Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson took aim at Georgetown in an interview with Ed Martin, who was the interim D.C. U.S. attorney nominee until last week. The conversation aired in a recent episode of Carlson’s online show, “The Tucker Carlson Show.”
“Oh, I got into a fight with Georgetown. You know, Georgetown University is mad at me,” Martin said.
“They’re filthy,” Carlson interjected.
In the interview, Martin recalled the March 3 letter he sent to then-Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) Dean William Treanor demanding that the law school no longer teach or promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Martin warned that if Georgetown did not comply, Georgetown students and graduates would no longer be considered for positions within the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Martin, who was nominated to the position in January, announced last week he would step down after several Republican Senators expressed trepidation about his nomination. Martin is also facing investigation by the D.C. Bar’s Office of Disciplinary Council after the city received several ethics complaints regarding his practices.
Martin expressed his frustration with the exchange on the podcast.
“I wrote to Georgetown Law, and I wrote to the Dean, we’re not going to hire your people, either for jobs or internships, because you’re doing DEI after the president said stop,” Martin said. “He wrote back and lectured me on Jesuit ideals.”
In a response to Martin on March 6, Treanor argued that the letter violated the academic freedom of Georgetown professors and unfairly retaliated against students for freedoms that fall under the First Amendment.
“Given the First Amendment’s protection of a university’s freedom to determine its own curriculum and how to deliver it, the constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution,” Treanor wrote.
Martin’s discussion of the university prompted Carlson to launch into criticisms of Georgetown, calling the university “disgusting” and claiming that it is part of the “deep state.”
“Georgetown is, I mean, it’s had really unhealthy relationships with the U.S. government for many, many decades,” Carlson said. “Georgetown is one of those things, it’s not a private institution, it’s an arm of the deepest of the deep state. And, like, they’re scary, and they’re supported by U.S. tax dollars.”
Georgetown is legally classified as a private institution. According to university officials at a recent budget roundtable, federal funding for grants and contracts makes up around $200 million, or 10% of Georgetown’s annual $1.9 billion in revenue. The federal government also funds $257 million in financial aid for Georgetown students each year, but does not directly fund the university through taxpayer dollars. Most of Georgetown’s annual budget—79.2%—comes from tuition, contributions, sales, and other services not related to the federal government.
Carlson also argued that parents do not know what they are getting into when they send their children to Georgetown, because of the alleged “deep state” activity that occurs at the university.
“It’s not a college. You want your kid to go to Georgetown, ‘Oh, he goes to Georgetown, go Hoyas!’” Carlson said. “It’s way more than that, people just have no idea.”
However, Carlson and his wife, Susie, wrote an email to Hunter Biden (CAS ’92), the son of President Joe Biden, asking if he could help get their son, Buckley, into Georgetown in 2014, reporting by the Washington Post in 2022 revealed.
“I realize you don’t really know Buckley,” Susie Carlson wrote. “Maybe you could meet or speak to him and he could send you a very brief resume with his interests and grades attached.”
“He loves Washington for all the right reasons, I think,” Tucker Carlson added. “And really wants to go to school here.”
Biden agreed to write a letter of recommendation, to which Susie Carlson responded, “Tucker and I have the greatest respect and admiration for you. Always!” Buckley, the couple’s son, ended up attending the University of Virginia.
Carlson’s thoughts about the university have seemingly changed since.
“Georgetown’s disgusting,” Carlson interjected again.
Carlson and Martin then launched into a conversation about two law school faculty members, Rosa Brooks, associate dean for centers and institutes, and Mary McCord (LAW ’90), executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection.
“They’re planning insurrection actually, using U.S. tax dollars, and all these, you know, nice, sort of well-meaning Irish Catholic alums around the country who don’t agree with anything Rosa Brooks says, are sending them money and sending their kids there, because the veneer, the skin suit still lives,” Carlson said.
Brooks founded the Transition Integrity Project, a June 2020 bipartisan simulation of 100 current and former senior government and campaign leaders, academics, journalists, and polling experts planning responses in potential “election crisis scenarios.” According to an executive summary of their findings, the group convened out of fears that “President Trump [was] likely to contest the result by both legal and extralegal means, in an attempt to hold onto power.” The group held a “war-room” where they played out different election scenarios in an attempt to come up with recommendations, should any attempts to disrupt the election occur. McCord was allegedly involved in the gathering as well, according to Carlson and other conservative media sites.
Conservatives have claimed that the simulation was an attempt to “drive Trump from office” if elected. Despite Brooks’ involvement, the Voice found no indication that the university was at all involved in the administration of the project. Brooks has denied claims that the group was attempting an insurrection.
“Our Transition Integrity Project became part of truly whacked out MAGA conspiracy theories claiming Dems were planning a coup,” Brooks wrote on X on July 10, 2024.
Carlson ended the section of the podcast by dunking on Georgetown once again, this time comparing the institution to Harvard, ranked the third-best college in the United States.
“It’s the fakest place in the United States, way worse than Harvard,” he concluded.
