Tucker Carlson finally got around to addressing the fact that his headwriter was outed as an anonymous poster of hate, vileness, and harassment …

… at the 46th moment of his hourly show.

To give Carlson his due, there was just so much he had to get to first: He opened with another attack on one of his favorite targets, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He seemed pleased with his scoop that she grew up in a suburb, a wealthy one, too.

It’s always strange when the heir to the Swanson frozen food fortune attacks someone for being an elite.

Carlson also had to defend the two nutjobs who stood outside their home threatening BLM protestors.

Then he had a guest on to explain why Christians are being attacked in this country, which is so true when you consider how Christians are routinely denied jobs, housing, and routinely assaulted by the police simply because of their faith.

Oh, wait, that doesn’t happen here, ever?

As last night’s Carlson show proved, some Christians have mastered the virtue of screaming victim.

But Carlson finally got around to addressing his onetime headwriter Blake Neff, who was never addressed as headwriter, but simply a writer.

Carlson said, “It is wrong to attack people for qualities they cannot control …”

That apparently is a reference to Neff’s years-long campaign of online harassment in which he targeted a woman he was linked to on Facebook. He routinely criticized her looks and invited others to join in.

Carlson noted, “Blake fell short of that standard, and he has paid a very heavy price for it.”

Carlson never explained to his audience what Neff had written. Neff also spent years posting racist and homophobic comments.

In one post from June, Neff wrote, “Black doods staying inside playing Call of Duty is probably one of the biggest factors keeping crime down.”

In another, he said, “Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep.”

Carlson moved on to the true object of his ire: Those who reported on the story and those who were angry about it.

And he seemed to be threatening some sort of Biblical vengeance.

“We should also point out to the ghouls now beating their chests in triumph of the destruction of a young man that self-righteousness also has its costs. We are all human. When we pretend we are holy, we are lying. When we pose as blameless in order to hurt other people, we are committing the gravest sin of all and we will be punished for it. There’s no question.”

It’s worth noting that nobody destroyed this young man, except possibly himself. Reporters merely outed him. He’s bound to land another well-paying job in the GOP that will view his transgressions as a badge of courage against a politically correct world.

When this story broke last week, most expected Fox News to turn around and give Neff a promotion. This is a network that has white nationalism in its DNA, that traffics in hate every single day. Perhaps the single item that pushed Fox over the edge was that Neff personally targeted women he knew.

There is, at last, a line even Fox News won’t cross. Bully for them.

Carlson announced at the very end of his hour that he is taking the rest of the week off – a “long-planned” vacation to go trout-fishing.

In that, Carlson joins the likes of such Fox News hosts as Bill O’Reilly and Laura Ingraham who found themselves exposed and knew their only recourse was to retreat into the shadows.

If only he’d stay there.

Note: The image used here is from an earlier Tucker Carlson show but will never not be relevant.