On Wednesday, April 7's edition of "Tucker Carlson Today," Fox host Tucker Carlson courted controversy once again by claiming transgender people are a threat to the "perpetuation of the species."
Carlson's guest, Wilfred Reilly, a political science professor from Kentucky State University, made some big claims without offering any science to back up his supposed "facts."
He said:
"These questions are very tough to discuss, but they're serious questions."
"I mean, is society self-sustaining to some extent if 30% of men simply aren't willing or able to sleep with women, if another 2 or 3% of in particular young women want to modify their bodies so they cannot in many or most cases have children ― I mean that's something that's an issue almost at the structural level."
"And you might ask why? Why is that going on? It's something that at the very least needs research."
Carlson responded:
"It's a challenge to the perpetuation of the species is what you're saying."
Reilley said that would be the case if "both trends increase."
Carlson then backed up Reilley's analysis, saying:
"That's right, and so it's hard to think of anything more profound than that."
Twitter noted that the pair's conversation was so far outside the realm of reality that it was hard to pinpoint any singular error without going down a rabbit hole of insanity.
Rhetoric like this, framed as difficult but necessary good-faith conversations, puts trans lives in danger and certainly encourages discrimination in conservative communities.
Humanity faces many dangers, but dying out because trans couples aren't having children is definitely not one of them.
Carlson's core audience has come to expect, accept, and even look forward to dangerous rhetoric like this as part of his program, but the rest of the world continues to wonder how Carlson remains on the air.
