On the April 11 edition of MSNBC's The Situation, host Tucker Carlson asserted that the testimony of a woman allegedly raped at an off-campus party hosted by members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team “is to be taken ... a little differently” from that of “an ordinary person” because she is “a crypto-hooker” who “hires herself out to dance naked in front of and ... sometimes sleep with ... strangers.”

During a discussion with Wendy Murphy, an adjunct professor of law at the New England School of Law, Carlson disagreed with Murphy's assertion that defense lawyers for members of the Duke lacrosse team were “exploiting social prejudices against strippers” by publicly discussing unreleased photos purportedly taken at the party where the rape is alleged to have occurred.

Carlson stated that “the testimony of an ordinary person is different from the testimony of someone who hires herself out to dance naked in front of and, yes, sometimes sleep with ... strangers,” adding: “It's OK to have a bias against strippers in this case, isn't it?” Carlson later called the alleged victim a “woman who is hiring her body out to other people” and added that although “that doesn't mean that she wasn't raped,” the woman's “testimony about matters of sex is to be taken by ordinary commonsense people a little differently than the testimony of someone who isn't a crypto-hooker.”

From the April 11 edition of MSNBC's The Situation with Tucker Carlson:

CARLSON: You said -- you said just the other day that the defense team these boys have hired, is quote, “exploiting social prejudices against strippers.”

Now, everybody, apart from maybe you, knows the truth, which is, the testimony of an ordinary person is different from the testimony of someone who hires herself out to dance naked in front of and, yes, sometimes sleep with people, strangers, right? They're different. It's OK to have a bias against strippers in this case, isn't it?

MURPHY: No. Look, when you -- when you say things out loud like that, do you hear yourself? Do you go home and -- like, do you just bang your head on the wall or (inaudible) yourself?

CARLSON: What do you mean, do I hear myself? Not only do I hear myself -- yes, because -- because that is reality.

MURPHY: Are you kidding me? Look, we have a criminal justice system, Tucker. We have a criminal justice system, that I think henceforth will never let you sit in judgment on any jury ever, because it doesn't matter --

CARLSON: What? For saying the truth that every single American knows?

MURPHY: -- whether you come from the lowest walks of life or the wealthy white boys institution, when you come into the criminal justice system, the great equalizer --

CARLSON: The wealthy white boys institution?

MURPHY: -- it doesn't matter who you are, we judge you as equal human beings.

CARLSON: What an awful thing to say, Wendy.

MURPHY: What a great idea. What an American notion. We judge people on equal levels in the criminal justice system, except for you. Remind me never to pick you for one of my juries.

CARLSON: Wendy, Wendy, if you have a woman who is hiring her body out to other people, that doesn't mean that she wasn't raped, and I'm not claiming she wasn't raped, and if she was raped, the men who raped her deserve prison and I'll be the first to say that.

MURPHY: Blah, blah, blah.

CARLSON: I'm merely saying -- not blah, blah, blah. I'm merely saying that this --

MURPHY: You don't have to say these gratuitous things.

CARLSON: They're not gratuitous at all. You just said that, you know, I'm not treating her as a human being. I'm merely saying that her testimony about matters of sex is to be taken by ordinary commonsense people a little differently than the testimony of someone who isn't a crypto-hooker.

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