Ted Lieu Uses Tucker Carlson Laughing Clip to Fundraise for Campaign

A video of Fox News host Tucker Carlson laughing at Representative Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) went viral on Thursday, and on Friday the congressman seized on the moment to raise money for his re-election campaign.

"Tucker Carlson's attack on me ended with a maniacal laugh, like a Batman villain. You know what will really offend Tucker and get him to lose his mind? Donating $5 so I can keep fighting—and keep making Tucker laugh like a maniac," Lieu wrote on his Twitter account Friday morning. The message included a link to ActBlue's "Ted Lieu for Congress" page.

On Thursday, Vox reporter Aaron Rupar posted an edited seven-second clip of Carlson laughing. It quickly went viral, and as of press time, has been viewed more than 3.1 million times. It has also been liked by more than 25,200 people and retweeted more than 3,000 times.

The video came from a Wednesday night segment on Carlson's show, during which the host criticized Lieu for his response to comments made by Representative Scott Perry (R-Pa.) that "native-born Americans" are being replaced.

On April 15, Lieu tweeted: "Dear @RepScottPerry: Native-born Americans like you are no more American, and no less American, than an immigrant like me. And with every passing year, there will be more people who look like me in the US. You can't stop it. So take your racist replacement theory and shove it."

Carlson discussed the verbal skirmish between the two representatives on his popular Tucker Carlson Tonight program. He said, "When Ted Lieu speaks, you're really seeing the Democratic party's brain trust on display."

"Perry was making an argument we have often made, because it's true," Carlson added. "And that is that Democrats are using mass immigration to transform the country, to change who votes, so they can control who wins."

He later mentioned Lieu's tweet, saying, "In other words, you're being replaced and there is nothing you can do about it."

Carlson then laughed and added: "Luckily with people like Ted Lieu in charge they're not going to get a lot done. Guy's a moron."

Lieu on Thursday shared Rupar's tweet, which he captioned: "That is a maniacal laugh." Today, he went a step further. Lieu, an Air Force Reserve Command colonel who was born in Taiwan, asked for a small campaign contribution. His current term ends in 2023.

Newsweek contacted Fox News and Lieu for further comment but did not hear back in time for publication.