Q Toon: Nudge, Nudge

I am one of those people who can't remember where my husband always puts things, or how much flour to use when making crepes, or whether I shut the garage door before driving away, because all those synapses in my brain have been permanently wired to remembering each and every Monty Python sketch ever filmed.

So naturally, when Tucker Carlson fantasized about getting Pete Buttigieg on his podcast so that he could grill him on whether he's really gay, my mind immediately leapt to the "Nudge, Nudge" sketch of Eric Idle and the late Terry Jones.

In a recent interview on his namesake podcast, The Tucker Carlson Show, the former Fox News prime-time host raised some concerns about former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Carlson was speaking with Michael Knowles, another conservative political commentator, about a litany of issues including Trump's dustup with Harvard.

“The fake gay guy?” Carlson asks when Buttigieg’s name is mentioned. “My gay producer is always like, ‘He’s not gay.’ He was with a girl like 20 minutes ago and like he wants to be the Democratic nominee. It’s like: ‘Time for a gay guy!’” ...

“I’ve always wanted to interview him,” Carlson continued, later. “He’s never agreed to an interview but I’m going to ask him like some very specific questions about gay sex and see if he can even answer. I doubt he even knows. You’re not gay, dude, stop.”

In the interest of space, I had to condense the dialogue considerably for this cartoon, especially the part of Jones/Buttigieg. Regrettable, but necessary. I also wish that I didn't have to include the ultimate punch line; but I recognize that some readers out there might not have the exhaustive knowledge of 55-year-old British television comedy sketches that I do.

I suspect that Secretary Buttigieg doesn't need me to tell him that he should not take Carlson's bait. Buttigieg has demonstrated a talent for going on Fox Noise, MAGA podcasts, etc., and holding his own against their right-wing point talkers. He was arguably the Biden administration's best spokesperson: cogent, logical, and unrattled by their hyperbole, whataboutism, and mischaracterization.

Carlson's aim, therefore, is to destroy whatever gravitas Buttigieg has accrued through his service in the military and elected office by getting him to talk about who does what in his bedroom, how often, and what is his favorite lube, so that the right-wing echo chamber can repeat it ad infinitum any time he tries to talk about urban renewal, international alliances, tax policy, or airplane safety.

Which could come in handy when ReTrumplicans need to distract the rest of us from the moral and sexual depravity of the thrice-married, 34-times-convicted, pussy-grabbing Epstein pal currently making the White House over into a gilded bordello fit for Louis XIV's favorite concubines.

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