!['Coward': Schumer boasts that he refused to debate Tucker Carlson — but Tucker gets the last laugh](https://www.theblaze.com/media-library/coward-schumer-boasts-that-he-refused-to-debate-tucker-carlson-but-tucker-gets-the-last-laugh.jpg?id=29820834&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C19)
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images (left), Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images (right)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer boasted Tuesday that he declined a request from Fox News host Tucker Carlson to debate a letter the New York Democrat sent top Fox News executives.
On Tuesday, Schumer sent a letter to Fox leadership demanding the network "immediately cease the reckless amplification of the so-called 'Great Replacement' theory."
Schumer claimed the white supremacist conspiracy theory "has been injected into the mainstream" of American discourse because of "a dangerous level of amplification" by Fox News. Schumer did not cite any evidence to corroborate his claims. In fact, he only pointed to an Associated Press poll and a New York Times investigative story on Carlson.
Still, Schumer told Fox leadership, "I implore you to immediately cease all dissemination of false white nationalist, far-right conspiracy theories on your network."
In a letter to Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, Fox CEO Suzanne Scott, and Fox president Jay Wallace, Chuck Schumer says he urges Fox News to "immediately cease the reckless amplification of the so-called 'Great Replacement\u2019 theory\u2026"pic.twitter.com/9FbUYrMtBi— Oliver Darcy (@Oliver Darcy) 1652801535
After Schumer sent his letter and railed against Fox News on the Senate floor, Carlson's team reached out to him and invited him to debate the letter on Carlson's nightly show. But, for reasons unknown, Schumer declined the invitation.
".@TuckerCarlson invited me on his show tonight to debate the letter I sent to @FoxNews. I'm declining. Tucker Carlson needs to stop promoting the racist, dangerous ‘Replacement Theory’," Schumer boasted.
.@TuckerCarlson invited me on his show tonight to debate the letter I sent to @FoxNews.\n\nI'm declining. Tucker Carlson needs to stop promoting the racist, dangerous \u2018Replacement Theory\u2019.— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1652810316
While Schumer's stance may have won him brownie points within his tribe, the decision to reject Carlson's invitation left many others scratching their heads.
After all, if Carlson is promoting racism and Schumer is on the "right side" of the issue, why would he refuse the opportunity to enlighten Carlson and his more than 3 million nightly viewers?
Carlson responded to Schumer on his show Tuesday evening, calling him a "coward," and quipped of Schumer's ego, "This is the only media appearance probably in history he's turned down."