Tucker Carlson
Role at the time: Conservative broadcaster and founder of the Tucker Carlson Network, writing in his own newsletter
Statement summary
In his September 11 newsletter, Tucker Carlson rejected Mike Rogers's characterisation of Abdul El-Sayed's 2021 remarks about the aftermath of September 11, writing that El-Sayed had not celebrated the attacks and was obviously right that the American response amounted to terrorism of its own. Carlson turned Rogers's "unfit to serve" language back on him, said he hoped Michigan voters would keep Rogers "far away from Washington," and had separately said on his podcast that he would not vote for Rogers "at gunpoint."
“El-Sayed did not celebrate airplane hijackings or cheerlead Al-Qaeda; he simply said that the U.S. conducting terrorism of its own in response to 9/11 was not exactly an appropriate reaction. He is obviously right.”
Quotes at length from Carlson's own newsletter defending El-Sayed against Mike Rogers's characterisation of his 2021 remarks, and turning the "unfit to serve" charge back on Rogers. Carlson had separately said on his podcast that he would not vote for Rogers "at gunpoint." The underlying newsletter is at tuckercarlson.com/september-11-2026-morning-note; the same passages are reported by MS NOW, HuffPost, USA Today and The Independent.
Why we used this label
Carlson rejects that assertion, distinguishes what El-Sayed actually said from celebrating the attacks, and criticises Rogers for making the charge. The closest competing label is “Challenged the characterization”, since much of the passage disputes how Rogers described El-Sayed's remarks. That loses because Carlson does not stop at correcting the description; he condemns Rogers's judgment and fitness for office in terms directed at the accusation itself.