In the wake of Gov. Tim Walz and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff taking the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, the media has been quick to contrast their ‘vibe’ with that of the men who spoke at the Republican National Convention last month.
The claim seems to be that Walz and Emhoff represent a kind of non-toxic masculinity that is a welcome alternative to the toxic brand on display in the GOP. But is it?
On Thursday’s show, Megyn was joined by Tucker Carlson, host of The Tucker Carlson Show, to discuss this ‘new’ kind of masculinity and what it actually says about society today.
Non-Toxic Masculinity
Emhoff addressed the DNC on Tuesday night and Walz followed with his moment in the spotlight on Wednesday. After his brief 15-minute remarks, the press wasted no time building upon the “Coach Walz” narrative. “Today’s line, in the wake of the Tim Walz speech, is he is the definition of the non-toxic man – he is the anti-Tucker Carlson, he is the anti-Donald Trump, he is the anti-J.D. Vance,” Megyn noted. “He is the soft man, who still coaches football.”
That was the gist of the conversation on CNN Wednesday night between Dana Bash and Jake Tapper as they compared the DNC and RNC:
BASH: But they are doing so in trying to put forward male figures – Tim Walz being one of them, Doug Emhoff Last night – who can speak to men out there who might not be the testosterone-laden, you know, gun-toting kind of guy who wants to listen to Hulk Hogan and kind of players that came out at the RNC. Or might want to listen to that but also, in addition, understand that it’s okay in 2024 to be a man comfortable in his own skin…
TAPPER: What we saw at the Trump Convention, which was, as you know, somebody, I forget exactly who said it, testosterone-y with Kid Rock, and the Ultimate Fighting Champion guy [Dana White], and Hulk Hogan… Remember Hulk Hogan actually ripped off his shirt and he had another shirt underneath, which I think is not exactly what the rip off the shirt thing is supposed to be. But in any case, I digress.
Carlson said the two actually got it right. “If you want weak men and the angry women around them, that is the party for you,” he said. “They’ve spent 50 years trying to convince us that masculinity is dangerous and so we live in a world with very little of it. And society has become much more violent, and much more unhappy, and much more chaotic.”
Daddy Issues
While Walz may be branded a “cool dad” and “coach,” Politico is heralding Emhoff as the “dad-in-chief” in a new article. “This guy cheated on his first wife by banging the nanny, impregnating her, and there was either an abortion or an abandoned child and they actually want us to swallow him as our dad,” Megyn asked. “Why are they looking at these men as their new daddy figures?”
It is a byproduct, Carlson said, of their worldview. “What actually matters in the Democratic Party is… the collective, and that collective should replace everything else and be the subject of your first and primary loyalty,” he explained. “So, of course, they think that whoever runs the party should be mom or dad because the party is more important than the church, then the family, then your friendships, then your work.”
He said it is in line with the “totalitarian worldview” that was present in the Soviet era and revolutionary France. “That’s why the Democratic Party spends so much time trying to destroy all of the pre-existing loyalties, primarily the family and the church,” Carlson noted. “That is why they’ve got a vasectomy lab at the DNC because, of course, having kids makes you realize kids are more important than anything else.”
‘What Is Wrong With Us?’
To Carlson’s point, the styling of Walz and Emhoff as non-threatening, father-like figures is in keeping with how the left has been trying to frame Kamala Harris even before she got the nomination. In addition to being dubbed a “wine aunt,” Drew Barrymore made a mockery of herself when she asked the vice president to be America’s “momala” during an appearance on her talk show in May.
All this led Megyn to wonder: “What is wrong with us,” she asked. “Because most of us don’t need new parents and aren’t looking to some politician to step into the breach.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Carlson by tuning in to episode 868 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.