Tucker Carlson’s political commentary – which often dabbles in racism, misogyny, and white supremacy – has drawn rebukes from the Pentagon, the Anti-Defamation League, and scores of sponsors who refuse to run ads during his Fox News show.
But one prominent organization is not only sticking by the provocateur, they’re fundraising off of him; the Republican National Committee has recently invoked Carlson and his bigotry in an attempt to fill their coffers.
According to Right Wing Watch, “On April 9, the RNC sent a fundraising text that began, “Are you watching Tucker Carlson right now?” It included a link to a donation page asking people to give money to the RNC and become a ‘Trump Legacy Member.'”
The timing of that fundraising appeal is particularly odious. The night before, Carlson told his viewers that the Democratic party is “trying to replace the current electorate” in the U.S. with “new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.” This argument mirrors the “great replacement theory,” a line of thinking that has animated violent racists the world over, including those who marched in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017.
Criticism of Carlson was robust. Jonathan Greenblatt, the president of the Anti-Defamation League, said Carlson’s rhetoric echoed “a white supremacist tenet.” He added, “It is antisemitic, racist and toxic. It has informed the ideology of mass shooters in El Paso, Christchurch and Pittsburgh. Tucker must go.”
The RNC, on the other hand, took a vastly different approach. More from Right Wing Watch:
On April 14, the RNC sent a fundraising email with the subject line, “Do you watch Tucker Carlson? He’s absolutely right.” The opening line of the email itself read “Tucker Carlson is right.” The subject of the email was not Carlson’s highly publicized promotion of white nationalist ideology but a complaint about “cancel culture.” The email read, “As a 2021 Sustaining Member, you’ll be defending conservative voices, like Tucker Carlson, in the struggle against Radical Left Cancel Culture.”
A week and a half later, according to Right Wing Watch, the RNC was back at it, careful not to explicitly mention “great replacement theory:”
On Thursday, April 22, another fundraising text from the RNC featured Carlson. “We can’t let Facebook SILENCE Tucker Carlson,” the text read. The donation page warned that “Silicon Valley Liberals are SILENCING President Trump and other Patriots on social media” and asked for donations to the social media ad fund.
Mother Jones provides commentary on the RNC-Carlson connection:
It’s unclear how sending money to RNC headquarters will help Carlson. But it’s obvious the cash-grubbers of the Republican Party were hoping to fill the party’s coffers by aligning the party with Carlson following his combative support of a racist idea that has been embraced by white supremacists. The GOPers were too clever to spell out why they were defending Carlson at this moment. But their plea for bucks was also not a dog whistle but one very loud bullhorn.
