Tucker Carlson’s analysis of President Trump’s already infamous press conference on Tuesday included his own thoughts on racism and the history of slavery in America.
“Slavery is evil,” the Fox News host said. “But, until 150 years ago … slavery was the rule rather than the exception.”
Carlson also pointed out that former president “Thomas Jefferson was undisputedly a great man … he was maybe most importantly, the greatest political thinker in American history,” he said. “Unfortunately, Jefferson was also a slaveholder.”
While that is a moral taint, Carlson said, “to the fanatics on the left it means that Jefferson must be purged from public memory forever … watch out Abraham Lincoln, you’re next.”
Tucker went on to point out other historical nations who owned slaves from the Aztecs and North American Indians to Plato.
Later in the show when discussing the toppling of a Confederate memorial statue in Durham, North Carolina, Carlson said: “I’m not, for whatever it’s worth, not very sympathetic to the confederacy, I’m an American and I’m against insurrections, period. But it’s not about that. The people who are attacking these statutes know nothing about history. They don’t know who Robert E. Lee was, they don’t know who Stonewall Jackson was, they’re trying to delegitamize the U.S. government and the traditions of American society because they don’t believe in them.”
Needless to say, Carlson’s opinions sparked strong reactions on social media, with one Twitter user saying: “I always knew Tucker Carlson was an idiot, but this is taking it to the next level … ”
“To be clear, a woman was literally MURDERED by Neo Nazi/Klan violence and Tucker Carlson is whining about the loss of the confederate statue,” another wrote.
See the tweets below.
Fox News just now pic.twitter.com/kChT5oitV2
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) August 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/LennyGhoul/status/897616004544647168
To be clear, a woman was literally MURDERED by Neo Nazi/Klan violence and Tucker Carlson is whining about the loss of the confederate statue
— TheAverageBlackMan™ (@TheAvgBlackMan) August 16, 2017
Tucker Carlson when you're defending the indefensible with scripted whataboutisms straight from the AltRight theres only one explanation…. pic.twitter.com/m9KDBeiGGF
— Pop Guernica (@TJGuernica) August 16, 2017
Tucker Carlson was always a wannabe Bill O'Reilly. And like his hero, he will end up in the dustbin of history. https://t.co/r0bloestsW
— Beau Willimon (@BeauWillimon) August 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/morrisoncrying/status/897621623196594177
https://twitter.com/gaywonk/status/897615340133330946
."Tucker Carlson" not another tweet ever needed for this POS fox propagandist pic.twitter.com/BqH1P42ovz
— FIGHT TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY 😾🌊🌊🌊🌊 (@last_buffoon) August 16, 2017
Tucker Carlson thinks America should get some credit for ending slavery around the world. His guest is speechless.
— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) August 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/cliffschecter/status/897622579510476800
Watching @FoxNews: Tucker Carlson rattling on about slavery and the first amendment. Happy to say he makes no sense. Guest compares … 1/2
— Illinois Golfer (@IllinoisGolfer) August 16, 2017
I see that Tucker Carlson whines and mopes when someone confronts him with logic and facts. What's that line about not handling the truth? 🙂
— Illinois Golfer (@IllinoisGolfer) August 16, 2017
i pasted old Family Feud game boards over that Tucker Carlson graphic pic.twitter.com/h3EJZbUqba
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) August 16, 2017