Fox News host Tucker Carlson blamed local and state politicians in cities wracked by unrest for a deadly shooting allegedly committed by a 17-year-old, describing it as unsurprising.
On Wednesday night, the network host’s opening monologue focused on alleged Kenosha, Wisconsin, vigilante shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois. Carlson said it shouldn’t be shocking Rittenhouse may have tried to “maintain order” after authorities failed “enforce the law” and “watched Kenosha burn.”
“What does that amount to? We’re unsure, a court will decide whether what you just saw qualifies as self-defense,” Carlson said after playing a clip of the shooting. “We do know why it all happened, though. Kenosha has devolved into anarchy because the authorities in charge of the city abandoned it. People in charge, from the governor of Wisconsin on down, refused to enforce the law. They stood back and watched Kenosha burn. So are we really surprised looting and arson accelerated to murder? How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?”
Rittenhouse is in police custody and has been charged in connection with the shooting that killed two people and injured another person. Protests and violence that broke out in Kenosha, a Wisconsin city of roughly 100,000 residents, have been rising ever since viral video emerged of 29-year-old Jacob Blake being shot several times by police at close range during an arrest on Sunday. The Wisconsin Department of Justice, with the help of the United States Justice Department, is investigating the shooting.
Carlson showed clips of one demonstrator calling for police to be killed and another shouting, “Death to America!”
“Kill the police, death to America. That’s not Iran, it’s Wisconsin. It could have been a dozen other places in the country. The violence has been building unabated for three months. Every day the mob becomes more radical. By some accounts, 30 Americans have died so far in these riots. Democrats openly encouraged them. Republican leaders have been too fearful to stop them,” Carlson said.
The monologue was greeted with mixed reactions. Left-wing and anti-Trump commentators said describing Rittenhouse’s alleged actions as maintaining order amounted to justifying vigilante violence.
After watching Tucker Carlson justify murder to “maintain order” all I could think of was this book and that the entire country is and always has been the South. https://t.co/xpTA8EKrgq
— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) August 27, 2020
.@TuckerCarlson is inciting violence and abetting terrorism. He hits a new low every time he takes to the airwaves. https://t.co/loIIVlTZp9
— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) August 27, 2020
You have to be fucking kidding me.
This is revolting, even for this asshole. https://t.co/pcF2SIsH3X
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 27, 2020
Conservatives reacted, saying critics of the Fox host are “twisting” Carlson’s words to distract from the point they believe he made.
The leftwing media is willfully twisting Tucker Carlson’s words to smear him. He never endorsed “vigilante justice.”
He just pointed out that when “leaders” cede control of our streets to the mob, it leads to heartbreaking consequences/tragedies like looting, anarchy & death. https://t.co/AwHR0semsi
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 27, 2020
The Left wants to cancel Tucker Carlson (again) because he made some completely correct observations about the anarchy in our streets. We need to drown out their impotent whining by supporting the only guy on cable news who tells the unvarnished truth. #IStandWithTuckerCarlson
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 27, 2020
The radical Left is trying to take down Tucker Carlson again because nobody on TV exposes them to the extent that he does. He pointed out what everyone knows: When “leaders” cede control of our streets to the mob, chaos ensues. Cities burn. And people die.
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) August 27, 2020
