Tucker Carlson says he thinks abortions cause hurricanes

Tucker Carlson has been blasted after suggesting abortions 'probably' cause hurricanes during a bizarre rant on the eve of the election.

Carlson, 55, appeared on Steve Bannon's War Room podcast on Monday to speak on a range of political issues and made the remark during a frenzied tirade on abortion.

The Trump ally hailed supporters of a woman's right to abortion as 'evil' and accused them of 'committing child sacrifice', which he likened to ancient religious rituals.

But the ousted Fox News host pushed his wild remarks even further by dismissing scientific evidence that climate change contributes to hurricanes - and instead claimed the natural disasters are 'probably' caused by 'abortion'.

His remarks come just weeks after Hurricanes Helene and Milton ravaged much of the Gulf Coast. Scientists have concluded that climate change boosted the hurricanes' devastating rainfall, increased storm surges and intensified winds.

'People are like, "oh well, we had another hurricane - it must be global warming"' Carlson said during his appearance.

'No! It's probably abortion, actually,' he smirked. 'Just being honest.'

'You can't do that. You can't kill children on purpose, knowing that you're doing that, in exchange for power or freedom or happiness or whatever you think you're getting in return.'

Abortion access has been at the forefront of the 2024 presidential race.

Trump promised to 'protect the women' of the America 'whether the women like it or not,' a remark that drew condemnation from women across the political spectrum.

The Republican nominee takes credit for the US Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade protections, saying abortion laws should be left to the states. Trump said he does not support banning birth control. 

His wife Melania, in her book published last month, told how she holds starkly different views on abortion from her husband.

Melania wrote in her memoir how she supports a woman's right to choose when it comes to abortion and that she's 'carried this belief' for her 'entire adult life'.

Democrat nominee Vice President Kamala Harris has made reproductive rights and personal freedoms a rallying cry and has called on Congress to pass national legislation codifying access to safe abortion. 

She has promoted President Joe Biden administration's efforts short of federal law, including steps to protect women who travel to access the procedure and limit how law enforcement collects medical records. 

Her argument to the public is rooted in the concept of freedom, saying 'the freedom to make decisions about one's own body should not be made by the government.'

Carlson, during his 25-minute appearance on Bannon's show, described himself as being a secular individual while also speaking about politics with religious undertones.

He described people who carry out abortions, an official medical procedure, as 'practicing child sacrifice...as every culture has before us'.

He hit out at Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and accused her of 'worshipping abortion, the killing of kids' by supporting abortion access.

'To see the Treasury Secretary, that dwarf Janet Yellen, get up and say you can do your part to help the American economy by killing your child, that's no different than the Canaanites,' he told Bannon.

Carlson was seemingly referencing passages from the Old Testament of the Bible in which it suggests that child sacrifice was a regular feature of the religion of the Canaanite people.

He also misquoted Yellen who in May 2022, before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, said that she believed 'eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades'.

Regardless, Carlson pushed the assertion that she and others who are pro-choice are 'worshipping' the 'killing of kinds'.

'I'm sure I'll be attacked for saying this, but I really believe it,' he continued. 'People are like, "oh, well, we had another hurricane, it must be global warming." No! It's probably abortion, actually.' 

He added: 'You can't kill children on purpose, knowing that you're doing that in exchange for power, or freedom, or happiness, whatever you think you're getting in return.

'You can't participate in human sacrifice without consequences.' 

The episode also saw Carlson describe nuclear weapons as being 'demonic' and made by 'not-human forces'.

Matthew Cappucci, Atmospheric Scientist and Senior Meteorologist at MyRadar, told DailyMail.com: 'Tucker Carlson is a talented entertainer who earns tens of millions of dollars annually for entertaining audiences. That often means peddling fantastical conspiracies on an audience that is credulous enough to believe blatant lies. 

'Is it entertaining? Hell yeah. I’d watch it. It’s it truthful, accurate or commensurate with reality? Not a chance... The idea that a hurricane can be manufactured or meaningfully manipulated just isn’t in line with science.'

Dr David Ryglicki, Director of Meteorological Research and Principal Scientist at MyRadar, added: 'Arguing that anything can control large-scale weather patterns beyond traditionally understood mechanisms (this includes background planet-warming) comes across as irresponsible from both a science perspective and a communications perspective. 

'The hurricane did not hit your house because you have guns, because you support abortion, because you oppose gay marriage, or because you do or do not support some foreign country. 

'This line of thinking muddles the necessary messaging for properly communicating hazards past, present, and future.'

Other outlandish claims from Carlson included his allegation that the US military has 'consistently' been targeting and killing Christian populations since the end of World War II.

The ousted Fox News host has been an ardent supporter of Trump and in the past year a confidant.

He sat next to the former president at the Republican National Convention and has been campaigning across the country for him, but his commentary has veered into weird territory many times.

Most recently, at a rally in Georgia last month, he made attendees feel uncomfortable when he likened Trump to an angry father providing tough love to a 'bad little girl' who, as Carlson put it, was 'in need of a vigorous spanking'.

Social media users blasted Carlson over his 'delusional' commentary on the podcast, suggesting that he has gone mad.

'Hey @TuckerCarlson why are you this f*****g braindead?' one X user questioned, before highlighting how the recent devastating hurricanes hit in states with some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country.

'Hurricanes hit states that are most anti-abortion, so @TuckerCarlson that would mean God is pro-choice, if we should go with the idea that hurricanes are God's punishment,' the user added. 

Another suggested that due to the ridiculousness of his rhetoric, Carlson must be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

'I don't know what you’re smoking or eating Tucker but it must be good if you think the climate changes is being caused by abortion,' they wrote. 'Wow, talk about deluded and delusional…this tidbit takes the cake!'

One added that Carlson claims go 'beyond drinking the kool aid- more like he's been doing some serious shrooms'. 

'Between this and the "demon attack", Comrade Tucker Carlson has lost whatever's left of his freezer burned Swanson dinner brain,' one person tweeted.

'I would say he's lost his mind, but that happened a long time ago,' an X user echoed. 

Another joked: 'Tucker Carlson saying abortions cause hurricanes makes me wonder what kind of crazy things the dinosaurs were doing.'