Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s recent racist attacks on Supreme Court justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson are yet another example in Tucker’s long history of racism and connections to white supremacy.
Carlson’s brazenly racist rhetoric and promotion of a white supremacist agenda have been well-documented over the years. In 2021, Carlson endorsed white supremacist conspiracy theories about the “great replacement,” earning himself accolades from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. He has attacked everything from diversity to immigration while referring to white supremacy as a “hoax.”
One of the most egregious recent examples of Carlson’s white supremacist ideology has been his treatment of Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Even before Jackson was named, Carlson railed against Biden’s promise to nominate a Black woman, complaining that it amounted to unconstitutional “affirmative action.” Since Jackson was named, Carlson has repeatedly attacked Jackson’s intelligence and claimed that her very presence will “defile” and “degrade” the judicial system, despite her extensive qualifications. Carlson’s objections about Jackson’s nomination, whether they be that she is too “radical” or that she would be a humiliation to the Supreme Court, are rooted in his lengthy record of racism and promotion of white supremacy.
Here are some examples of Carlson’s racist smear campaign against Jackson:
- On the February 25 edition of Tucker Carlson Tonight, the day Jackson was nominated, Carlson attacked her, baselessly claiming she “isn’t much of a jurist. She’s not simply ignorant of the law, she’s a political activist.” He said her nomination was Biden’s attempt to “defile” and “destroy” the U.S. judicial system.
- Carlson also questioned whether Jackson’s nomination was constitutional, saying she was chosen based on “appearance, which are irrelevant criteria for this or any other job except perhaps modeling.” He also downplayed her qualifications, saying her nomination was “insulting” to the country.
- Additionally, Carlson disparaged Jackson’s competence for the role, claiming that her nomination would “degrade” and “humiliate” the U.S. and “undermine its ancient institutions,” because she was chosen “on the basis of appearance, not on the basis of skill or wisdom or fealty to the founding documents of the United States.”
- During a March 1 segment of his show, Carlson said it’s “embedded in our DNA” as Americans to want to “believe Supreme Court nominees are the most qualified” for the job, but that Jackson was chosen “based on appearance.”
- On the March 2 edition of his show, Carlson demanded to see Jackson’s LSAT scores, questioning whether she was intelligent enough to serve as a Supreme Court justice. He also mispronounced her name and claimed that “even Joe Biden has trouble pronouncing” it.