On MSNBC's Tucker, radio host Campbell said, "Robertson may have actually been on to something when he suggested possibly assassinating Hugo Chavez"

During an exchange regarding the Havana Summit of non-aligned nations on the September 15 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, conservative Orlando, Florida, radio host Pat Campbell said that "Pat Robertson may actually have been on to something when he suggested possibly assassinating Hugo Chavez." Throughout the segment, host Tucker Carlson suggested that both "the left" in general and Sam Seder, host of Air America Radio's The Majority Report, in particular are guilty of "defending the enemies of America."

As Media Matters for America noted, Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America, suggested assassinating Chavez on the August 22, 2005, edition of Christian Broadcasting Network's The 700 Club.

From the September 15 edition of Tucker:

CARLSON: Is it obvious now for the American left, which has supported Fidel Castro all these years, that the guy is kinda evil, actually? Are we willing to admit that or are we still talking about the educational gains or the Cuban health-care system? Is the left willing to admit it?

[...]

CARLSON: But that doesn't change the fact that the left has not just argued against the embargo, it's argued on Castro's behalf for more than 40 years. And it seems to me it's -- there's a come-to-Jesus moment -- maybe that moment's right now -- where the left has to admit, 'You know, we were wrong. We supported this fascist all these years. We're guilty. We repent.' I mean, why aren't we hearing liberals admit that this guy's a really bad guy?

SEDER: Well, I mean, I don't know who you're listening to. I mean, I can't speak for the entire left. But I can tell you that I have a problem with his regime. I don't -- I wouldn't call it fascist, I mean, I think I would call it socialist. And I think he's got some dictatorial issues as well. But I mean, I don't know what to tell you.

TUCKER: Some dictatorial issues?

SEDER: You know, it's really a question of what is U.S. policy here? What are we doing? We're hurting the Cuban people.

CARLSON: OK, so it's our fault. I guess that's the point I'm making.

[...]

CAMPBELL: It's one of those odd moments. I think all three of us are actually in agreement. I agree the blockade has been an abject failure. In fact, Castro has pretty much been laughing at the United States. I mean, how many presidents has he outlived so far? I'm a little concerned about this summit, though, and the paranoia -- especially from Hugo. First of all, you know, does Venezuela even have a standing army? I think the fact that this guy -- there's a lot of empty saber-rattling going on down there. I don't know of anybody who's talking about possibly invading Cuba at this point. But what kind of leverage does this guy have with us other than the oil itself?

SEDER: Well, that's a huge leverage, isn't it? I mean, the guy supplies 60 percent of the oil to this country that we import, and you've got [Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld back in February comparing him to Hitler. I mean, talk about paranoid, I mean, that's ridiculous.

CAMPBELL: Well, you know, Pat Robertson may have actually been on to something when he suggested possibly assassinating Hugo Chavez.

SEDER: Well, there you go. I mean, that's where the paranoia stems from to a certain extent. Pat Robertson is an adviser to President Bush.

CARLSON: Yeah, but there's an assumption here. Pat Robertson is a bit of a kook, we all know that --

CAMPBELL: A bit of a kook?

CARLSON: -- but Pat Robertson's irrelevant to this or any other conversation, but Hugo Chavez is not. And what is this impulse to defend the enemies of America every time?

SEDER: I'll tell you something.

CARLSON: No, literally, it's every time.

SEDER: I agree with you, Tucker.

CARLSON: Hugo Chavez -- he's not so bad. [Zimbabwean President] Robert Mugabe -- he's not so bad. I mean, what is that? I don't get that at all.

—R.C.