Names and faces
■ The Anti-Defamation League has called for Fox News to fire prime-time opinion host Tucker Carlson because he defended a white-supremacist theory that says whites are being “replaced” by people of color. In a letter to Fox News chief executive officer Suzanne Scott on Friday, the head of the civil rights group, Jonathan Greenblatt, said Carlson’s “rhetoric was not just a dog whistle to racists — it was a bullhorn.” The civil rights group listed numerous instances when Carlson has used anti-immigrant language. Those include saying immigration makes the U.S. “poorer and dirtier” and questioning whether white supremacy is real. Greenblatt said that “given his long record of race-baiting, we believe it is time for Carlson to go.” The white-nationalist “great replacement theory,” otherwise known as “white genocide,” says people of color are replacing white people through immigration in the Western world, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Carlson is Fox News Channel’s most popular personality. He said Thursday during a guest appearance on “Fox News Primetime” that “the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term ‘replacement,’ if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate of voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.” Carlson said he was concerned about his “voting rights,” and that he had “less political power because they are importing a brand new electorate,” but said it’s not a racial issue. Fox News did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
■ Caroline Jurie, the winner of Mrs. World 2020, on Friday relinquished her title while defending her decision to pull the crown off the head of this year’s Mrs. Sri Lanka title holder, whom she claimed was unqualified to take part in the contest because she is divorced. Jurie has been accused of injuring Pushpika De Silva, who was crowned Mrs. Sri Lanka on Sunday at a televised pageant in Colombo. Jurie was arrested Thursday and later released on bail. In a video statement Friday, Jurie said she stood against “injustice” and said the pageant was “tainted.” “My only intention was to stand up for the injustice caused to the competitors throughout this competition which was tainted with heavy politicization,” she said. Jurie added that she wanted to ensure that every contestant had an equal opportunity, because she had seen “from the beginning” that the contest was corrupted. She stressed she did not favor anyone. “I am now ready to hand over the crown,” she said, before removing the crown from her head. Jurie, who is also Sri Lankan, faces allegations that she injured De Silva during Sunday’s on-stage melee.