Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson and Univision’s Jorge Ramos got into a fiery exchange during Tuesday’s Tucker Carlson Tonight with the backdrop of President Trump’s televised immigration negotiations. The two loudly went back and forth debating the merits of immigration reform and when Ramos started to claim Trump was using racially coded language, the Fox News host called him out for trying to smear an opponent.
“I never imagined I would be on Fox News listening to you criticizing President Trump on immigration. Thanks for inviting me,” Ramos joked after Carlson introduced him.
“It's a matter of the principle and this is the principle which is that a country has a right to determine who enters it and who gets citizenship, who votes, who chooses the government,” Carlson quickly declared in response to Ramos’ quip. “That's what a country is and I can't imagine how you could publicly disagree with that and yet you seem to.”
According to Ramos, illegal immigration existed because of Carlson and every other American. “There are 11 million people who are here illegally and they're here because of us,” he argued.
Carlson was incensed by Ramos’ assertion that he and people he know were responsible for illegal immigration. “Let me stop and challenge your premise which is deeply disingenuous. And that it's somehow our fault, corporately all of our fault that 11 million people snuck into the country are now demanding to become citizens,” he fought back.
But Ramos wouldn’t back down. Neither did Carlson:
RAMOS: They are here because of us.
CARLSON: Hold on, that's not true. It's not because of me –
RAMOS: Yes!
CARLSON: It’s not because of most of the people I know. It's because a small number of employers wanted to pay less for labor and the Democratic Party wanted new voters.
Ramos then claimed he could hear a secret coded language coming from Trump when he spoke during the immigration negotiations. “I think when President Trump uses the term chain migration, those are code words. He’s really saying, ‘You know, I don't want more immigrants from Asia or Latin America coming from this country I want to stop that,’” he opined.
“What you are doing rather than engage in an adult argument, using reason, you are accusing people you disagree with of bigotry, which is a little much, actually,” Carlson shouted, clearly not allowing Ramos’ smears. “I get the game actually, and I’m sick of it,” he added.
Relevant portions of the transcript below:
Fox News Channel
Tucker Carlson Tonight
January 9, 2018
8:05:14 PM Eastern(…)
TUCKER CARLSON: Jorge Ramos is an anchor at Univision News and Fusion Television and he joins us tonight. Jorge, thanks for coming on.
JORGE RAMOS: Thank you. I never imagined I would be on Fox News listening to you criticizing President Trump on immigration. Thanks for inviting me.
CARLSON: It's a matter of the principle and this is the principle which is that a country has a right to determine who enters it and who gets citizenship, who votes, who chooses the government. That's what a country is and I can't imagine how you could publicly disagree with that and yet you seem to.
RAMOS: What I also agree, Tucker is, that we have an immigration problem. I think we all agree with that. There are 11 million people who are here illegally and they're here because of us. They are harvesting the food that we eat. They are building our homes. They are taking care of our kids and we have to find a solution and President Trump, surprisingly, I don't trust him, I don't believe him but surprisingly in this meeting he said he wants comprehensive immigration reform.
You and I remember; this is the year 2,000 whenever we say comprehensive immigration reform that means legalizing 11 million people in this country. And if the President wants to do that, I'm all for it however, I'm not sure that tomorrow President Trump is going to come with a tweet or with an interview and change again.
[Crosstalk]
CARLSON: Let me stop and challenge your premise which is deeply disingenuous. And that it's somehow our fault, corporately all of our fault that 11 million people snuck into the country are now demanding to become citizens.
RAMOS: They are here because of us.
CARLSON: Hold on, that's not true. It's not because of me –
RAMOS: Yes!
CARLSON: It’s not because of most of the people I know. It's because a small number of employers wanted to pay less for labor and the Democratic Party wanted new voters.
(…)
RAMOS: I think when President Trump uses the term chain migration, those are code words. He’s really saying, “You know, I don't want more immigrants from Asia or Latin America coming from this country I want to stop that and I want to make it” -- those are the words that I take from President Trump.
[Crosstalk]
CARLSON: What you are doing rather than engage in an adult argument, using reason, you are accusing people you disagree with of bigotry, which is a little much, actually, considering you are demanding that Americans who were born here, let in people who snuck in illegally and all their family and if they say anything about it they are racist. I get the game actually, and I’m sick of it.
