Tucker Carlson’s racism

To the Editor:

The New York Times recently published an investigation into Tucker Carlson, the news reporter from Fox News television.

As part of their work, Times reporters watched 1,150 episodes of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” They documented hundreds of racists references in the shows over the last few years. For example, over four hundred references were made to the racist, white supremacist phrase: “The Great Replacement.” This idea is found and promoted by extreme far right organizations and white nationalist publications. From their exhaustive analysis, the Times concluded that Tucker Carlson’s show, one of the most watched news shows on television in 2022, is also, one of the most racist shows in the history of television.

The ADL wrote recently: ‘Once largely relegated to white supremacist rhetoric, “The Great Replacement” has made its way into mainstream consciousness in the past several years. From the chants of “Jews Will Not Replace Us” on the University of Virginia campus to then-U.S. Rep. Steve King’s tweeted protest, “We can’t restore our civilization with somebody else’s babies,” to Fox News’ Tucker Carlson’s complaints that the Democratic party is attempting to “replace the current electorate” with “third-world voters,” the racist conspiracy theory has well and truly arrived.’

Over the years, Mr. Carlson has perfected the ability to connect and encourage both fear and anger into almost every subject he discusses. This unique ability by Carlson is what has propelled his shows to the top of the news programs. Carlson is obsessed with the Nielson television ratings services. This ratings service charts the popularity of television shows. By examining ratings every minute in relation to what is said on the shows, Mr. Carlson has been led to believe that in stoking fear and encouraging anger in his audience, he can achieve high ratings. And he is right.

And that is what it is all about for Mr. Carlson: high ratings. Unfortunately, he really doesn’t care much that his rhetoric causes such sadness and hurt to the citizens of this amazingly beautiful and fragile country.

Peter Engstrom

Fairmont