# Tucker Carlson Explains Why He Stopped Wearing a Bow Tie



## alkydrinker (Apr 24, 2012)

It's at the very beginning of this interview with Alex Jones -- it's a great interview if you can hang with it after the bow tie conversation. _(video interview no longer available)_

Below is a quick and dirty transcript, I don't have every word exactly correct. I have to give Tucker credit though, he was wearing bow ties when it was completely against the grain. He gave it up now that it has become mildly trendy.

*Alex:* _We are here with Tucker Carlson. He does not have the customary bow tie. Why did you get rid of the bow tie?_

*Tucker: *_I joined the mainstream, Alex...I'm just like everyone else [Sarcasm]. No, if you wear a bow tie it's like wearing a middle finger around your neck. You're just inviting scorn and ridicule._

*Alex:* _Like Louis Farakan._

*Tucker:* _I don't mind scorn and ridicule but I work in New York during the week so I have to walk through Penn Station and the number of people screaming the F word at me wore me down so I just gave in and became conventional._

*Alex:* _You got told off for wearing a bow tie?_

*Tucker:* _Literally everyday. People will scream obscenities at you. Try it for a week._


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## TradThrifter (Oct 22, 2012)

Maybe in the Southern states it is a bit more normal to wear a bow tie? I always saw it as a pretty quirky option for the more eccentric type, but nothing inviting such abuse. lol


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## Tempest (Aug 16, 2012)

This shows an amazing spinelessness, particularly when you think what type of person so easily persuaded him to change his style. 
If I need to spell it out, bums and sub-literate derelicts were probably calling him a [email protected] In Carlson's case, I'm not so sure the bow tie was purely to blame.

As a bow tie wearer, I must say that having Carlson leave the ranks is a win.


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## Reuben (Aug 28, 2013)

TradThrifter said:


> Maybe in the Southern states it is a bit more normal to wear a bow tie? I always saw it as a pretty quirky option for the more eccentric type, but nothing inviting such abuse. lol


Heck, I don't know that they register as even mildly quirky or eccentric down here in the South.


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## hardline_42 (Jan 20, 2010)

Tempest said:


> This shows an amazing spinelessness, particularly when you think what type of person so easily persuaded him to change his style.
> If I need to spell it out, bums and sub-literate derelicts were probably calling him a [email protected] *In Carlson's case, I'm not so sure the bow tie was purely to blame.*
> 
> As a bow tie wearer, I must say that having Carlson leave the ranks is a win.


I agree. Though I don't share your obvious disdain for Carlson, it's likely that many New Yorkers do, and wearing a bow tie would make him that much more recognizable in a place like Penn station. I'm more inclined to believe that losing the bow tie was more for the purpose of not being recognized than anything else. His invitation to Alex to try wearing a bow tie for a week in a place like New York would probably yield the same effects (or worse) for the same reason. If it was just a random guy in a bow tie, no one would care.


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## Tempest (Aug 16, 2012)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucker_Carlson#Public_image
Ha, it's already cited on wikipedia! When he talks about joining the mainstream, note that he was on _Dancing with the Stars_ within a few months of stepping away from bow ties. I'll gladly estrange that mainstream.


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## L-feld (Dec 3, 2011)

I think if Alex Jones walked around wearing a bow tie, or even a tie for that matter, it might actually serve to camouflage him.

On the other hand, think of how many fat circus clowns must get accosted on his behalf.


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## L-feld (Dec 3, 2011)

Also, to that end:


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## pt10023 (Jan 14, 2008)

I have lived in or near New York City for my entire adult life, and I don't believe for a second that people were walking up to Tucker Carlson and screaming the F word at him in Penn Station because he was wearing a bow tie. While I don't wear bow ties regularly, I have worn one a few times while walking through Penn Station. No one cared. Especially during rush hour, New Yorkers are too focused on either getting to work or getting home to notice what other people are wearing. To catch people's attention, you'd have to be wearing something really outlandish, and even then, people may pause for just a second or two before being on their way. A bow tie just wouldn't cut it. It's not unusual enough. And besides, if abuse during his commute was _really _the reason Carlson stopped wearing a bow tie, wouldn't it have made more sense to put his tie on after getting to work, and take it off again before leaving the office, rather than stop wearing it altogether?

Whatever he may claim, I think the real reason that Tucker Carlson stopped wearing a bowtie is that Jon Stewart made fun of him for wearing one while appearing on Crossfire, and Carlson wasn't quick enough to come up with a witty reply. 



 It's pretty weak of him to try and blame his capitulation on the stereotype of New Yorkers being rude.


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## Tempest (Aug 16, 2012)

Bingo. If one drunk a day was muttering or even screaming an obscenity as he passed by, which we've admitted is improbable in a comically diverse area, what sort of child would let this get to him? 
"I wanted to wear a long tie because all the other kids were doing it!" 
Carlson, you are no George Will!


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## Tilton (Nov 27, 2011)

I think some of you are missing the hyperbole and also the fame-factor here. I image that he got a lot of hate mail (or verbal insults when recognized in public) where his bowtie was an easy target. Even in the south, Backwoods Billy Bob won't hesitate to insult you and question your sexual preference based on your bowtie if you happen to rub him the wrong way. Expand that to scale for someone taking controversial views on national TV 5 nights a week and I think you get the idea. Go check out the comments on that video and I bet you'll find at least a few "bowtie wearing f****t" comments despite the fact that he isn't wearing a bowtie.


