusations against Sessions until the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in 1986. Sessions vehemently denied the charges then and again in 2009 when he described the events to CNN as “heartbreaking”: “That was not fair, that was not accurate,” Sessions told CNN. “Those were false charges using distortions of anything that I did. And it really was not. I never had those kinds of views, and I was caricatured in a way that was not me.”

What about Allen’s claim that Sessions wants to “ban same-sex marriage”?Although Sessions said that he strongly disagreed the the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling on same-sex marriage, he stated that Alabama judicial officials would “ultimately have to follow the law.” According to AL.com, Sessions’ beef with the ruling had nothing to do with his personal stance on homosexuals and homosexuality — he believed that the ruling was judicial overreach. “They decided there is something in the Constitution that tells states how to define marriage,” Sessions said. “It’s never been found there since the founding of the republic.”

Watch the entire interview below.