Fox’s Carlson calls white supremacy ‘a hoax’

NEW YORK >> Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson faced criticism Wednesday for declaring white supremacy “a hoax,” the same day President Donald Trump visited El Paso, Texas, after a white gunman who had written an antiHispanic rant killed 22 people.

Carlson has faced criticism before for his commentary, including a statement that immigration has made America dirtier. His remarks Tuesday came with the nation rubbed raw by two weekend mass shootings and increased concerns by law enforcement officials about violence attached to white nationalism.

“He has used his platform to push out prejudice,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League. “I think it’s disgusting and I don’t think it deserves a place on a major news network.”

Fox News Channel representatives did not immediately return messages seeking comment on Wednesday.

Carlson’s prime-time show routinely draws more than 3 million viewers on weeknights, second only to Sean Hannity on Fox News. Episodes of his program landed among the Nielsen company’s list of Top 20 shows last week for both broadcast and cable television.

On Tuesday, he dismissed the concept of white supremacy as a serious problem for the country.

“The combined membership of every white supremacist organization — would they be able to fit into a college football stadium?” Carlson said. “I mean, seriously. This is a country where the average person is getting poorer, where the suicide rate is spiking.”

Adopting a low, mocking voice, he said, “‘White supremacy, that’s the problem.’ 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. That’s exactly what’s going on.”

He said he’d “never met anybody who ascribes to white supremacy. I