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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Washington chapter.

As a person with “political brainrot” and also an intense amount of anxiety surrounding the 2024 Presidential Election, I have been following election news very closely. Then again, this is the biggest election of our lives — as is said every year — and it feels that way. There is a chance the United States could finally get its first female president (a few years later to the party than I would have hoped, but still) or, we could fall back into old habits. 

Specifically, a harmful, racist, 34-count felon, sexual abuser habit. 

Nevertheless, here we are. So close to the end of yet another election cycle full of TikToks and memes and camo hats and… oh, what’s that? Tucker Carlson said something weird at a campaign event in Georgia?

Not surprising, but incredibly demoralizing.

Carlson riled up the crowd, comparing Democratic leadership to a “hormone-addled 15-year-old girl.” Weird. But then it gets weirder. Carlson’s exact words were “There has to be a point at which Dad comes home. 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. And no, it’s not going to hurt me more than it hurts you. No, it’s not. I’m not going to lie. This is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me. And you earned this. You’re getting a vigorous spanking because you’ve been a bad girl.”

I almost don’t even have words. 

Well, actually, I have a few.

There is something so disgusting about this speech, infantilizing, and maybe even sexualizing. He seems to revel in the idea of punishment, the punishment of a young, notably underage, girl as a smile creeps onto his face through his speech, growing larger as his fantasy unveils. The crowd laughs along, clapping and cheering, cosigning this strange reverie with there later being chants calling Donald Trump “Daddy.”

Gross.

But it is more than just “gross,” it is so blatantly misogynistic that I was momentarily shocked it was said out loud. I mean, he knows the internet is forever, right? But that doesn’t matter if the crowd is on your side, imagining this strange scenario alongside you. Saying, “This will hurt me more than it hurts you,” one of the textbook phrases of an abuser, and flipping it on its head to admit that “no, it’s not going to hurt me more than it hurts you” is sickening. That is abusive, it is blatant, and he is aware of his harmful rhetoric. 

All of this leads to the sexist idea that women should be subservient. Docile, quiet, obedient, scared, voiceless. Daughters are the property of their fathers and their father’s word is law, and that law can be enforced with his fist. 

Tucker Carlson has daughters.

Let that sink in.

Carlson used this as a metaphor for the Democratic party and its policies. Policies more focused on protecting access to abortion, promoting women in positions of power, and policies that have continued to attract women, with 51% of all female voters being registered Democrats. The Democratic Party continues to attract women, especially Gen Z women, and it’s no surprise, given this horrendous speech by the Republican Party and the policies built on controlling women. And this is what Tucker Carlson feels about those Democratic women. They are children to him. And let it be noted these “disobedient children” are specifically girls. That is not accidental. These girls are apparently deserving of punishment to “correct” them. Simply because they do not align with him.

And the crowd clapped along.

Eliza Disbrow

Washington '26

Eliza Disbrow is a junior at the University of Washington, majoring in European Studies with a double minor in Spanish and business. Eliza is a writer for both the University of Washington chapter and for National HerCampus, covering a variety of topics, from music, books, politics, to anime. Beyond Her Campus, Eliza serves as the co-president of the University of Washington Euro Club. In her free time, Eliza can be seen taking in the sights of Seattle on any of the available forms of public transportation, normally with a book in hand and headphones in her ears. She plays guitar and bass, mainly as an excuse to play either Fall Out Boy or Ghost to family and friends. Additionally, she is perhaps the number-one super fan of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," somehow able to quote or recall episodes ranging from the most recent release or from three years ago.