Tucker Carlson is now facing a growing number of calls for his removal from Fox News over allegations of “inciting violence and abetting terrorism” over his apparent support for the teen that murdered two demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
During a segment this week, Carlson questioned why Americans were “shocked” that “17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would.”
“The first ten minutes of tonight’s Tucker Carlson Tonight are the closest thing I think I’ve ever seen to pure, unfiltered fascism in American public life. Going out to the largest cable news audience ever,” Matthew Gertz, a senior fellow for Media Matters for America, wrote on Twitter. “Fox News hosts are able to do this because the Murdochs want them to.”
The first ten minutes of tonight's Tucker Carlson Tonight are the closest thing I think I've ever seen to pure, unfiltered fascism in American public life. Going out to the largest cable news audience ever.
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) August 27, 2020
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Carlson’s comments came while discussing the vicious act of 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who was arrested on charges of first-degree murder.
“So are we really surprised that looting and arson accelerated to murder? How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?” Carlson asked on his Fox News show. “Everyone could see what was happening in Kenosha. It was getting crazier by the hour.”
Carlson made multiple controversial and false claims in what seemed to be an attempt to justify Rittenhouse’s actions.
Among them, Carlson falsely claimed that authorities had “abandoned” Kenosha to “watch it burn.” Carlson cast blame on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, even though he had deployed National Guard forces one day prior. Moreover, bystander video showed law enforcement on the scene.
“At one point, the 17-year-old who has now been charged tried to run from the mob. He tripped and fell in the middle of the street,” the Fox News host continued. “A man ran up and smashed him in the head with a skateboard. The 17-year-old then fired his gun.”
Carlson then played video of the scene he described. After the altercation, the shooter can be seen alone in the street with a body on the ground.
“So, what does that amount to? We’re unsure. A court will decide whether what you just saw qualifies as self-defense. As of tonight, we really don’t have more details,” Carlson, who frequently arrogates the first-person plural pronoun, knitting his perspective with that of his viewers, said.
“We do know why it all happened, though,” he continued. “Kenosha has devolved into anarchy, because the authorities in charge of the city abandoned it. People in charge from the governor of Wisconsin on down refused to enforce the law. They stood back, and they watched Kenosha burn.”
“So are we really surprised that looting and arson accelerated to murder?” Carlson asked. “How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?”
This drew backlash.
“He just justified murder,” Nikole Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her work on the 1619 Project, tweeted after the segment aired.
He just justified murder. https://t.co/JLcWzB6s2H
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) August 27, 2020
Other prominent figures called out Carlson and Fox News for “encouraging” murder and “inciting violence.”
“This goes beyond being provocateurs,” Shannon Watts, the Founder of Moms Demand Action, tweeted. “Ann Coulter, Tucker Carlson and Fox News are encouraging Americans to murder one another.” (Coulter, the right-wing provocateur, for her part called for Rittenhouse to be president.)
This goes beyond being provocateurs. Ann Coulter, Tucker Carlson and Fox News are encouraging Americans to murder one another. pic.twitter.com/uVp2jxG1Iv
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 27, 2020
“Vigilante violence was always one of my greatest worries about the present moment,” Blake Hounshell, the digital editorial director for Politico wrote. “And here we have a prominent TV host – a man who had the president’s ear – excusing it, rationalizing it.”
Vigilante violence was always one of my greatest worries about the present moment. And here we have a prominent TV host – a man who had the president’s ear – excusing it, rationalizing it. https://t.co/I3KMZveiEc
— Blake News (@blakehounshell) August 27, 2020
Conservative Washington Post columnist Max Boot added that Carlson was “inciting violence and abetting terrorism.”
.@TuckerCarlson is inciting violence and abetting terrorism. He hits a new low every time he takes to the airwaves. https://t.co/loIIVlTZp9
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) August 27, 2020
Fred Guttenberg, a gun control activist whose daughter was killed at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., urged advertisers to drop Carlson’s show.
He tweeted, “I will answer [Tucker Carlson]. My daughter was killed by an 18 year [sic] with an AR 15. Just walked into her school. Tucker, you are a fu*king lunatic who will get people killed. I hope advertisers dropp [sic] you immediately today. You should be removed for the safety of our kids.”
I will answer @TuckerCarlson. My daughter was killed by an 18 year with an AR 15. Just walked into her school. Tucker, you are a fucking lunatic who will get people killed. I hope advertisers dropp you immediately today. You should be removed for the safety of our kids. https://t.co/uclTKu2zkZ
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) August 27, 2020
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