Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday night called white supremacy a “hoax,” comparing it to the investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election and saying it is being used to divide the country.
“This is a hoax, just like the Russian hoax,” Carlson said during a segment on his program. “It’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power.”
Carlson added that white supremacy is “not a real problem in America” and that the case against white supremacy was a made-up “talking point” used by Democrats to “help them in this election cycle.”
{mosads}“If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, of problems this country faces, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia, probably,” he said. “The combined membership of every white supremacist organization in this country would be able to fit inside a college football stadium.”
Political leaders from both parties have offered new warnings about white supremacy since the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, that left 22 people dead. The suspect in the shooting allegedly wrote a manifesto speaking of an “invasion” of immigrants.
President Trump on Monday called on the nation to condemn white supremacy.
“In one voice, our nation must condemn bigotry, hatred and white supremacy,” Trump said. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated.”
Former President Obama also warned in a statement released Monday of the dangers of white supremacy.
While the motivations of the shooter in El Paso might not be fully known, Obama wrote that there were indications it followed a disturbing trend of “troubled individuals who embrace racist ideologies and see themselves obligated to act violently to preserve white supremacy.”
His statement did not mention Trump by name, but called on Americans to “reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred and normalizes racist sentiment.”
The FBI has also warned of the dangers of white supremacy.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said last month that the agency has made about 100 domestic terrorism–related arrests since October, and the majority were tied to white supremacy.