




Tucker Carlson warms up crowd at Trump rally with bizarre spanking rant | Tucker Carlson | The Guardian



























































































Skip to main contentSkip to navigationClose dialogue1/1Next imagePrevious imageToggle captionSkip to navigationPrint subscriptionsNewsletters Sign inUSUS editionUK editionAustralia editionEurope editionInternational editionThe Guardian - Back to homeThe GuardianNewsOpinionSportCultureLifestyleShow moreHide expanded menuNewsView all NewsUS newsUS politicsWorld newsClimate crisisMiddle EastUkraineSoccerBusinessEnvironmentTechScienceNewslettersWellnessOpinionView all OpinionThe Guardian viewColumnistsLettersOpinion videosCartoonsSportView all SportSoccerNFLTennisMLBMLSNBAWNBANHLF1GolfCultureView all CultureFilmBooksMusicArt & designTV & radioStageClassicalGamesLifestyleView all LifestyleWellnessFashionFoodRecipesLove & sexHome & gardenHealth & fitnessFamilyTravelMoneySearch input google-search SearchSupport usPrint subscriptionsNewslettersDownload the appSearch jobsDigital ArchiveGuardian LicensingAbout UsThe Guardian appVideoPodcastsPicturesInside the GuardianGuardian WeeklyCrosswordsWordiplyCorrectionsSearch input google-search SearchSearch jobsDigital ArchiveGuardian LicensingAbout Us Tucker Carlson with Donald Trump during a campaign event in Duluth, Georgia, on 23 October 2024. Photograph: Carlos Barría/ReutersView image in fullscreenTucker Carlson with Donald Trump during a campaign event in Duluth, Georgia, on 23 October 2024. Photograph: Carlos Barría/ReutersTucker Carlson This article is more than 3 months oldTucker Carlson warms up crowd at Trump rally with bizarre spanking rantThis article is more than 3 months oldComments meant to portray ex-president as coming ‘home’ to White House to mete out discipline to Kamala HarrisRichard LuscombeThu 24 Oct 2024 13.05 EDTLast modified on Thu 24 Oct 2024 13.59 EDTShareThe audience at a Donald Trump rally in Georgia on Wednesday erupted into bizarre chants of “Daddy’s home!” and “Daddy Don!” after an extraordinary and borderline creepy and sexist speech by far-right personality Tucker Carlson likening the Republican presidential candidate to an angry father spanking his daughter.“Dad comes home. He’s pissed. Dad is pissed. 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 former Fox TV host told the crowd in Duluth.“‘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.’”Trump says he would fire Jack Smith ‘within two seconds’ of becoming presidentRead moreThe Washington Post reported that Carlson’s comments, made during his warm-up to Trump taking the stage, intended to portray the ex-president as a person coming “home” to the White House to mete out discipline to the vice-president, Kamala Harris, as “punishment” for her term in office.But others saw the rant as simply “disturbing”, given Trump’s background as an adjudicated rapist and sex offender, and new allegations published by the Guardian that he molested a former model introduced to him by the late sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein in the early 1990s.Carlson, who was fired by Fox in April 2023 for “getting too big for his boots” at the network, has a controversial past of his own, including promoting Nazi falsehoods and conducting a lengthy, rambling interview with Vladimir Putin in Moscow in February in which both were highly critical of the US.Despite his reduced profile since his dismissal as one of Fox’s most prominent and highly paid stars, Carlson is still a highly influential figure in Trump’s Make America Great Again (Maga) movement, exemplified by the crowd’s reaction to his “spanking” comments in Duluth.CNN reported the atmosphere at the event was similar to the Republican national convention in July at which Trump accepted the party’s presidential nomination.“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. The vibe in the room is like a mini-RNC,” reporter Alayna Treene, who was covering the event, said in a clip published to X.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to This Week in TrumplandFree newsletterA deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administrationEnter your email address Sign upPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionTrump’s own comments in Duluth, at a rally hosted by far-right youth group Turning Point USA, featured a familiar and lengthy diatribe of insults against Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent in the 5 November election.“She’s not a smart person. She’s a low-IQ individual,” Trump said, before embarking on a meandering speech that included a curious claim that he had “stopped a war with France” during his time as president.Explore more on these topicsTucker CarlsonDonald TrumpUS elections 2024Kamala HarrisUS politicsGeorgianewsShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewedNewsOpinionSportCultureLifestyleOriginal reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morningSign up for our emailAbout usHelpComplaints & correctionsSecureDropWork for us Privacy policyCookie policyTerms & conditionsContact usAll topicsAll writersDigital newspaper archiveTax strategyFacebookYouTubeInstagramLinkedInNewslettersAdvertise with usGuardian LabsSearch jobsBack to top© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)


This is how democracy dies. To thunderous applause.