Tucker Carlson BLM 7/13/20

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Tucker Carlson’s racist and extreme descriptions of the Black Lives Matter movement

Written by Nikki McCann Ramirez

Research contributions from Madeline Peltz & Miles Le

Published

For weeks, Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s prime-time show has featured racist attacks on the Black Lives Matter movement and protests following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

In an effort to radicalize his audience against those advocating for racial justice, Carlson has framed the movement, the protesters, and those who have offered public displays of solidarity for them in extreme and deliberately misleading ways. 

Carlson has called demonstrators “thugs” and “vampires,” said the protests have “nothing to do with civil rights,” and claimed Democrats and Black Lives Matter supporters are advocating for “a permanently unequal society where some citizens are elevated and others are crushed.”

Many of these remarks came during Carlson's monologues on his Fox show. On Friday, the head writer for that show, Blake Neff, resigned following a CNN report that he had used horribly bigoted language on an online forum for years. He had recently bragged that anything Carlson read off the teleprompter, “the first draft was written by me.”

In response to Carlson's white supremacist rhetoric, multiple advertisers have already pulled their advertisements from the show.

The following examples are a non-comprehensive collection of the various attacks Carlson has recently made against the Black Lives Matter movement, civil rights advocates, and demonstrators.

  • Tucker Carlson on protests following George Floyd’s killing by police: “If you cared about the country, you would say something like ‘this seems awful, let’s wait for all the facts. If it turns out there was a racial component to this, we’re very against that, of course.’ Why would people intentionally stoke race hatred?” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/26/20]

  • Carlson described Black Lives Matter protests as “rioting,” declaring “the indiscriminate use of violence by mobs is a threat to every American of all colors and backgrounds and political beliefs.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/27/20]

  • After Carlson described lawlessness and “anarchy” on the streets of Minneapolis, the show went live to a reporter showing a peaceful protest. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/28/20]

  • Carlson mocked protesters’ “quest for justice” by showing a video of a Target being looted. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/28/20]

  • Carlson: “In St. Paul, signs have appeared in store windows announcing ‘this is a Black-owned business.’ In other words: ‘We’re the right skin color, spare us.’ … Imagine if you saw signs saying ‘white-owned business’ in windows. You would be horrified -- and you should be -- you’d know it was a race riot.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/28/20]

  • Carlson on protesters: “On television, hour by hour, we watch these people, criminal mobs, destroy what the rest of us have built. They have no right to do that. They don't contribute to the common good.” Later in the segment, Carlson said protests against police violence are an “ancient battle” between “thugs” and “normal people.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/29/20]

  • Carlson compared people protesting against racism and police brutality to a child throwing a tantrum “after getting a bad grade or losing a game.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/29/20]

  • Carlson framed the protests as politically illegitimate: “This isn’t politics. This isn’t a political protest. These are the expressions of people who don’t believe in politics, who don’t believe in our system -- who want to overthrow it.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 5/29/20]

  • In an example of Carlson's recurring nods to white supremacist slogans, the Fox prime-time host added, “We must protect ourselves and our families. ... We believe this country has a future, we intend for our children to live and thrive here." [Salon, 7/8/20; Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/1/20]
     

  • Carlson: “No one has bothered to poll the guys beating up old ladies on the street or looting Gucci, but you’ve got to wonder how many of them have ever even heard of George Floyd -- and if they have heard of him, what difference would it make?” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/1/20]

  • Carlson: “The rioters you have seen are trying to topple our political system. That system is how we resolve our differences without using violence. But these people want a new system, one that is governed by force. ‘Do what we say or we will hurt you.’” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/1/20]

  • Carlson: “Weakness invites aggression -- that is true in nature, and it’s every bit as true in human society. Our leaders are weak, predators know it, [and] that’s why this is happening.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/1/20]

  • Carlson questioned, “Why is some politician telling me I'm required to be upset about” George Floyd's death, calling it “moral blackmail.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/1/20]

  • Carlson: “Violent young men with guns will be in charge. They will make the rules, including the rules in your neighborhood. They will do what they want. You will do what they say. No one will stop them. You will not want to live here when that happens.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/2/20]

  • Carlson: “That death in Minneapolis was not the fault of America, it was not the fault of our system. … And to attack our country over that is really beyond the pale.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/2/20]

  • Carlson showed footage of property destruction and looting and said it reflected the Black Lives Matter movement as a whole: “That’s what they’re defending, that’s what they’re encouraging. It has nothing to do with civil rights, it’s violence.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/3/20]

  • Carlson: “What is this really about? What do the mobs want? Well, the thugs looting the Apple store can’t answer that question -- they have no idea, they just want free iPads. … They are not seeking racial justice. … What they are seeking is total control of the country. And it goes without saying that none of this has anything to do with George Floyd.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/3/20]

