John Oliver rips apart Tucker Carlson for being ‘most prominent vessel in America for white supremacist talking points’
HBO comedian argues ‘main narrative of Tucker’s show is that power is being taken away from you, his viewer and that this needs to be resisted’
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Your support makes all the difference.John Oliver spent the most recent iteration of his HBO show Last Week Tonight trashing Tucker Carlson of Fox News, calling him "the most prominent vessel in America for white supremacist talking points".
Mr Oliver targeted Mr Carlson with one of his patented long-form video essays, arguing that while some may view Mr Carlson as a simple agitator, or even a troll getting people annoyed for the fun of it, he can't be ignored because of his substantial reach to millions of viewers who tune in to his show each night.
“He averages over three million viewers a night and does well in the key 25-54 demo, meaning that young people are watching him, as well as the normal Fox audience of retirees and their sad, imprisoned pets," Mr Oliver said.
The late-night host argued that the Fox News titan is a favourite of white nationalists, saying: “The main narrative of Tucker’s show is that power is being taken away from you, his viewer and that this needs to be resisted."
“This week, as he seems to every week, Tucker set off a bit of a firestorm," Mr Oliver continued before airing comments by Mr Carlson in which he said, “pregnant women are going to fight our wars ... it’s a mockery of the US military".
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Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth blasted Mr Carlson for the comments, tweeting: "F*** Tucker Carlson. While he was practising his two-step, America’s female warriors were hunting down Al Qaeda and proving the strength of America’s women.”
She added: “Happy belated International Women’s Day to everyone but Tucker, who even I can dance better than.” Ms Duckworth lost both her legs when she was wounded in action during the Iraq War.
Mr Oliver said that Mr Carlson "is scared of a country that ‘looks nothing like the one he grew up in’ because diversity ‘isn’t our strength,’ immigrants make our country ‘poorer, dirtier, and more divided,’ and any attempt to change that culture is an attack on Western civilisation."
He added: "All of which is really just a long way of saying that when Tucker asks, ‘What is white supremacy?’ the answer is: basically that. It’s a belief that in a country where white people are dominant, that’s all down to their natural and innate abilities, and any effort to change that is an affront to the natural order of things.”
The Independent has reached out to Fox News for comment.
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