Tucker Carlson’s first-grade teacher hits back after host attacked her for sowing his hatred of liberals
Fox News’ top host claimed teacher had ‘little interest’ in reading and writing in his 2018 book
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Fox News host Tucker Carlson derided his first-grade teacher as a “parody” of modern liberalism and accused her of “sobbing” at her desk about how the world was “unfair” in 2018. But that’s not how she remembers it.
In an interview for an extensive profile of the right-leaning network’s No 1 star published in The Washington Post, 77-year-old Marianna Raymond described Mr Carlson’s account as a fanciful recollection of his time in her class, embellished in a few key ways to make her look worse.
Mr Carlson, in a 2018 memoir analyzed by The Post for the piece, described Ms Raymond as “a parody of earth-mother liberalism” with “little interest in conventional [schooling] topics” such as reading and writing.
At one point during his time in her class, he wrote, she broke down sobbing at her desk, exclaiming: “The world is so unfair! You don’t know that yet. But you’ll find out!”
As a result of her supposed unwillingness to teach him, Mr Carlson added, his father hired a tutor to help him at home with academics.
Ms Raymond remembers the situation a little differently. She never sobbed at her desk, she told The Post in an interview, and had no trouble teaching academic subjects in class. Mr Carlson was tutored after-hours, she added, by Ms Raymond herself, who said she was employed to help Mr Carlson at home.
“That is the most embellished, crazy thing I ever heard,” Ms Raymond said of Mr Carlson’s description of her and her teaching methods.
A representative for the network defended Mr Carlson in a general statement to The Washington Post when questioned about his views on a number of issues.
“Tucker Carlson is an important voice in America which deeply resonates with millions of viewers via our powerful primetime lineup and two in-depth shows on FOX Nation – we fully support him,” the representative said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments