Fox News host Tucker Carlson says white supremacy is ‘not a real problem in America’
As the country reels from a devastating weekend that left more than 30 dead in two separate mass shootings, white supremacy has again sparked conversation after one of the shooters allegedly published an anti-Hispanic screed.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson addressed the subject during “Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Tuesday, saying white supremacy is “not a real problem” in the United States.
“This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax, it’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power,” the Fox News host said.
Carlson argued that President Donald Trump’s condemnation of white supremacy was unnecessary because the number of people who are members of white supremacist groups in the U.S., like the KK, could "fit inside a football stadium."
Carlson listed poverty and suicide as examples of issues that should be higher on the "hierarchy of problems" in contrast to white supremacy in the United States.
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Saturday's killings in El Paso marked the third known instance in which a shooter has posted a racist "manifesto" to the online message board 8chan. The two other instances were at New Zealand mosques and a California synagogue.
Liberal politicians have increasingly linked Trump's rhetoric on immigration to racist violence, with the most recent example being president's Greenville, North Carolina, rally where the crowd began chanting "send her back!" in response to his mention of Somali-born Rep. Ilhan Omar.
Similar views have been expressed by some concerned Republican lawmakers as well.
In an interview Monday, Republican Sen. John McCollister blasted his party for "enabling white supremacy in our country" and calling on the state's all-GOP congressional delegation to speak out against Trump's inflammatory comments about minorities.
The state Republican Party responded to the senator saying he had "finally shed all pretense of being a conservative" and would be happy to send over a change of voter registration form.
Contributing: Associated Press. Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fox News host Tucker Carlson: White supremacy is ‘not a real problem'