  • Carlson compared young people supporting Black Lives Matter to a young boy in the Soviet Union who turned his father in to secret police, calling the movement a “cult.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/5/20] 

  • Carlson agreed with The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh that “Black Lives Matter has been a violent movement from its inception.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/5/20]

  • Carlson claimed protesting was “illegal” during coronavirus lockdowns, but “now that our streets are overrun with Black Lives Matter protests and riots” that are “destroying our country,” it is considered “essential.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/5/20]

  • Carlson attacked health experts who signed a letter backing Black Lives Matter protests as “fakers” and said the letter shows that mitigation efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 are a “front for tyrants to inflict their personal neuroses and their desire for control on the United States of America.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/5/20]

  • Carlson asked his audience to “imagine if the Black Lives Matter rioters had weapons and immunity from prosecution” and claimed Democrats are trying to replace Trump-supporting police with an anti-Trump, armed “woke militia” to patrol neighborhoods. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/8/20]

  • Carlson referred to protests against police violence as “Black Lives Matter riots.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/8/20]

  • Carlson attacked the renaming of “Black Lives Matter Plaza” in Washington, D.C., claiming it was “making a street partisan.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/8/20]

  • Carlson: “It’s hard to overstate how vicious the crackdown on free speech and free thought has been in the last few days. … You are not allowed to question Black Lives Matter in any way. Full stop.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/8/20]

  • Carlson: This moment “is definitely not about Black lives. And remember that when they come for you.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/8/20]

  • Carlson: “These people are not warriors, they are vampires -- they melt in the light. When we show them we are not afraid, they go away.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/9/20]

  • Carlson claimed that protesters want to “take over your country, cancel your rights, take over our centuries-long tradition of tolerance -- yes, tolerance -- and of free expression.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/9/20]

  • Carlson suggested that people only support Black Lives Matter to ease their guilt over having “given up” on actually helping their communities. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/9/20]

  • Carlson on protesters’ demands: “They want segregation. You cool with that?” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/10/20]

  • Carlson suggested leaders of Black Lives Matter need to be rounded up on “federal conspiracy charges.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/15/20]

  • Carlson: “Black Lives Matter has changed the rules, and here’s their first new rule -- no criticizing Black Lives Matter.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/15/20]

  • Carlson: “Black Lives Matter believes in force. They flood the streets with angry young people who break things, and they hurt anyone who gets in the way. When they want something, they take it. Make them mad and they will set your business on fire.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/15/20]

  • Carlson used footage from 2015 to attack current Black Lives Matter protests and imply they have a murderous agenda against police. [Twitter, 6/15/20]

  • Carlson argued the phrase “Black Lives Matter” is a form of reverse discrimination because “all lives matter equally.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/15/20]

  • Carlson argues that Black Lives Matter has “the destruction of the nuclear family -- your family” as one of its stated positions. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/15/20]

  • Carlson: “They are advocating for segregation, for racism, for the destruction of art, and for the destruction of books.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/17/20]

  • Carlson suggested similarities between the recent protests and the Rwandan genocide, saying it is a crime there to “practice identity politics because they know very well where that leads." [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/18/20]

  • Carlson: Black Lives Matter “is a totalitarian political movement and someone needs to save the country from it.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/22/20]

  • Carlson said Black Lives Matter protests are an “insidious” attempt to “challenge Western civilization itself.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/22/20]

  • Carlson claimed Black Lives Matter is “the most powerful political party in this county,” and its agenda includes “overthrowing the president -- not figuratively in the next election, but literally overthrowing him right now.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/22/20]

  • Carlson called for protesters taking down Confederate statues to be labeled “domestic terrorists,” arrested, and paraded “in front of cameras like MS-13.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/25/20]

  • Carlson claimed Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) wants to end qualified immunity for police even though he’s been “watching the destruction of our cities and our history by antifa and by Black Lives Matter.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/25/20]

  • In an interview with Braun, Carlson insisted that the Black Lives Matter movement has “called for the murder of police officers” and described it as a “race-specific revolutionary movement.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 6/29/20]

  • Carlson compared Black Lives Matter protests to a “communicable disease,” saying, “Minneapolis was our Wuhan.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 7/1/20]

  • Carlson argued celebrating Juneteenth is more about finding “another way to humiliate and demoralize Americans” than emancipation.[Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 7/1/20]

  • Carlson: “I think Black Lives Matter is poison.” [The Federalist, Federalist Radio Hour, 7/02/20]

  • Carlson called for the government to take “decisive action” against Black Lives Matter, calling it a “terror organization.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 7/8/20]