Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson faced criticism Wednesday for declaring white supremacy "a hoax," the same day President Trump visited El Paso, Texas, after a white gunman who had written an anti-Hispanic rant killed 22 people. Carlson's 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, the AP reports. His prime-time show routinely draws more than 3 million viewers on weeknights, second only to Sean Hannity on Fox News. "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."
On Tuesday, Carlson 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 don't know a single person who thinks this is a good idea. They're making this up." Carlson received a tweet of support Wednesday from former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who wrote that "Tucker is RIGHT!"
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