In his July 9 monologue, Tucker Carlson launched a baldly racist and nativist attack on Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), a former refugee. Carlson claimed that Omar “has undisguised contempt for the United States and for its people” and that “maybe that's our fault for asking too little of our immigrants.”
Carlson also suggested that perhaps “we are importing people from places whose values are simply antithetical to ours,” drawing a comparison to the fall of the Roman Empire.
Carlson’s comments were similar to widely condemned remarks about Omar by his Fox News colleague Jeanine Pirro.
Omar responded in stride:
Not gonna lie, it’s kinda fun watching a racist fool like this weeping about my presence in Congress 🤣🤣
No lies will stamp out my love for this country or my resolve to make our union more perfect.
They will just have to get used to calling me Congresswoman! https://t.co/nRS13yWivK— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) July 10, 2019
Omar’s colleagues pushed back, and there were multiple calls for Fox to take action on Carlson:
It’s common for Tucker Carlson to make racist & sexist comments on his show, but this is a new low. @IlhanMN deserves an apology — Tucker deserves to be fired. This kind of hate is inexcusable, and it’s on all of us to call it out and demand better. https://t.co/lP2eUJ2u8x
— Katie Hill (@KatieHill4CA) July 10, 2019
The racism raging in our country should shock, frighten, and sadden all of us.
Will these purveyors of hate not be satisfied until someone is hurt?
These people who push an anti-immigrant agenda are *literally* also instruments of the Russian effort to divide and destroy us. https://t.co/GzNc5IMqwW— Rep. Veronica Escobar (@RepEscobar) July 10, 2019
My colleague @IlhanMN fights each day to improve the lives of people throughout America. The comments from Tucker Carlson last night are vile. He spews racist, bigoted, and xenophobic views that make our country worse.https://t.co/TIr8HX2DRS
— Rep. Adam Smith (@RepAdamSmith) July 10, 2019
The anti-Muslim rant against @IlhanMN by @TuckerCarlson was not based in any policy or substance: it was just hate-speech. @FoxNews should #FireTuckerCarlson & advertisers should drop him. https://t.co/Otn6AddYXN pic.twitter.com/EX3ztjxO3Z
— Muslim Advocates (@MuslimAdvocates) July 10, 2019
Even for Tucker Carlson, this is outrageously racist.
Advertisers need to wake up.
By financially supporting this show and the people who rubber stamp these messages, you are sponsoring white supremacy. Full stop. https://t.co/I3Q9BYcPYo— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) July 10, 2019
Last night, Tucker Carlson launched a racist attack on @IlhanMN saying that she “is a living fire alarm.”
Here’s who ran ads during that segment:
@StarKistCharlie@Nutrisystem@WeatherTech
RT to ask them if they support this hateful rhetoric. #DropFoxpic.twitter.com/9u64AdaHLi— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action (@jewishaction) July 10, 2019
Last night, Tucker Carlson launched a racist attack on @IlhanMN saying that she “is a living fire alarm.” This is dangerous white supremacist rhetoric and is inexcusable. Advertisers should not be underwriting Carlson's hate speech. #DropFox
— ColorOfChange.org (@ColorOfChange) July 10, 2019
History podcaster Mike Duncan called out Carlson’s false analogy regarding the fall of the Roman Empire:
“No country can import large numbers of people who hate it, and expect to survive, the Romans were the last to try that. With predictable results.” 😑😑😑 https://t.co/yfKCyzVjHP
— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) July 10, 2019
tl/dr: these Fall of Rome tropes do not come from actual Roman history. They come from 19th century European depictions of the Fall of Rome. And those depictions sprang from prevailing colonial imperialist fears/pathologies about “uncivilized savages”
— Mike Duncan (@mikeduncan) July 10, 2019
Many others spoke out against Carlson’s racism:
Absurdly vile: the only way to describe @TuckerCarlson's bigoted remarks against @IlhanMN. This is not the America we believe in, this is not the America we celebrate. https://t.co/lc2Zz8Uq2P
— NCJW (@NCJW) July 10, 2019
Shorter version: Muslims and browns scary. Will take over and replace Whites. Totally not a white supremacist conspiracy theory (but, you know, it is.) https://t.co/rqMuyOlCD4
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) July 10, 2019
The war on terrorism creates the opportunity for this line of attack. But everyone who uses it makes a choice to do so. https://t.co/K3e58ptlCJ
— REIGN OF TERROR is coming (@attackerman) July 10, 2019
I don't know how I still allow myself to get stunned by Tucker's overt racism.
But he did it tonight. https://t.co/ENeY9zQc0s— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 10, 2019
can only imagine what he would have said about all the Jewish socialists who got off the boat a century ago and began complaining about American capitalism https://t.co/PZ7SfHyaYc
— Peter Beinart (@PeterBeinart) July 10, 2019
.@TuckerCarlson is living proof that xenophobia and bigotry have become dangerous to this country. https://t.co/tbmS0bdroL
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) July 10, 2019
Carlson says maybe “we’re asking too little of our immigrants” about a former refugee who became a member of Congress. https://t.co/AtOHNfOMFc
— Gillian Brockell (@gbrockell) July 10, 2019
This is just straight up Nazi rhetoric. https://t.co/QWop3fhVJG
— dell cameron (@dellcam) July 10, 2019
Self identified leftists, stop going on Tucker’s White Power Hour to agree with him https://t.co/liiLr41CrO
— Molly Crabapple (@mollycrabapple) July 10, 2019
The line that sticks out the most to me here: “Maybe that’s our fault for asking too little of our immigrants.”
