Weeks after footage of him slamming the rich at the World Economic Summit at Davos became one of the most watched online videos of the past year, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman joined Tucker Carlson for a discussion on the subject, only to have the right-wing Fox News host lose his cool in epic fashion when called out for being a "millionaire who works for billionaires," yelled obscenities at his guest, and pulled the plug on the interview.
Carlson evidently expected a friendly discussion of Bregman's viral Davos appearance—where the historian had told attendees, "Come on, we've got to be talking about taxes...All the rest is bullshit in my opinion."—but it did not go as planned.
Instead, Carlson became incensed when the historian repeated his "tax the rich" message and began yelling at Bregman. While Carlson and Fox killed the interview, Bregman explained that he decided to share the footage "because I think we should keep talking about the corrupting influence of money in politics. It also shows how angry elites can get if you do that."
Watch:
Watch Fox News host Tucker Carlson call one of his guests a 'tiny brain...moron' during an interview. NowThis has obtained the full segment with historian Rutger Bregman that Fox News is refusing to air. pic.twitter.com/kERYPUaGLY
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 20, 2019
Davos attendees as well as conservative commentators on Fox News—who for years have promoted the work of the billionaire Koch Brothers, railed against and misrepresented proposals for higher taxes on the rich, and worked for conservative think tanks like the Cato Institute—all shoulder blame for fighting to retain a system which has allowed just 26 billionaires to amass as much wealth at 3.8 billion people combined, Bregman argued.
"You're not part of the solution, Mr. Carlson, you're part of the problem." —Rutger Bregman, historian
"You are a millionaire funded by billionaires," Bregman told Carlson simply, before the host lost his temper, calling the historian a "tiny-brained moron" for pointing out Carlson's own interest in maintaining the status quo.
"You're not part of the solution, Mr. Carlson, you're part of the problem," Bregman added.
The segment was filmed February 11, but was never aired and went unseen until NowThis News obtained footage and audio of the interview. After the outlet posted it, Bregman then shared it on Twitter.
The video quickly went viral, winning widespread applause:
The best 8 mins of Fox News you will probably ever watch.
Bravo @rcbregman, bravo. https://t.co/6mKmbXC80m
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 20, 2019
@rcbregman, my Dutch brother from another mother and the specter that haunted Davos, causes Tucker Carlson to have a meltdown. The episode didn’t air, but now the footage has been leaked. pic.twitter.com/EdMlZQFFBZ
— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) February 20, 2019
This Rutger Bregman dude is just collecting bodies left and right https://t.co/T1tl4dwe3X
— Christian Arcand (@ChristianArcand) February 20, 2019
This is incredible. Fox censored historian @rcbregman interview w/Tucker Carlson b/c Carlson got stumped & went into a vulgar tirade when he had no logical rebuttal.
Fox doesn’t want this interview aired so whatever you do—don’t share it.pic.twitter.com/xduMcxPe9S
— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@MuslimIQ) February 20, 2019
"I went to Davos to speak truth to power and I'm doing exactly the same thing right now," Bregman told Carlson as the host could be heard in the video hurling expletives at him.
"You can't handle the criticism, can you?" he concluded.
