MSNBC anchor Tucker Carlson asked a favor of the crowd gathered at the Rotunda for a live taping of his show “Tucker” on Tuesday, October 24: “Don’t shout obscenities.” In the end, only Carlson broke the language rule.
Students arrived with campaign signs for U.S. Senate candidates George Allen and Jim Webb and formed a backdrop behind Carlson, occasionally applauding or shouting “Tuck!”
A communication problem marred a portion of the broadcast, but made for colorful off-air comments. During a conversation with Telemundo correspondent Carlos Botifoll about immigrant votes in the 2006 Senate race, Carlson and Botifoll suffered what an MSNBC transcript lists as “crosstalk.”
Botifoll told Carlson that several states experienced increases in the number of registered Hispanic voters, but there was no consensus on immigration reform among Latino voters. When Carlson thanked Botifoll for his comments, Botifoll continued speaking, adding that “immigration is not the only issue.” Carlson gave a staggered response: “Yes. No, it’s—it’s not.” Next, the audience heard Tucker claim that there was an “audio issue,” then thank Botifoll for his input before a commercial break.
During commercial, Carlson exclaimed: “What the hell was that?” He said that he “had to fake an audio problem” to cover the situation, and asked why he could not speak with “someone that has been on television before.”
“That man should be arrested for bad television,” Carlson said.
During another break, Carlson asked a girl with an Al Weed congressional campaign sign why she did not favor Virgil Goode. She called Goode “the poster boy for corruption.”
“I love it. You know the language!” Carlson answered.
UVA’s Larry Sabato joined Carlson to forecast a few Senate races and to emphasize the cyclical nature of politics. Sabato predicted Democratic victories in gubernatorial races in Ohio, Colorado and Massachusetts. “There’s a cycle to everything in life, including politics,” said Sabato. “And it’s the Democrats’ turn.”