Tucker Carlson, filling in for Sean Hannity on Fox News last night, picked up the issue of President Barack Obama’s call to Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, during which the president thanked Lurie for giving Michael Vick a second chance.

The call had been a hot topic on Fox throughout what was a pretty slow news day, but Carlson’s take took things to a new level.

I’m Christian. I’ve made mistakes. I believe fervently in second chances. Michael Vick killed dogs in a heartless and cruel way. I think, firstly, he should have been executed for that. The idea the president of the United States would be getting behind someone who murdered dogs is beyond the pale.



UPDATE: Carlson is well known as an animal advocate. For the past couple years, he and Ana Marie Cox have served as spokespeople for the Washington Animal Rescue League, and in fact co-hosted a holiday party for the organization just this month.

“It’s the oldest animal rescue league in Washington,” Cox said. “It’s a no-kill shelter, which appeals to my bleeding heart liberalism, but it also accepts no government funding, which appeals to Tucker’s libertarianism.”

She and Carlson were approached by the league after the organization found her name in its database of supporters.

“They thought it would be cute to team me up with a conservative,” she said. “It turned out that Tucker had adopted one of his dogs from the league. It was a great fit.”

In a PSA they taped together for WRAL, they use their partisan differences to set up animal advocacy as one thing upon which both liberals and conservatives could agree. “Animals shouldn’t be mistreated,” Carlson says while holding a dog.



Carlson did not respond to requests for comment, and Cox said she couldn’t not speak to his latest statement.

“I would say that Tucker can have a very subtle intellect, but he also knows how to make an impression. I’m not sure which side of his brain was at the forefront when he said that.”

Nor is she sure that the president made the best choice by singling out Vick, of all people, for a second chance in the court of public opinion.

“I appreciate the president wants to endorse the idea that once people have been to prison and served their sentences, they deserve a second chance,” she said. “I think there are lots better examples out there to grant presidential grace to. What [Vick] did was really unconscionable and almost inexcusable.”

* This post has been updated to make it clear Cox was referring to Vick in the final sentence.

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