Tucker Carlson hits out at Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin and Laura Ingraham calls him a 'windbag' and 'fossil' after the Democrat called Fox stars 'anti-vaxx quacks'

Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham hit back at Senator Dick Durbin on Monday after the Democrat from Illinois blasted the highly rated cable news hosts as ‘anti-vaxx quacks.’

Carlson responded to Durbin by accusing the senator of seeking to 'divide the country further along partisan lines' and 'tar anyone who wants more information about a specific drug as a lunatic who's against all vaccines.'

Ingraham also responded to Durbin, calling him a ‘fossil’ and a ‘windbag.’

‘We were right about the insanity of requiring COVID vaccinations of healthy young Americans, especially school-aged children,’ Ingraham said on her show on Monday.

Carlson said that he was in favor of vaccines, though he added that the public was not getting 'basic questions answered' about the jab.

Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham hit back at Senator Dick Durbin on Monday after the Democrat from Illinois blasted the highly rated cable news hosts as ‘anti-vaxx quacks.’

Carlson responded to Durbin by accusing the senator of seeking to 'divide the country further along partisan lines' and 'tar anyone who wants more information about a specific drug as a lunatic who's against all vaccines.'

'Many of the people like Dick Durbin, who are attacking anyone who has questions as partisan or racist, are the very same people who told us for decades they were very upset about the Tuskegee syphilis experiments, and they had right to be upset about those experiments,' Carlson said.

The Tuskegee syphilis experiments was a 40-year study in which the federal government allowed hundreds of black men who had contracted the sexually transmitted disease to go untreated in order to research the progression of the disease. 

The men filed a lawsuit that resulted in a $9million settlement, and then-President Bill Clinton formally apologized years later. 

Still, the chilling effects of the study linger to this day — it’s routinely cited as a reason some African-Americans are reluctant to participate in medical research, or even go to the doctor for routine check-ups. 

Carlson accused public health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci of doing 'damage' to the country. He also called on Republican politicians to 'stand up for Americans.'

The host also lashed out at Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, who said on Sunday that he and his administration are 'working hard' to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

Arkansas has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. Just 35 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

Carlson took aim at another Republican, House Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an anti-Trump lawmaker from Illinois. On Sunday, Kinzinger appeared on CNN and slammed those in the Republican Party for spreading anti-vaccine 'garbage.'

There is a greater sense of urgency to boost vaccination rates in Arkansas as COVID cases continue to rise in recent days, fueled by the delta variant.

'We're working very hard to go to that population through the employer, through trusted advisers, such as the clinics, making sure they have the information and overcoming the hesitancy or just the simply "we're-putting-it-off" approach,' Hutchinson told ABC News.

'We just have to answer it just like we have all through history, that you overcome skepticism and mistrust by truth,' the governor said.

'You overcome resistance and obstinance with saying it's important for our community, and it's important for the health of our state and nation.'

Carlson blasted Hutchinson as a 'mediocrity' for encouraging people in his state to get vaccinated.

The host took aim at another Republican, House Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an anti-Trump lawmaker from Illinois.

On Sunday, Kinzinger appeared on CNN and slammed those in the Republican Party for spreading anti-vaccine 'garbage.'

'This is outrage politics that is being played by my party and it’s going to get Americans killed,' Kinzinger said.

'Our party has been hijacked. My party has been hijacked.

'It is on its way to the ground, and for some people it’s a fun ride, right? We can put out this outrageous stuff on Twitter.'

Carlson lambasted Kingzinger, saying the congressman 'has a low IQ and can't be held fully responsible for most of the things that he says.'

Carlson said viewers want to know 'what is the harm rate from the vaccine.'

Speaking from the Senate floor on Monday, Durbin took the two Fox News stars to task for using their prime time shows to cast doubt on the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines.

'There are two hosts of programs on Fox prime time that can only be characterized as anti-vax quacks,' Durbin said on Monday.

'I'm referring of course to Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham.'

The senator added: 'They have been spreading what I consider to be irresponsible information about vaccines across America and about the effort of this nation to deal with them.'

'Here's the reality,' Durbin continued.

'We have millions who've died across the world by this . We may never have an accurate count.

'We have hundreds of thousands who have died in the United States, and now it is said repeatedly that those who had headed to the hospital with the most serious strains of COVID-19, 99.5 percent of them were not vaccinated.'

Durbin said he hoped that Fox would “come to its senses.”

'If there are things that can remove you from the air for being said on a program, I certainly hope that the management of the station will caution Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham with the statements they have made in opposition to vaccines,' he said.

Durbin referenced a New York Times story published on Sunday which noted that Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch received the COVID-19 vaccine.

The article listed several examples of Carlson and Ingraham expressing skepticism about the vaccine by accusing the media of downplaying side effects.

Carlson has hit out at the Biden administration after President Joe Biden said a ‘door to door’ effort would be made to persuade those hesitant about vaccines to get the shot.

Ingraham said encouraging Americans to get the vaccine is 'anti-democratic, anti-freedom.' 

She called the vaccine 'an experimental drug on Americans against their will — threatening them, threatening to deprive them of basic liberties, if they don’t comply.'