Fox News host Greg Gutfeld spent nearly six minutes singing the praises of torture – and smearing those who oppose it as unpatriotic. In between bits of Gutfeld’s idea of comedy.

After some supposedly comic video about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s recent departure, Gutfeld played clips of various people voicing concerns about Gina Haspel, Trump’s nominee to replace Mike Pompeo as head of the CIA. (Pompeo is slated to replace Tillerson as secretary of state.) Haspel oversaw a black site under George W. Bush and played a key role in the agency’s now-defunct program of “enhanced interrogation techniques.” That’s what the rest of us call torture.

Gutfeld seems to have done no research into the effectiveness of torture (maybe because it would have burst his balloon) before declaring his unqualified love for it and his smarmy disgust for anyone who disagrees:

GUTFELD: I have a golden rule: If your chief complaint is that these people are too hard on terrorists – not a complaint I listen to. That’s what I call an asset to be treasured. So go screw yourself.

That drew appreciative laughs and applause from the audience.

There was more video “comedy” on the upcoming confirmation hearings for Pompeo and Haspel. “Together they’re making America safer than a celibate germophobe’s book club,” was one of the quips.

Then came the more serious love for torture combined with an even more hideous attempt to impugn the patriotism of those who disagree.

GUTFELD: But really, anything can be torture, especially to people who think running out of kale guacamole at Whole Foods is agony. And so I ask of those who think enhanced interrogation is evil, what’s your alternative?

Seriously, what replacement do you have for waterboarding?

Had Gutfeld bothered to do any research – or not hid from viewers what is already plainly known – he would have had an answer from none other than the current secretary of defense, James “Mad Dog” Mattis: Beer and cigarettes work better.

Gutfeld never spent a minute serving his country. But that didn’t stop him from posturing as someone who knows better than Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general and veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

GUTFELD: A lot of media critics have the luxury of not having to face such dilemmas. No, in their shiny studios, they parrot the same old pointless phrase, “But we’re better than that.” Well, I’m not. I’ll admit it.

That was said with a big smile. It got big applause and laughs from the audience. Then Gutfeld suggested that torture is part of making America great again (even though it's a defunct practice).

GUTFELD: For once, let’s proudly and loudly say we’re not better than that. Because under Trump, it seems to be working. We didn’t lower the bar, we removed the damn thing – and good stuff’s happening.

But if you must, then by all means say, “We’re better than that” – while the patriots who think otherwise continue to save your ass.”

There was more loud applause.

Fortunately, the guests in the discussion that followed mostly pushed back.

Watch Gutfeld's ignorant jingoism below, from the March 17, 2018 The Greg Gutfeld Show.