Tucker Carlson slams those acting "holy" over former staffer's racist remarks
During his Monday night show, Tucker Carlson briefly addressed a staffer who resigned Friday after CNN unearthed his racist and sexist remarks. But while he said he and the show do not "endorse" the staffer's remarks, Carlson saved his strongest words for the "ghouls" who he said were "beating their chests in triumph at the destruction of a young man."
"Self-righteousness also has its costs," Carlson said. "We are all human. When we pretend we are holy, we are lying. When we pose as blameless in order to hurt other people, were are committing the gravest sin of all, and we will be punished for it."
Carlson said at the end of the show that he would be leaving on a "long-planned" vacation to go "trout fishing."
CNN unearthed the posts, which were written by Blake Neff on a blog popular with law students. Over the course of five years and as recently as this month, Neff had used racist language and derided women.
Neff joined "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in 2017 after working at the conservative website The Daily Caller, which was founded by Carlson.
According to CNN, Carlson had praised Neff as a "wonderful writer" in the past and credited him in the acknowledgments of his book.
Neff resigned on Friday. In a memo to employees on Saturday, Fox News executives called Neff's posts "horrendous and deeply offensive," according to The New York Times.
Carlson said "we do not endorse" Neff's words and said "they have no connection to the show."
"It is wrong to attack for people for qualities they cannot control," Carlson said. "In this country, we judge people for what they do, not for how they were born. We often say that because we mean it and we'll continue to defend that principle, often alone among national news programs, because it is essential — nothing is more important. Blake fell short of that standard and he has paid a very heavy price for it."
Several advertisers, including T-Mobile and Papa John's, distanced themselves from Carlson in June after inflammatory comments he made about protests after George Floyd's death. Asked by a Twitter user the next day if Carlson's message was one T-Mobile supported, CEO Mike Sievert tweeted back, "It definitely is not. Bye-bye Tucker Carlson! #BlackLivesMatter."
Carlson also courted controversy last week when he described Senator Tammy Duckworth, who is among those mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, as being among the people who "hate America." Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran whose legs were amputated after a helicopter crash.