Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson has mocked CNN host Chris Cuomo during a segment about the border crisis in the latest instalment of the ongoing spat between the cable news personalities.
Carlson used his monologue on Tuesday to criticize the media coverage and political reaction to footage of Customs and Border Protection (CPS) agents dealing with a group of Haitian migrants at the southern U.S. border along the Rio Grande.
The images have sparked an outcry among the public and some members of Congress, such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said the images showed that agents were using "what appear to be whips."
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas initially said that there was nothing apparently wrong in the images of the alleged incident and that agents had used reins instead of whips to control their horses.
The Associated Press reported that it had viewed the images, which, it said, did not show agents using whips on migrants along the Rio Grande. U.S. officials are investigating the claims.
Carlson said that his team had also looked at the footage and only saw Border Patrol officers using their reins to control their horses.
"Reins are not whips, though if you live in Dupont Circle, it is possible you wouldn't know the difference," he added in a dig at the demographic of those in the Washington, D.C. district.
Carlson then introduced a montage that included lawmakers and news figures condemning the agents at the border. In the montage's final clip appeared Cuomo, who said that the incident "does smack of a bygone era—of slavery."
Carlson laughed and mimicked Cuomo's voice as he repeated his line. "To me, who's never read a book in my life, it smacks of a bygone era," said Carlson, who added the migrants were "trying to invade our country."
"That guy went to Yale Law School in case you're wondering if the system is legitimate. Answer? No," continued Carlson.
He said that Cuomo "really gets the credit he deserves for being the single dumbest person ever to perform on cable news."
"He makes Don Lemon look like a particle physicist," Carlson said, pronouncing the other CNN anchor's name as "Lah-mon."
Newsweek has contacted CNN for comment.
Carlson has made fun of Cuomo several times before, calling him a "steroid guy" and "thug" as he criticized the CNN anchor following a Washington Post report that he had been advising his brother, ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who was facing sexual harassment allegations.
In June, Cuomo dismissed Carlson's claim that FBI operatives, not Trump supporters, were responsible for the Capitol insurrection on January 6, saying on air: "Don't take this man as truthful."
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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more
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