Gretchen Carlson

“People ask me every single day: how did you do that?”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson reflected on being asked daily how she achieved passage of federal legislation curtailling forced arbitration clauses.

“It’s very easy to say the #MeToo movement is dead when you look at all the negative stuff,”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson acknowledged it is easy to declare the #MeToo movement dead when focusing on negative developments.

“It’s also my hope that journalists will say, you can’t speak to people that way. Now, I’m not naive, I understand there’s a conundrum here for journalists, because this is all about access to the President of the United States and access to this administration. If you speak up and cross this president, he’ll come after you.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson urged journalists to confront Trump's behavior while acknowledging the risk of losing access to the administration.

“Ask any woman on the street how many times have you been told in your life you need to smile more. Barf. I mean, really? We’ve all heard that before: put a smile on your face and just go out there and deal with it. No. That’s like, you go in to negotiate for higher pay, the man just asks for it, the woman has to put a smile on her face in order to get it. It is such an old school way of looking at the different gender types and the way in which we respond to a request if it’s by a man or a woman.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson criticized Trump's comment to Kaitlan Collins about smiling, noting it reflects an old-school gender double standard.

“A lot of times people say to me that the #MeToo movement is in a downward spiral because we’re still not getting all the files released and people aren’t being held accountable. But I look at this as a leader in this movement and say we have to look at the progress.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson responded to claims that the #MeToo movement is in decline by urging focus on progress made.

“That’s highly offensive to any human being, much less journalists whose job it is to cover the president with respect and dignity,”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson reacted to Trump calling female reporters derogatory names such as 'stupid' and 'piggy.'

“But we have to find a happy medium here because the end result is allowing this to continue is the promulgation of misogyny in our society. ”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson warned that allowing Trump's behavior to continue promotes misogyny in society.

“Before somebody decides to do either of those to you, they don’t ask you what party you’re in. They don’t care. This is about power.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson argued that sexual harassment and assault are about power, not political affiliation.

“People actually believe the Epstein survivors now. Ten years ago, they would not have believed them. Every time they come to the Hill and hold a press conference, they take the power right back.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson contrasted current public belief in Epstein survivors with the skepticism they would have faced a decade ago.

“We believe women and we take politics out of it. By the way, it’s been proven all across the board that politics has nothing to do with sexual harassment or sexual assault.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson described Lift Our Voices' approach of believing women and removing politics from workplace abuse cases.

“She’s not supposed to be smiling when she’s asking tough questions of the president of the United States.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson rejected the idea that women journalists should maintain a happy demeanor when asking tough questions.

“It was likely an appropriate question that many Americans want the answer to like, when will the Iran war end? My hope is that the questions will be asked until they are answered and that it’s not just from the one who’s attacked.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson argued that questions dismissed as stupid are likely appropriate questions Americans want answered.

“There’s still plenty of other journalists who might. There is the White House Correspondents’ Association. They were able to plan a second dinner after the assassination attempt so they could certainly come together and decide that they’re going to have a certain reaction to those kinds of attacks.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson responded to concerns about Maga media outlets by noting other journalists and the White House Correspondents' Association could still organize collectively.

“When you get attacked like that and another reporter just goes on to the next question, it makes it look like there’s nothing wrong and so if you’re watching this press conference, you normalise that then, and you’re like, oh, I guess that’s how we should treat everyone.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson said moving on to the next question after a reporter is attacked normalizes disrespectful behavior.

“The idea that you want to not call out this behaviour because it’s a Democratic candidate and you’re a Democrat is wrong – and the same thing on the flip side.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson said refusing to call out misconduct because of party affiliation is wrong for both Democrats and Republicans.

“It was an amazing bipartisan movement,”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson praised the bipartisan Capitol Hill campaign to disclose Jeffrey Epstein files as an example of survivor advocacy breaking through.

“It’s my hope that other journalists will start speaking up when that happens and repeat the question that was asked because it likely wasn’t a stupid question,”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson called for journalists to speak up and repeat questions when a colleague is attacked by the president.

“These are the kinds of things we have to focus on. Yes, there are blips along the way and hurdles to overcome, but we have to keep pushing forward. There have been laws passed, and state laws passed banning non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) completely for these types of things.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson pointed to federal and state laws banning NDAs as evidence of progress in anti-silencing reform.

“There is no room for hypocrisy with regard to this kind of behaviour, and the American public is onto this,”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson condemned attempts by some Democrats to shield candidate Graham Platner from misconduct accountability.

“I’m not naive enough to say that everything is perfect right now–it’s not. But movements ebb and flow. If you look at any major cultural movement, whether it was the civil rights movement or women getting the right to vote, these things did not happen overnight. There were many ups and downs.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson argued that major cultural movements like civil rights and women's suffrage experienced ups and downs over time.

“The most credit goes to the survivors because they keep pushing forward,”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson credited survivors for driving progress on accountability for sexual misconduct.

“To be called those kinds of names and still have to maintain your composure and do your job is something that no journalist should have to endure.”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson said no journalist should have to endure being called derogatory names while maintaining composure on the job.

“It’s damaging to young men about how they can treat women and young women about how they feel they should be treated. We’ve been trying to raise up our young women for generations and we’re doing a great job of it and now, all of a sudden, you can just treat women like this and nobody says anything?”

Gretchen Carlson · said date not stated · reported 2026-09-23

Carlson argued that unchecked sexist attacks on women journalists damage young people's understanding of how women should be treated.