Politics
Liam O'Dell
May 16, 2022
MSNBC
Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson spouts a lot of questionable claims on his controversial news show Tucker Carlson Tonight, but one conspiracy theory pushed by him has been widely criticised in recent days.
That’s because a manifesto reportedly authored by the suspected gunman behind last week’s mass shooting in Buffalo, New York contains comments about the so-called ‘white replacement theory’ – something Carlson has discussed on his show before.
In Carlson’s own words, the theory about an apparent ‘replacement’ concerns the US government “trying to replace the current electorate … with new people, more obedient voters from the third world”.
Jonathan Greenblatt, of the Anti-Defamation League, has described it as “a white supremacist tenet that the white race is in danger by a rising tide of non-whites”.
“It is antisemitic, racist and toxic. It has informed the ideology of mass shooters in El Paso, Christchurch and Pittsburgh,” he wrote on Twitter last year.
.@TuckerCarlson: \u201creplacement theory\u201d is a white supremacist tenet that the white race is in danger by a rising tide of non-whites.\n\u00a0\nIt is antisemitic, racist and toxic. It has informed the ideology of mass shooters in El Paso, Christchurch and Pittsburgh.\n\u00a0\nTucker must go.https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1380309798957285376\u00a0\u2026— Jonathan Greenblatt (@Jonathan Greenblatt) 1617978511
And of course, alongside arguing domestic terrorism in the US concerning white nationalists “doesn’t exist”, Carlson has delivered several monologues last year about the ‘white replacement theory’ and the threat it supposedly presents to American citizens.
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With thanks to MSNBC’s The Mehdi Hasan Show, we’ve rounded up all the times Carlson has put forward claims about a ‘great replacement’ – if only to demonstrate just how dangerous and sinister this all is.
8 April 2021
In an interview with Primetime host Mark Steyn – who now has his own show on GB News – Carlson claimed “the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical” if the term “replacement” is used when discussing voting in the US.
“On the most basic level, it’s a voting rights question,” he added. “In a democracy, one person equals one vote. If you change the population, you dilute the political power of the people who live there.
“Everyone wants to make a racial issue out of it – ‘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?”
12 April 2021
Just days later, Carlson was back at it again. Now spreading the misinformation on his own Fox News show, the host claimed the theory is “the secret to the entire immigration debate”.
“Demographic change is the key to the Democratic Party’s political ambitions,” he said.
21 April 2021
“Voters, you’re being replaced. There isn’t anything you can do about it, so shut up,” Carlson mimicked, before cracking into hysterical laughter which would put The Joker to shame.
24 May 2021
Above a chyron which reads ‘Dems want to import millions of new voters’, Carlson told one guest: “They’re trying to change the population of the United States, and they hate it when you say that, because it’s true.”
10 August 2021
This was when Carlson claimed “our country’s being invaded by the rest of the world”.
23 August 2021
During an episode of Fox Nation’s Tucker Carlson Today, in which he interviewed former US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official Thomas Feeley, he wanted to “state unequivocally” that “the country is being stolen from American citizens as we watch”.
22 September 2021
This was where he decided to mention the white supremacist ideology by name: the ‘great replacement theory’.
With episodes of Tucker Carlson Tonight airing on weeknights, and the Buffalo shooting having occurred on Saturday, Carlson is yet to address the tragedy which saw 13 people shot (11 of whom were Black) and left 10 people dead.
He has also remained silent on his own Twitter account.
Indy100 has contacted Fox News for comment
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