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## Tempest (Aug 16, 2012)

Tempest said:


> If I need to spell it out, bums and sub-literate derelicts were probably calling him a [email protected] In Carlson's case, I'm not so sure the bow tie was purely to blame.





Tilton said:


> Go check out the comments on that video and I bet you'll find at least a few "bowtie wearing f****t" comments despite the fact that he isn't wearing a bowtie.


Exactly.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Tilton said:


> I think some of you are missing the hyperbole and also the fame-factor here. I image that he got a lot of hate mail (or verbal insults when recognized in public) where his bowtie was an easy target. Even in the south, Backwoods Billy Bob won't hesitate to insult you and question your sexual preference based on your bowtie if you happen to rub him the wrong way. Expand that to scale for someone taking controversial views on national TV 5 nights a week and I think you get the idea. Go check out the comments on that video and I bet you'll find at least a few "bowtie wearing f****t" comments despite the fact that he isn't wearing a bowtie.


I saw him shopping with his girls at the old Bruce Variety in the Bradley Center (Bethesda)

I didn't realize who he was until the second look.

He was wearing no tie at all!!


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## LordSmoke (Dec 25, 2012)

alkydrinker said:


> *Tucker:* _Literally everyday. People will scream obscenities at you. Try it for a week._


In NY, it might well have had nothing to do with the bow tie.


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## AnthonyFuller (Apr 11, 2013)

As stated previously it happened after Jon Stewart made him look foolish a couple years ago. I believe he was most likely embellishing a story for Alex Jones rather than admit the truth and again look foolish. I'm not a huge TC fan but do enjoy his wit when he occasionally sits on the Red Eye panel. 

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## tigerpac (Jan 23, 2014)

I agree with you guys, in this case, its the man that makes the clothes. Doesn't matter what he's wearing, he rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

On a semi-related note, I got several compliments on my bow tie today :icon_cheers:


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

LordSmoke said:


> In NY, it might well have had nothing to do with the bow tie.


I'm with LordSmoke. The obscenities yelled at him might not have had anything to do with his bow tie.


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## Tilton (Nov 27, 2011)

Andy said:


> I'm with LordSmoke. The obscenities yelled at him might not have had anything to do with his bow tie.


Agreed, the bowtie is just an easy target to hit - low hanging fruit.



WouldaShoula said:


> I saw him shopping with his girls at the old Bruce Variety in the Bradley Center (Bethesda)




He does live right over in Kent. I was fishing the shad run once and heard someone talking about him being there and renting a rowboat to hit the shad the day before. I knew he was a fly fisherman, but to wait in line at 5AM to rent a rowboat - that's regular folks stuff! Then again, I once ran into Brad Pitt on the South Fork of the Holston (knew he owned a house on the river, but never figured I'd actually see him). I didn't recognize him at all, but as we floated away, my buddy said "you know that was Brad Pitt, right?" I guess we're all equal in the eyes of the fish.


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## Trad-ish (Feb 19, 2011)

Wait, was he an easy target because of the bow tie or his politics? George Will has rocked a bow tie for years and has been reliably right-of-center for just as long. I don't hear about him being accosted for sartorial decisions.


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## L-feld (Dec 3, 2011)

Trad-ish said:


> Wait, was he an easy target because of the bow tie or his politics? George Will has rocked a bow tie for years and has been reliably right-of-center for just as long. I don't hear about him being accosted for sartorial decisions.


I don't think it's just his politics, but his media persona. I actually like Tucker, despite being far left, but let's be honest, he's nowhere near the respected journalist that George Will is. Tucker comes across like a composite of every villain from a 1980's teen movie. Depending in who you ask, that either makes him wildly entertaining or horrifyingly obnoxious.

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## Trad-ish (Feb 19, 2011)

L-feld said:


> I don't think it's just his politics, but his media persona. I actually like Tucker, despite being far left, but let's be honest, he's nowhere near the respected journalist that George Will is. Tucker comes across like a composite of every villain from a 1980's teen movie. Depending in who you ask, that either makes him wildly entertaining or horrifyingly obnoxious.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Now, every time I see Tucker Carlson I'll be thinking: "Finish him, Johnny! Sweep the leg!"


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## L-feld (Dec 3, 2011)

Trad-ish said:


> Now, every time I see Tucker Carlson I'll be thinking: "Finish him, Johnny! Sweep the leg!"


Hahhahahah, exactly.

He definitely was working the bow tie to magnify his arrogant, preppy jerk persona. It kind of backfired on him. Though even without the bow, he still looks like an overgrown Alex P. Keaton, god love him.

George Will's bow tie makes him look more professorial. Different side of the coin, I suppose.

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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Tucker Carlson is one but one of my media (as well as sartorial) heroes and as such, I kinda wish he had stuck to his guns regarding the bow tie. But alas, as it seems to happen every time we put our 'white knight on top of a magnificent stallion'...they turn out to be lousy equestrians and quickly fall off their steed....and that just can't be good?


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Trad-ish said:


> Wait, was he an easy target because of the bow tie or his politics? George Will has rocked a bow tie for years and has been reliably right-of-center for just as long. I don't hear about him being accosted for sartorial decisions.


I rolled my eyes at him jogging around the neighborhood with his Princeton gear on!!


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