Fox News host Tucker Carlson went after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) over her fears about being raped during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, saying “get a therapist.”
During Thursday’s episode of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” the top-rated cable news host mocked Cortez, whom he referred to by her high school nickname Sandy, for telling CNN’s Dana Bash earlier this week that she feared both assault and death during the pro-Trump insurrection.
Carlson was discussing Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol Police officer as she was attempting to breach the doors of the Speaker’s Lobby. Babbitt has become a martyr figure for many on the right, including former President Trump
“Occasionally, Sandy Cortez tells us about her lived experience on January 6,” Carlson said.
“During a recent special on CNN, Sandy Cortez — did she ever stop talking about herself, by the way? She explained she wasn’t simply afraid of being murdered by Ashli Babbitt. She was also worried about being raped,” Carlson continued.
During the interview with Bash, Ocasio-Cortez recounted people banging on her office doors while she hid, saying, “I didn’t think that I was just going to be killed.”
Ocasio-Cortez said “white supremacy and patriarchy are very linked in a lot of ways” and spoke about the sexualization of violence. When asked if she meant that she feared being raped, the New York Democrat said, “Yeah, yeah, I thought I was.”
“Sexualizing? Get a therapist, honey! This is crazy,” Carlson said.
“These people are mad because they thought the election was unfair,” he added of the rioters. “Now you may disagree with that, but it wasn’t about you, surprise surprise. Sexualized violence — I was going to be raped by Ashli Babbitt.”
Carlson said that Ocasio-Cortez could say what she said because the mob had the “wrong political political views.”
“Imagine some Republican lady saying that about a [Black Lives Matter] riot. As thousands of rioters descended on neighborhoods and burned businesses all over the country. Kenosha, Portland, Green Bay, Wis.,” he said. “But Sandy Cortez can say it because the people rioting on Jan. 6 had the wrong political views.”
The New York Democrat responded to Carlson on Twitter Friday afternoon, saying she “couldn’t care less about what this talking inferiority complex has to say, but I do feel for the women and survivors in his life who now see they wouldn’t be believed or safe with him.”
The Hill has reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for further comment.
—Updated at 6:40 p.m.