Tucker Carlson cited Martin Luther King Jr. to justify his opposition to diversity in hiring

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

From the June 20, 2022, edition of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight

TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): So you've heard a lot about systemic racism and some of us have laughed on it. But actually, if you take three steps back, it's completely real. Major corporations in this company — the big ones, Shell, Morgan Stanley, Apple, all of them basically — have decided to implement hiring practices based on skin color. Now, these are not only a violation of the American ideal, which is expressed quite eloquently at the Martin Luther King monument on the Mall. It's also illegal. You can't do this. And yet it's happening everywhere. You probably know a lot of people being affected by it. So what can we do about this? What can employees do when they've been discriminated against on the basis of their skin color? Well, it falls to Stephen Miller to fix it. He's a former senior adviser to President Trump and he's got a new way to fight back. He joins us tonight to announce it. Stephen Miller, thanks so much for doing this. I don't know why no one else is. I'm grateful you are. Tell us what you're doing and why.

STEPHEN MILLER (GUEST): It's an honor to be here. I've done a number of interviews. I think this is the most important announcement that I've ever made on your program, Tucker.

We are launching a new initiative in my legal foundation known as the Center for Legal Equality. And we will provide free legal representation to any client we take who has been denied a job, a promotion, a benefit because of their skin color. Companies, particularly the largest companies in this country, have embedded systemic racism into their operation. As one example, Morgan Stanley has an internship for college students that explicitly says this is the path, this is the ladder to get you a career in finance. One catch, though — you can't be white, you can't be Asian, and it might also help if you're LGBTQ+.

Companies across America have identical policies to these. They are illegal. They are immoral. They are racist. They are bigoted. They're poison that hurts everyone on every side of the equation. And the only way to stop them is in federal court. So we're creating a hotline. You can go to it at AFLegal.org/hotline. That's AFLegal.org/hotline.

And tell us what happened to you or your friend. Our attorneys will reach out. And again, any client we take, we will fight these woke corporations 100% for free. You will never pay a dime.

CARLSON: That's amazing. So why isn't anyone else noting that civil rights law explicitly forbids private sector employers from making hiring or promotion decisions based on race? There's no gray area in this. It is flat-out illegal. Why is nobody else suing?

MILLER: I'm shocked at the dearth, the radical absence of lawsuits that has allowed this to perpetuate, to become a cancer replete through our entire corporate and financial system. I suspect it's fear more than anything else. People are afraid of coming out and saying no, you cannot discriminate against somebody because they're Asian or because they're white or because they're Jewish or because they're straight or because they're Christian. Of course you can't. It's absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, and I'll see you in court. So I'm saying it tonight on your program. AFLegal.org/hotline. Tell us your story. Help us fight back for you.

CARLSON: Amazing. Stephen Miller, thanks so much for joining us tonight.