Fox News’ Tucker Carlson condemned in viral video featuring Chip Franklin

Tucker Carlson, one of Fox News’s most infamous hosts, has faced a spate of attacks from liberals in recent months for his increasingly controversial comments.

He’s appeared to deny the existence of QAnon, claimed George Floyd died of an overdose and not at the hands of the police, and suggest that Black Lives Matter protests last year were responsible for the attack on the US Capitol in January.

Old comments have also resurfaced, highlighting a history of offensive remarks towards women and people of colour, as well as anyone who he perceives as “woke”, blaming them for the spread of Covid-19.

Liberals have responded by making satirical and sarcastic videos, which are going viral on a weekly basis.

Now, another clip has been spreading like wildfire. So much so that #TuckerIsABigot was trending on Twitter on Thursday, after anti-Trump PAC Really American tweeted it using the hashtag.

The one-minute video aims to link Carlson to white supremacists, beginning by showing a clip of him denying that white supremacists were responsible for the deadly mob of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January, despite officials suggesting otherwise. Another clip shows him saying there’s “no evidence this was an armed insurrection”.

Interspersed is the narration of radio host Chip Franklin, who questions Carlson’s comments and goes on to say: “Could it be that Tucker, who has Fox News’ number one show, is a white supremacist? I can’t read Tucker’s mind nor to I want to, but the fact is that white supremacists love him.”

The video then shows a clip of known white supremacist Richard B Spencer praising Carlson, and Franklin closes by suggesting that Carlson “wants the 1950s back, when Blacks and Jews and women knew their place, but Tucker? They have a new place: right in your soft, puffy face.”

At the time of writing, the clip has been widely shared and viewed over 750,000 times. People agreed that his content was often hateful and bigoted, and called for him to be removed from TV.

Despite increasing backlash against Carlson, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, just the opposite – earlier this month Fox announced that Carlson would be hosting two new shows, one described as a “video podcast” (nope, us neither), and the second entitled Tucker Carlson Originals, which will feature “long-form documentaries”.

We guess this isn’t the last we’ll see of him...

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