Fox News host Tucker Carlson let out what appeared to be an uncontrollable cackle, and abruptly ended an interview with a guest who criticized former police officer Derek Chauvin for excessive use of force after he was found guilty for murdering George Floyd on Tuesday.
“I want the police to protect people,” former corrections official Ed Gavin told Carlson during a Fox News interview on Tuesday night. “But specifically what we’re dealing with here, is a person in custody, he was handcuffed and subdued. At that point, we have to take a different tact.”
Carlson appeared baffled. A day earlier, he had accused the media of “lynching” Chauvin, adding that most Americans “still cannot say with any specificity just how” Floyd died after the former police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck well past his last breath.
Gavin suggested that after Floyd had been brought under control, “an EMS should have been summoned and he should have been placed in an ambulance. And a supervisor should have been called to the scene.”
“I just think that it was excessive and it shouldn’t happen,” he added.
Tucker Carlson had a complete meltdown tonight in response to a former New York corrections officer who criticized Derek Chauvin for using excessive force on George Floyd. Here's how the interview (abruptly) ended. pic.twitter.com/mBOxrsbhaJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 21, 2021
At that point, Carlson brusquely interrupted.
”Yeah. Well. The guy who did it looks like he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison. So I’m kind of more worried about the rest of the country, which thanks to police inaction, in case you haven’t noticed, is like, boarded up,” Carlson said before letting out a piercing laugh. “So that’s more of my concern.”
At the beginning of his program, Carlson had suggested the jury’s verdict reflected their fear of potential harm if they had arrived at a different decision.
“Everyone understood perfectly well the consequences of an acquittal in this case. After nearly a year of burning and looting and murder by BLM, that was never in doubt,” he said.
Carlson’s sudden interruption of Gavin for criticizing the officer is noteworthy.
The conservative host has frequently permitted show guests to spout elaborate and long-winded falsehoods during interviews on his program without intervening.
This approach was particularly pronounced in the wake of the 2020 presidential election when Carlson stood by as some of his invited guests pushed false election fraud claims on his program.
Carlson’s unwillingness to allow Gavin to speak further after challenging the officer’s excessive use of force, shows that the Fox News host is perfectly willing to cut show guests off when they challenge his narrative.
“Nope, done,” Carlson said.
