'Wedding row with Kate was Meghan Markle's 9/11': Fox News's Tucker Carlson lampoons 'manipulative opportunist' Duchess of Sussex and calls out hypocrisy of claiming to be silenced victim while doing Oprah interview watched by 50million
- Fox News' Tucker Carlson insisted he was uninterested in Harry and Meghan
- He then devoted his opening segment to mocking the Duke and Duchess
- 'He's weak and unhappy, and she's a manipulative opportunist,' Carlson said
- He mocked Meghan's row with Kate over bridesmaids dresses as 'her 9/11'
- Carlson also took aim at Meghan's claim that she was silenced by the Palace
Meghan Markle has been described by Tucker Carlson as a 'manipulative opportunist', with the Fox News host mocking her for bringing up a tearful row with Kate Middleton shortly before her wedding - something he ridiculed as 'her 9/11'.
Carlson insisted at the start of his show on Tuesday night that he did not want to discuss Markle and Prince Harry's bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, which aired on Sunday night and was watched by 49.1 million worldwide.
That changed, however, when Carlson said he heard Meghan talk about her rift with sister-in-law Kate Middleton.
He said he had no interest in 'Prince Whatever-His-Name-Is and his angry wife from Los Angeles,' before dedicating his opening segment to the couple.
'He's weak and unhappy, and she's a manipulative opportunist,' Carlson said.
He said he planned to take a 'hard pass' in covering the Royals before seeing a clip of the 39-year-old Duchess of Sussex being asked by Winfrey about reports she made Kate cry.
Tucker Carlson said on Tuesday night he had no interest in 'Prince Whatever-His-Name'
Carlson described Harry as 'weak and unhappy' and Meghan 'a manipulative opportunist'Markle said 'the reverse happened' and told Winfrey: 'A few days before the wedding, she was upset about something pertaining to, yes, the issue was correct, about flower girl dresses, and it made me cry, and it really hurt my feelings.'
Carlson continued: 'So that was the princess or duchess or whatever she is.
'Here's this royal person, one of the most famous and fawned-over people in the world telling Oprah that she was incredibly wounded because she got into some kind of petty argument about dresses with her sister-in-law at her wedding three years ago.'
Carlson mockingly referred to Meghan and Kate's row about bridesmaids dresses as 'her 9/11'
'So stop the presses.
'She and her sister-in-law had a tiff about clothes. That's never happened before.
'She thinks this is important to bring up in a television interview. It was her 9/11. So of course she considers it newsworthy.'
Carlson mockingly said that when she goes to the gym, 'it is treated like the moon landing'.
And he ridiculed her for telling Winfrey that she felt stifled and trapped inside the Palace machine.
'She's actually an oppressed victim,' he deadpanned.
'She may look powerful but she's powerless.'
In response to Markle saying she was silenced, Carlson told viewers: 'A rational person might consider this claim absurd, but amazingly no one else seems to think it is. Oprah clearly doesn't think it's absurd.
'You're not allowed to make fun of this.
'Our friend Piers Morgan did that on television in the UK and had to resign from his job.'
Carlson concluded that it was not just Markle, but a number of 'powerful people decid[ing] that they are oppressed,' and pointed to Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, and New York Times tech reporter Taylor Lorenz.
Carlson ridiculed the couple for being self-indulgent and out of touch
Carlson's show aired just hours after it was revealed that Piers Morgan had quit his Good Morning Britain breakfast show amid the fallout from the extraordinary Oprah interview
Carlson's show aired just hours after it was revealed that Piers Morgan had quit his Good Morning Britain breakfast show amid the fallout from the extraordinary Oprah interview.
It has since been revealed that Meghan is understood to have gone directly to ITV's CEO Dame Carolyn McCall, the former boss of the left-wing Guardian newspaper, to complain about Morgan.
The Duchess of Sussex insists she was not upset that Morgan said he 'didn't believe a word she said' in her Oprah interview - but was worried about how his comments could affect people attempting to deal with their own mental health problems, an insider told the Press Association.
Morgan is understood to have been ordered to apologize but he refused and quit, saying he had the right to tell viewers his 'honestly held opinions' and declaring: 'Freedom of speech is a hill I'm happy to die on'.
Standing firm, Morgan told reporters outside his West London home: 'If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it.'
Hours after the Oprah interview aired, Morgan branded Meghan 'Princess Pinocchio' after the Duchess said she was suicidal while five months pregnant but was denied any help by the palace.
She also accused the Royal Family of being concerned Archie's skin would be too 'dark' and denying him the title of prince because he is mixed race.
Morgan had demanded the Sussexes back up their claims with evidence.
It came as leading figures in American media, including CNN anchor Jake Tapper and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, showed their support for Morgan
His views, and his refusal to back down in the row, sparked more than 41,000 complaints made to Ofcom, fuelled by an orchestrated social media campaign spearheaded by his critics including several Labour MPs.
The Duchess of Sussex's decision to intervene in the row came as Morgan doubled down after leaving GMB, calling her incendiary claims to Oprah about the Royal Family 'contemptible' and declaring: 'I don't believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth'.
It came as leading figures in American media showed their support for Morgan.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly both praised Morgan and said he had been treated unfairly.
Tapper described the Ofcom investigation as 'insanity'.
'This is what happens when you live in a country where there is no First amendment. Insanity,' he said, linking to a Variety article entitled: 'U.K. media regulator Ofcom launched an investigation after more than 41,000 people complained about Piers Morgan's comments on Meghan Markle.'
When Tapper was attacked by critics of Morgan, he concluded: 'OK, British friends. We disagree.'
Kelly also sprung to Morgan's defense, tweeting: 'I don't know what happened w/ @piersmorgan at GMB.
'What I do know is he & Susannah have been a brilliant team that took risks & became must-watch TV.
'In an era of free speech being stifled everywhere, Piers fearlessly speaks his mind. We need more, not fewer like that in media.'
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