ADL Wants to See Fox News Fire Tucker Carlson

In an open letter, it cites comments he made Thursday about 'white replacement theory'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 10, 2021 8:00 AM CDT
ADL Wants to See Fox News Fire Tucker Carlson
In this Thursday, March 2, 2107 file photo, Tucker Carlson, host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," poses for a photo in a Fox News Channel studio in New York.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

The Anti-Defamation League is weighing in on Tucker Carlson's employment status. Specifically, it wants Fox News to give its No. 1-rated host the boot. "Given his long record of race-baiting, we believe it is time for Carlson to go," ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt wrote in an open letter that was spurred by a Thursday night segment. CNN was quick to note that there is "zero indication" Fox would do so much as reprimand Carlson for the comments he made during the 7pm hour, when he and Mark Steyn discussed the treatment of migrants at the US-Mexico border. CNN has some of his comments involving "white replacement theory," which it describes as "a racist conspiracy theory that imagines white people are being intentionally replaced by immigrants" and one that is part of white supremacist ideology:

  • "I know that the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term 'replacement,' if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate, the voters now casting ballots, with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World. But they become hysterical because that's what's happening, actually. Let's just say it! That's true."
  • Carlson at one point stated he wasn't invoking the theory: "White replacement theory? No, no, this is a voting rights question. I have less political power because they're importing a brand new electorate. Why should I sit back and take that? The power that I have as an American guaranteed at birth is one man, one vote, and they're diluting it. No, they are not allowed to do that. Why are we putting up with this?"

The New York Times reports that in its letter, the ADL called Carlson's words "not just a dog whistle to racists—it was a bullhorn." The ADL continued, "This is not legitimate political discourse. It is dangerous race-baiting, extreme rhetoric. And yet, unfortunately, it is the culmination of a pattern of increasingly divisive rhetoric used by Carlson over the past few years." How Fox News characterized Carlson's appearance in its coverage of the segment: Carlson "doubled down on earlier warnings of the long-term ramifications of illegal immigration in a guest appearance on Fox News Primetime." Philip Bump weighed in Friday morning with a lengthy piece for the Washington Post that traced the own immigration story of Carlson's forebears. Bump writes, "Carlson is adept at presenting his rhetoric. It's part of what makes him good on television; he's sharp and brash and energetic. But that shouldn't obscure that his rhetoric is wrong, shortsighted, and potentially harmful." (More Tucker Carlson stories.)

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