- Fox News host Tucker Carlson has ignited multiple waves of controversy in recent years with contentious comments about journalists, immigrants, and women.
- Since receiving his own show on the Fox News in 2016, Carlson has had several controversies play out in front of one of the country’s largest audiences.
- His most recent claim is that white supremacy is “actually not a real problem in America.”
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson is no stranger to controversy.
On Tuesday, three days after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where the shooter is believed to have written a manifesto about a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” he told his near 3 million viewers that white supremacy was “not a real problem.”
“It’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power,” he said. “That’s exactly what’s going on.”
Since getting his own show on the network in 2016 – which would eventually move into former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s prime time slot – Carlson’s on-air comments about journalists, immigrants, and women have landed him in hot water.
Since late 2018, more than 30 companies have stopped airing advertisements during his show.
Here are the biggest controversies Tucker Carlson has been involved in.
Carlson was making headlines for controversial comments as early as 2011.
While guest-hosting for Sean Hannity one night, Carlson said Michael Vick should be "executed" for his mistreatment of dogs.
Source: Business Insider
Carlson later appeared on Hannity's show to retract his comment, saying he "overspoke" because he got "too emotional."
Read more: Tucker Carlson Comes To His Senses: 'Of Course Michael Vick Shouldn't Be Executed'
In March 2016, Carlson was given his own show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," which attracted massive audiences who would witness several of his most infamous on-air comments.
Read more: Tucker Carlson's Fox News show debuts to phenomenal ratings, beats both CNN and MSNBC combined
After a December 2016 interview with Teen Vogue contributor Lauren Duca boiled over to Carlson dismissing her commentary on President Donald Trump by telling her to "stick to the thigh-high boots," Duca said she received extensive bullying and harassment from hordes of men online.
Read more: Teen Vogue writer receives threats after contentious Fox News interview
In a sort-of apology, Carlson said he regretted how he behaved, but he blamed Duca for being "mindless and nasty" on air, before calling her "vapid” and "not very impressive."
Source: Mediaite
Tangling with controversy off the air, Carlson defended himself against an accusation from man named Juan Manuel Granados, who said Carlson assaulted him at a country club in Virginia in November 2018.
Video from the scene doesn't show Carlson assaulting anyone, and the host said the confrontation came after the man had approached his family.
Last month one of my children was attacked by a stranger at dinner. For her sake, I was hoping to keep the incident private. It’s now being politicized by the Left. Here’s what happened: pic.twitter.com/rwNoFYxMFv
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 11, 2018
Read more: Tucker Carlson addresses assault allegation in first tweet since Fox News' Twitter blackout
In December 2018, Carlson caused perhaps the biggest waves yet when he said immigrants would make the country "poorer and dirtier."
At least 34 advertisers cut ties with Carlson's show in the months after his comments, including iHop, Red Lobster, and Samsung.
Instead of apologizing, Carlson stood behind his comments and deemed the backlash an attack on free speech.
Read more: People are saying the Tucker Carlson boycotts are a betrayal of free speech. They're wrong.
A series of tapes leaked in March 2019 contain some shocking comments that Carlson allegedly made while calling into the shock-jock radio program "Bubba the Love Sponge" from 2006 to 2011.
Source: Business Insider
Carlson can be heard contesting the prosecution of former polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs, who was later convicted for child sexual abuse.
Source: Business Insider
The tapes also contained several different belittling comments about women, including Carlson saying he wouldn't have voted to confirm Supreme Court Elena Kagan because he didn't find her attractive, in addition to saying women are "extremely primitive" and "just need to be quiet."
Carlson refused to apologize, saying he was "caught" saying "something naughty on a radio show more than a decade ago."
Several prominent conservative figures rushed to Carlson's defense, including Donald Trump Jr. who called detractors the "outrage mob."
Source: Twitter
The controversy came just weeks after the Democratic National Committee announced it would bar Fox News from hosting debates during the 2020 US presidential primary.
Read more: Democrats blacklisted Fox News for the 2020 presidential primary debates - here's what's going on
In August, a few days after a mass shooting the FBI believes was linked to a racist manifesto, Carlson described white supremacy in the US as a "hoax." He said like the "Russia hoax," white supremacy was a conspiracy used to divide the US, and keep a hold on power. "It's actually not a real problem in America," he told his viewers.
The FBI currently has 850 open domestic terrorism investigations. Of that number, 40% involve racially motivated violent extremism, and a majority of those cases involve white nationalists, the bureau said.
The network has a history of standing by embattled figures, but it's a record that might be tested as Carlson continues to make controversial comments on his program.
