Fox News host Tucker Carlson blasted the New York Times on Wednesday, calling them out for hosting an event featuring disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried alongside U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Tonight we’ll start with a quiz,” Carlson began. “What do you have when you find Sam Bankman-Fried, Janet Yellen, and President Zelensky of Ukraine in the same room? A federal grand jury proceeding? That would be a good guess.”
The Fox News host went on to cite their crimes — including the fraud allegations against Bankman-Fried, Yellen’s responsibility for the state of the economy due to her previous position as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, and Zelenskyy’s alleged role in the money laundering taking place in Ukraine.
“Sam Bankman-Fried seems to have been in the biggest fraud in history,” Carlson said. “As the chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen bears responsibility for the destruction of the entire U.S. economy. President Zelensky, meanwhile, sits atop a money laundering scheme so brazen the Democrats won’t allow it to be audited.”
“Yes, these are three people who could badly use a federal investigation,” he asserted. “They’re not getting one. Instead, they’re being celebrated, held up as uniquely fascinating people by ‘The New York Times.’”
Bankman-Fried was recently interviewed by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin following the revelations about the FTX scandal. Bankman-Fried ran FTX, a crypto-currency exchange, until it declared bankruptcy on November 11 after a report from Coindesk alleged that customer funds had been misused.
According to the accusations against him, Bankman-Fried allegedly loaned $10 billion to another company that he ran, Alameda Capital, and also reportedly planned to donate $1 billion to left-wing causes. His family also has major ties to top Democrats.
The Democrat Party is in the middle of the biggest financial fraud case in U.S. history! #JWP pic.twitter.com/KBVcuyhigi
— Jesse Watters Primetime (@jesseprimetime) November 15, 2022
Carlson went on to refer to Bankman-Fried as “one of the most prolific thieves ever,” and questioned why the New York Times and their readers appear to be “impressed” by him and seek to treat the man who allegedly committed serious fraud like just “another naughty celebrity.”
“‘New York Times’ readers were clearly impressed by the Democratic mega-donor Sam Bankman-Fried, who also happens to be one of the most prolific thieves ever. Whatever. He seemed like a nice kid. It was a pretty amazing display,” the Fox News host said. “But what is most interesting about an event like this is not what it tells us about the guests, at some point history will render its judgment about them, but what it tells us about the people who invited the guests.”
“If it’s okay to treat Sam Bankman-Fried like another naughty celebrity – Sam Bankman-Fried, everybody, applause, applause, applause – if you can do that, then who’s off limits? Who’s beyond the pale?” Carlson asked.
According to Reuters, FTX’s collapse has cost investors as much as $2 billion. Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried’s net worth has dropped from $16 billion to $0 following the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange.
“Well, as it happens, The New York Times has spent the last few days telling us, delivering yet another hyperventilating lecture about who we’re allowed to associate with and who we must avoid at all costs, and it really depends on political loyalty,” Carlson stated.
He went on to note that the New York Times believes that “Some people… have views that are so reprehensible, these people are physically off limits.”
“You can’t be in the same room with them, you can’t talk to them, you can’t ask them questions,” he continued. “Their opinions are like smallpox, communicable and deadly. These are the thought criminals and thought crimes are the only crimes that matter.”
“Other crimes, not such a big deal,” Carlson added. “Murder and rape and carjacking? No. As The New York Times has often told us, people who do those things are the victims of your racism, so they deserve compassion. By the way, so do good liberals who stray outside the lines.”
“Good liberals can always be forgiven, even when the things they’ve done are objectively very, very bad, like tanking the U.S. economy or stealing billions from investors and using it to buy Bahamian real estate or bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war and getting rich while you’re doing it. Liberals can still do these things, and you can still heartily applaud them, because in the end their hearts are in the right place,” the Fox News host concluded.
