MSNBC hosts slam Tucker Carlson and Fox News for pushing 'replacement theory' Buffalo shooter cited
MSNBC’s Joy Reid and Fox News’s Tucker Carlson regularly trade barbs on their respective shows, but on The ReidOut Monday, Reid pointed the finger squarely at Carlson following the mass shooting in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York over the weekend that left 10 dead. In a lengthy manifesto, the shooter repeatedly cited “replacement theory,” a racist conspiracy that claims white Americans are being replaced by people of color. Fox hosts, guests and congressional Republicans regularly accuse Democrats of trying to change the demographic of the country for political gain. No one at the network has spent more time pushing this conspiracy than Carlson.
“No singular voice in right-wing media has done more to elevate this racist conspiracy theory than Tucker,” Reid said, “who even with a new head writer spends night after primetime night injecting the rot from the dregs of the internet directly into the veins of Republican voters.”
Later in the night on The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell, though he acknowledged the part Carlson and others have played in spreading the replacement conspiracy, O’Donnell put the blame on Fox founder Rupert Murdoch.
“They will stop the moment Rupert Murdoch tells them to stop. It’s as simple as that,” O’Donnell said. “Every minute spent talking about the TV hosts on Fox, is a minute that hides the true villain of the piece. Rupert Murdoch is the billionaire puppeteer. In 1995, when Rupert Murdoch was planning to create a cable news channel, he had never heard of any of the people who are now his most prominent hosts. But Rupert Murdoch knew what he wanted Fox to do from day one, and Fox has always done and said exactly what Rupert Murdoch wants.”
Video Transcript
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JOY REID: No singular voice in right wing media has done more to elevate this racist conspiracy theory than Tucker who even with a new head writer spends night after prime time night injecting the rot from the dregs of the internet directly into the veins of Republican voters.
KYLIE MAR: On the "ReidOut Monday," MSNBC's Joy Reid joined the chorus of people pointing the finger at Fox News opinion host Tucker Carlson following the deadly mass shooting in Buffalo over the weekend. In a lengthy manifesto, the shooter repeatedly cited the great replacement theory, a racist conspiracy that claims white people in the US are being replaced by people of color. And Carlson has spent years pushing the replacement theory on his show.
KYLIE MAR: The reality is Tucker is not some deep thinker. He's clearly just channeling the gross stuff his viewers could easily find online then feeding it to Republican voters and Republican politicians as infotainment. And that feedback loop has terrifying reach.
KYLIE MAR: Reid highlighted an excerpt from the shooter's manifesto in which he used language very similar to what Carlson has used in the past regarding diversity.
KYLIE MAR: The Buffalo shooter asked, "Why is diversity said to be our greatest strength? Does anyone even ask why?" OK, remember that now, all right? Now listen to this from a 2018 Tucker Carlson segment, just asking questions.
TUCKER CARLSON: How precisely is diversity our strength?
KYLIE MAR: Later in the night on "The Last Word," Lawrence O'Donnell took it a step further and put the blame squarely on Fox founder Rupert Murdoch.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: They will stop the minute Rupert Murdoch tells them to stop. It's as simple as that. Every minute spent talking about the TV hosts on Fox is a minute that hides the true villain of the peace. Rupert Murdoch is the billionaire puppeteer.
KYLIE MAR: O'Donnell went on to correct a Boston Globe headline that broadly blamed Fox as the network run by Murdoch. An immigrant himself has pushed a conspiracy that has resulted in multiple mass shootings.
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Fox News doesn't have hands but Rupert Murdoch does. White supremacist mass murderers in this country who take encouragement from Fox want to among other things stop immigration to this country as does Fox, a company owned and operated by an immigrant.
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