(Even for Carlson, this whole thing is shocking. The way he looks into the camera. Every line drips with seething resentment for immigrants.) https://t.co/B2Y0ph5siY— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) July 10, 2019
I'm so angry that somebody accused America of being racist that I am going to go on this racist rant. https://t.co/8LNOB8LkMP
— Ryan D. Enos (@RyanDEnos) July 10, 2019
In my experience, Americans most on warpath about “ohhh these outsiders threaten us,” like Carlson here, have spent little/no time living outside US
Again in my exper, Amers who *have* lived abroad recog that openness to world’s talent/energy is *the* US secret + real “identity" https://t.co/0FrBHewtZ0— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) July 10, 2019
I have seen a lot of white supremacist screeds from Tucker Carlson and this is pretty high up there in its disgusting racism. https://t.co/7QLYpT3coE
— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) July 10, 2019
Weirdest thing about America is how it's socially acceptable to *be* a racist but it's entirely unacceptable and career-threatening to be *known* as a racist https://t.co/HNZrpmo0Dq
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) July 10, 2019
Today started with confirmation that @FoxNews host @seanhannity spent years pushing a dangerous conspiracy theory designed by Russian intelligence & ended with @TuckerCarlson inciting violence against a member of Congress. Fox News is literally a danger to our national security. https://t.co/mDtTAualeQ
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) July 10, 2019
Even for Tucker, this is over the top.
You go on this show, you implicitly co-sign this kind of shit. https://t.co/mxXqoLjY6k— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) July 10, 2019
You know it when you see it. https://t.co/bwSzf72E7e
— Jordan Horowitz (@jehorowitz) July 10, 2019
He’s the main voice of the modern KKK. It’s beyond disgusting https://t.co/XTP3mSDw04
— Hussein Ibish (@Ibishblog) July 10, 2019
This seems shockingly racist even for the frozen fish heir who is known for blatant racism https://t.co/BVmayXBGRX
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) July 10, 2019
Stop going on his show. There is no excuse. https://t.co/XomOXW4a1n
— David Klion🔥 (@DavidKlion) July 10, 2019
Goebbels’ ghost was doing backflips after hearing this white nationalist filth. https://t.co/OhFi0Hz59b
— Alex Kotch 🔥 (@alexkotch) July 10, 2019
Tucker Carlson is a racist shill and here he is unleashing astonishing vitriol on an American lawmaker https://t.co/bDjxzxPvcX
— Talia Lavin (@chick_in_kiev) July 10, 2019
while Trump rages at coverage from Fox’s news division, Tucker is broadcasting unfettered white supremacist propaganda https://t.co/DbDylPqPXd
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) July 10, 2019
I believe the words @ewarren used to describe this were “hate for profit racket.”
(She wasn’t wrong.) https://t.co/Alx9DcYQa1— Leah Litman (@LeahLitman) July 10, 2019
When people show you who they are, believe them. https://t.co/Y2JEMfnf6g
— Jennifer Mendelsohn 🇺🇸 (@CleverTitleTK) July 10, 2019
I honestly think this might be the worst thing Tucker has ever said on his show — and that’s saying a lot. https://t.co/PUPXtVraUe
— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) July 10, 2019
How does this deplorable human thumb have any bigger a platform than a blog he runs out of his mom's basement? https://t.co/anqZml8x4Q
— Matt Mitovich (@MattMitovich) July 10, 2019
Mofo thinks we are importing people https://t.co/IUOv6FP6i6
— rabia O'chaudry (@rabiasquared) July 10, 2019
Carlson is a racist and the right-wing base loves him because it is full of racists. He's not pretending, they're not pretending, I don't know why anybody else feels the need to pretend. https://t.co/CuKMat8WmE
— David Roberts (@drvox) July 10, 2019
Tucker Carlson is living proof that @FoxNews is a racist, fear mongering network https://t.co/xBoTqVlDH3
— Sara Pearl (@skenigsberg) July 10, 2019
This is really repulsive. Can we please not let this be normal? https://t.co/96VSiOavuq
— Julian Sanchez (@normative) July 10, 2019
This is dangerous. This is unacceptable. This is incitement against a sitting member of Congress. @TuckerCarlson has no shame. https://t.co/DGR3psNiya
— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) July 10, 2019
Today in: What if Father Coughlin had a graphics department? https://t.co/E7EaPttWdh
— Rafi Schwartz (@TheJewishDream) July 10, 2019
Tucker Carlson is a white supremacist and if you play ball with him on anything, you're working for white supremacy too https://t.co/FJ9o2VC6iO
— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) July 10, 2019
Well this is absolutely grotesque. https://t.co/rQNGVo5tXX
— Jeff Spross (@jeffspross) July 10, 2019
Imagine if Stormfront had its own television show https://t.co/zoynmr4fCB
— Brian Tashman (@briantashman) July 10, 2019
Look I know this isn’t exactly a surprise but this clip is one where the words “we” and “our” do a TON of work https://t.co/yPLE1oHteL
— Jay Willis (@jaywillis) July 10, 2019
Growing up in Mississippi, many of my classmates had parents that were KKK members.
There is ZERO difference in their position on race and Tucker Carlson’s. https://t.co/9ZhViERayb— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) July 10, 2019
And yet, many conservatives, including President Donald Trump himself, rallied to Carlson’s defense.
This post has been updated.