Amanda Marcotte, writing in Salon.com, looks at the recent remarks in Georgia by failed Fox propagandist and frozen fish sticks heir Tucker "Mothertucker" Carlson that encapsulate the fascist MAGA right's sick, toxic idea of "masculinity." An excerpt:
"It seems accidental, but there's no denying Tucker Carlson's timing. He was likely unaware that a new story about Jeffrey Epstein feeding sexual assault victims to Donald Trump had hit the news, when he warmed up a MAGA rally with an incest-and-pedophilia-tinged fantasy about the GOP candidate. Comparing liberals to a 15-year-old girl who slams her bedroom door in a tantrum, Carlson waxed poetic about the sexualized abuse of a minor.
'When dad gets home, you know what he says? ‘You’ve been a bad girl. You’ve been a bad little girl, and you’re getting a vigorous spanking right now,' Carlson fantasized, while the crowd of young conservatives cheered wildly. Meanwhile, the Guardian was rolling out new sexual abuse accusations against Trump, this time in the context of his long friendship with notorious pedophile Epstein. [snip]
Trump's love of sexual violence turns most voters off, but as the rhetoric of sexual assault at the Georgia rally shows, the hardcore MAGA crowd loves this stuff. Sexual assault is a coward's way to feel powerful. Like kicking puppies or abusing children, it's about inflicting pain and humiliation on someone smaller, often after trapping them, as Trump did to Carroll in a department store dressing room. Or, in Carlson's fantasies, because the victim is your child — he made sure to emphasize children 'live in his house' — she has nowhere to escape. Sexual abuse is for men who are too weak and pathetic to pick on people their own size. So it is perfect for Trump and his fans who want to live vicariously through this fantasy of domination." (our emphasis)
There's evidence that the Malignant Loser's campaign is pushing hard to get young male voters on their side, appealing to them through puerile and toxic messages at sporting events, on podcasts, etc. aimed at denigrating VP Kamala Harris (and by inference successful women who wouldn't give them the time of day). As Marcotte writes, it's a sign of their weakness to follow an adjudicated rapist and serial sexual abuser who is too cowardly to face the Vice President in another debate or appear on network television.
(photo: "Look at that one. I'd say she's 16.")
