All the most controversial things Fox News host Tucker Carlson has said over the years

Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson

Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon

  • Fox News host Tucker Carlson has ignited multiple waves of controversy in recent years with contentious comments about journalists, immigrants, and women.

  • Since receiving his own show on Fox News in 2016, Carlson has had several controversies play out in front of one of the country's largest audiences.

  • In August, he claimed white supremacy was "actually not a real problem in America."

  • His most recent controversial comment is that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff is mentally ill.

  • Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is no stranger to controversy.

In August, three days after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, where the shooter wrote a manifesto about a "Hispanic invasion of Texas," he told his near 3 million viewers that white supremacy was "not a real problem."

"It's a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power," he said.

On September 26, Carlson struck again. This time his target was House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, whom he said, without evidence, was mentally ill.

Since getting his own show on the network in 2016 — which would eventually move into former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's prime time slot — Carlson's on-air comments about journalists, immigrants, and women have landed him in hot water.

Since late 2018, dozens of companies have stopped airing advertisements during his show.

Here are the biggest controversies Tucker Carlson has been involved in.

Carlson was making headlines for controversial comments as early as 2011.

Charles Dharapak/AP

While guest-hosting for Sean Hannity one night, Carlson said Michael Vick should be "executed" for his mistreatment of dogs.

@FoxNews/Twitter

Source: Business Insider



Carlson later appeared on Hannity's show to retract his comment, saying he "overspoke" because he got "too emotional."

Screenshot via Fox News

Read more: Tucker Carlson Comes To His Senses: 'Of Course Michael Vick Shouldn't Be Executed'



In March 2016, Carlson was given his own show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," which attracted massive audiences.

Richard Drew/AP

Read more: Tucker Carlson's Fox News show debuts to phenomenal ratings, beats both CNN and MSNBC combined



After a December 2016 interview with Teen Vogue contributor Lauren Duca boiled over to Carlson dismissing her commentary on President Donald Trump by telling her to "stick to the thigh-high boots," Duca said she received extensive bullying and harassment from hordes of men online.

Screenshot via Fox News

Read more: Teen Vogue writer receives threats after contentious Fox News interview



In a sort-of apology, Carlson said he regretted how he behaved, but he blamed Duca for being "mindless and nasty" on air, before calling her "vapid” and "not very impressive."

Fox Business/YouTube

Source: Mediaite



Tangling with controversy off the air, Carlson defended himself against an accusation from man named Juan Manuel Granados, who said Carlson assaulted him at a country club in Virginia in November 2018.

uan Manuel Granados/Facebook

Read more: The man accusing Tucker Carlson of assault previously filed a successful discrimination suit against a Virginia health club



Video from the scene doesn't show Carlson assaulting anyone, and the host said the confrontation came after the man had approached his family.

Getty Images/Business Insider

 

Tweet Embed:
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1061759255966040065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Last month one of my children was attacked by a stranger at dinner. For her sake, I was hoping to keep the incident private. It's now being politicized by the Left. Here's what happened: pic.twitter.com/rwNoFYxMFv

Read more: Tucker Carlson addresses assault allegation in first tweet since Fox News' Twitter blackout



In December 2018, Carlson caused perhaps the biggest waves yet when he said immigrants would make the country "poorer and dirtier."

Screenshot via Fox News

Read more: Advertisers are fleeing in droves after Tucker Carlson's comments about immigrants on Fox News — here's the list



At least 34 advertisers cut ties with Carlson's show in the months after his comments, including iHop, Red Lobster, and Samsung.

Flickr/Chris Baranski

Read more: Advertisers are fleeing in droves after Tucker Carlson's comments about immigrants on Fox News — here's the list



Instead of apologizing, Carlson stood behind his comments and deemed the backlash an attack on free speech.

Fox News

Read more: People are saying the Tucker Carlson boycotts are a betrayal of free speech. They're wrong.



A series of tapes that were leaked in March 2019 contain some shocking comments that Carlson allegedly made while calling into the shock-jock radio program "Bubba the Love Sponge" from 2006 to 2011.

Bruce Gifford/FilmMagic

Source: Business Insider



Carlson can be heard contesting the prosecution of former polygamist cult leader Warren Jeffs, who was later convicted for child sexual abuse.

Associated Press/Tony Gutierrez

Source: Business Insider



The tapes also contained several different belittling comments about women, including Carlson saying he wouldn't have voted to confirm Supreme Court Elena Kagan because he didn't find her attractive, in addition to saying women are "extremely primitive" and "just need to be quiet."

Paul Morigi/Getty

Read more: Tucker Carlson refuses to apologize after tapes surface of him calling women 'primitive' and comparing them to dogs



Carlson refused to apologize, saying he was "caught" saying "something naughty on a radio show more than a decade ago."

Rich Polk/Getty Images for Politicon

Read more: Tucker Carlson refuses to apologize after tapes surface of him calling women 'primitive' and comparing them to dogs



Several prominent conservative figures rushed to Carlson's defense, including Donald Trump Jr., who called detractors the "outrage mob."

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Source: Twitter



The controversy came just weeks after the Democratic National Committee announced it would bar Fox News from hosting debates during the 2020 US presidential primary.

Fox News

Read more: Democrats blacklisted Fox News for the 2020 presidential primary debates — here's what's going on



In August, a few days after a mass shooting the FBI said was linked to a racist manifesto, Carlson described white supremacy in the US as a "hoax." He said like the "Russia hoax," white supremacy was a conspiracy used to divide the US, and keep a hold on power. "It's actually not a real problem in America," he told his viewers.

Gotpap / Starmax / IPx 2019 / AP

Read more: Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed white supremacy is 'not a real problem in America.' This CNN host couldn't even.



The FBI currently has 850 open domestic terrorism investigations. Of that number, 40% involve racially motivated violent extremism, and a majority of those cases involve white nationalists, the bureau said.

Stephanie Keith/Reuters

Read more: A former senior FBI official said agents are hamstrung in fighting white nationalist violence because they're 'wary of pissing off the guy in the Oval Office'



Carlson went on vacation after his white supremacy hoax remarks, but he was back at it in September. He called House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff mentally ill, after Schiff parodied during a congressional hearing what President Donald Trump and Ukraine's president said on their July 25 phone call.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty

Source: The Daily Beast



Carlson said Schiff went into a trance as he delivered a "prophetic version" of what was said. "Keep in mind, that isn't some guy babbling in the men's room at Starbucks. That is the man who chairs the mighty House Intelligence Committee. We trust him with the most sensitive information, and yet he is clearly, demonstrably mentally ill," he said.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty

Sources: Deadline, The Daily Beast, The Daily Wire



The network has a history of standing by embattled figures, but it's a record that might be tested as Carlson continues to make controversial comments on his program.

Richard Drew/AP