Outrage as Fox News host Tucker Carlson promotes racist 'great replacement' theory

Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson is facing fierce backlash for promoting what critics have called “racist and dangerous” rhetoric on his show.

During a segment of his Fox News show, Carlson said US President Joe Biden is trying “to change the racial mix of the country”.

He added: “That’s the reason, to reduce the political power of people whose ancestors lived here and dramatically increase the proportion of Americans newly arrived from the Third World… In political terms, this policy is called the great replacement, the replacement of legacy of Americans with more obedient people from far away countries.”

The Great Replacement theory claims white people in western countries are being replaced by non-white people through demographic growth like mass migration and high birth rates.

Hate groups have used the theory to justify mass murders.

Brenton Tarrant, who killed 50 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand wrote an essay called ‘The Great Replacement’, and Anders Breivik, the Norwegian white supremacist who killed 77 people, also believed in the conspiracy theory.

Carlson’s diatribe prompted a wave of condemnation and calls for his dismissal.

“In political terms, this policy is called the ‘great replacement’”

No, Tucker, it’s in in neo-Nazi circles that this policy is called the ‘great replacement.’ That’s the rhetoric you’re using. Neo-Nazi rhetoric on primetime cable. And it’s going to get (more) people killed. https://t.co/tetEdhgQAh

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) September 23, 2021

“’The Great Replacement,’ has been a meme among white nationalists for years. Now it's right there... on Fox News,” author Charlie Sykes wrote.

“This is how raw racism gets normalized. The reaction? Crickets from the right.. and Fox Corp. board members,” he said.

Rights groups said they were appalled by the remark.

“By openly embracing the white supremacist ‘great replacement’ theory, which numerous mass murderers have cited in their manifestos, Tucker Carlson once again proved that his program poses a grave danger to our society,” wrote Edward Ahmed Mitchell, National Deputy Director for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR).

“Fox News should fire Mr. Carlson and any other host who promotes these racist, dangerous conspiracy theories.

“And for the record, this country does not belong to any racial group, nor does greater diversity harm any racial group. When America welcomes immigrants and embraces diversity, that’s a good thing for everyone.”

Carlson had previously mentioned the Great Replacement on air in April 2021, but Fox News did not reprimand him.