Tucker Carlson Makes Outrageous Statement About Hate Speech
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Tucker Carlson denied the existence of hate speech on Monday in a confusing rant. (Watch the videos below.)
“What is hate speech by the way?” the Fox News host asked in a segment accusing Democrats of politicizing the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi. “All of a sudden, everyone in the media has, sort of without explaining why, agreed that there’s this thing called hate speech that’s real, and probably actionable. They can find a billion dollars’ judgment against you if you commit hate speech.”
“But just to remind everyone watching, there’s no such thing as hate speech,” he continued. “Hate speech is speech people hate, usually the people in power. The truth is, all speech, except speech that encourages people to imminent illegal action, like, “Go shoot that guy.” Short of that, there’s no hate speech. All of it’s allowed under the United States Constitution, which is our final hope.”
Tucker Carlson: "There's no such thing as hate speech." pic.twitter.com/N5aGD31mwu
— Kat Abu (@abughazalehkat) November 1, 2022
So he denied it’s a thing but then defined it ― wrongly we might add. He also threw in an apparent shoutout to Alex Jones after he got hit with a $1 billion judgment in losing a defamation suit. Jones, a far-right conspiracy theorist on the radio, spread lies that the Sandy Hook massacre was staged by actors, leading to vicious harassment of the victims’ families.
“Hate speech” is in the dictionary, too. “Speech expressing hatred of a particular group of people,” Merriam-Webster says. “Public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence toward a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary.
Carlson earlier dismissed a Reuters article connecting Republican and extremist online targeting of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to the attack on her husband in their home. The host accused Democrats of using the incident to gain ground in the midterms. (Meanwhile, the baseless twisting of the Pelosi assault case by those on the far right is spewing misinformation everywhere.)
Carlson also argued about the term’s legality and constitutionality.
Yeah, it’s a lot.
Here’s a longer look:
Twitter had thoughts:
Tucker Carlson is too close to the subject to have an objective opinion.
— greg (@redcap34) November 1, 2022
to be fair, what the world calls "hate speech" is just plain, regular speech to the GOP.
It's what binds them. They are the party of hate. They are the party of fear.— NumbNutz (@NumbNutzInTx) November 1, 2022
The next logical step. First white nationalism is a hoax, now hate speech isn’t real. His whole schtick is to tell people it’s perfectly fine to be as awful as they want to be.
— pretzels (@pretzelattack) November 1, 2022
Yes there is. Tucker “ white supremacist” Carlson is so full of crap.
— manny (@manumarquez1986) November 1, 2022
😒 I hate him.
— zella (@8bitberriez) November 1, 2022
Tucker doesn't believe in hate speech??? pic.twitter.com/tAYVQzIQLm
— Juan Ogas (he/him) (@jaws591) November 1, 2022
Words have consequences. If you say something hateful to someone, be ready for those consequences. I understand it isn't a legal term, but jeez, explain that to the people who experience it.
— Racin' Jason (@jl1hayes) November 1, 2022
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.