Tucker Carlson claims British civilised India: The many controversies of man with the ‘most racist show’ on cable news

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has made headlines yet again – this time for claiming that the British civilised India. Carlson, praising Queen Elizabeth II on his show Tucker Carlson Tonight, claimed that the British Empire was “more than just genocide” and that India “did not create any architectural marvels before the British colonised India.

His comments set off a firestorm on social media with many including Shashi Tharoor and Martina Navratilova mocking him as ‘racist and uninformed’. That Carlson would praise the benefits of colonialism should come as no shock to those even slightly familiar with the right-wing pundit and bloviator. Critics claim Carlson’s talking points often come straight out of the white nationalist handbook. So often has he backed Russia over his own country, most prominently when it comes to the Ukraine invasion, that he has been dubbed as a Russian propagandist and a shill for Vladimir Putin (another fan of white nationalism). Let’s take a closer look at Carlson’s many, many racist comments: ‘India prospered under British rule’ Carson, during his monologue, stated, “Strong countries dominate weak countries. This trend hasn’t changed. At least the English took their colonial responsibility seriously. They didn’t just take things, they added. We (the United States) left Afghanistan, we left airstrips, weapons and guns. When the British pulled out of India, they left behind an entire civilization, a language, a legal system, schools, churches and public buildings, all of which are still in use today. The pundit, making reference to Mumbai’s Victoria Terminus station that was renamed in 2016 as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus said, “And after 75 years of independence, has that country produced a single building as beautiful as the Bombay train station that the British colonials built?” [caption id=“attachment_11254351” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Tucker Carlson’s claim that the British civilised India was widely mocked. News18[/caption] Many took to Twitter to offer Carlson’s monologue a response – most prominently Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. “I think Twitter ought to have an option for something to press when you can’t respond without losing your cool. For now I will content myself with,” Tharoor tweeted with two angry-face emojis. ‘Most racist show’ The idea of conservative white people being under attack – from immigrants, foreigners or Black Lives Matters – is a constant theme in Carlson’s highly-rated show.

Carlson has often put forth ‘the Great Replacement’ theory – the far-right belief that the white population will be replaced by immigrants.

As per The New York Times, Carlson has also, during his show claimed that  that Democratic politicians and ‘the elite’ want to replace whites through immigration. As per NPR, Nicholas Confessore – a political and investigative reporter for The New York Times and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine – in an analysis of Carlson’s show concluded that he had created the most racist show in the history of cable news and, by some measures, the most successful. Confessore told NPR Carlson’s use of the term ‘legacy Americans’ on Fox News came directly from nativist and far-right sites on the internet. Carlson often frames the issues he discusses as “they” versus “you” – “they want to control your thoughts,” or “they call you a racist.” Payton Gendron, a young white supremacist accused of trying to kill as many African-Americans as possible in the Buffalo shooting, was influenced by the “Great Replacement” theory. Citing this figure, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “This is a poison that is being spread by one of the largest news organizations in our country.” As per MSNBC, Carlson in March claimed that President Joe Biden’s then nominee to the US Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — who served eight years as a federal district judge before being elevated last year to the prestigious US Circuit of Appeals in Washington, DC and now on the Supreme Court — was not “much of a jurist,” was “simply ignorant of the law.” He added that the nomination of the first Black woman serving on America’s top court  was an effort by Biden to “humiliate and degrade” America and turn it into “Rwanda.” [caption id=“attachment_10856981” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer administers the Judicial Oath to Ketanji Brown Jackson as her husband Patrick Jackson holds the Bible at the Supreme Court in Washington. Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States/AP[/caption] “So is Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ― a name that even Joe Biden has trouble pronouncing ― one of the top legal minds in the entire country?” Carlson asked, mispronouncing Ketanji’s name. “We certainly hope so. It’s Biden’s right. Appointing her is one of his constitutional duties.” “So it might be time for Joe Biden to let us know what  Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s LSAT score was,” he said, again mispronouncing her name. Contacted by AFP, Fox News referred to Carlson’s on-air statements in which he has defended himself against accusations that he bears responsibility for the killings. “Gendron was mentally ill,” Carlson has said, dismissing the long manifesto by the suspect – which does not mention the show – as “not recognizably left-wing or right-wing, it’s not really political at all.” In April 2021, the Anti-Defamation League called on Fox News to fire the opinion host for his on-air defence of the white-supremacist “great replacement” theory. During the show, Carlson said “the left and all the little gatekeepers on Twitter become literally hysterical if you use the term ‘replacement,’ if you suggest that the Democratic Party is trying to replace the current electorate of voters now casting ballots with new people, more obedient voters from the Third World.” He added that he had “less political power because they are importing a brand new electorate.” Carlson’s attempt to at first dismiss this theory, while in the very next breath endorsing it under cover of ‘a voting rights question,’ does not give him free license to invoke a white supremacist trope,” wrote ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. In May 2020, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, Carlson referred to those protesting as a “criminal mob” . [caption id=“attachment_9754311” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] In this image taken from video, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, right, accompanied by defence attorney Eric Nelson, addresses the court during the George Floyd case hearing. AP[/caption] As per The Guardian, Carlson in 2019 described white supremacy in America as a “hoax” and a “conspiracy theory”. “If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, problems this country has, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia probably. It’s actually not a real problem in America,” Carlson said on his show. “This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax, it’s a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power.” Carlson further claimed all the white supremacists in America could fit inside a football stadium before repeating his belief that white supremacy in the US is a non-existent problem.

He added that he’s “never met anybody – not one person – who ascribes to white supremacy”.

In 2018, some advertisers pulled out of Carlson’s show after he claimed immigrants were making the US “poorer and dirtier,” as per CBS News. Carlson claimed there’s pressure from “our leaders” to accept immigrants “even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.” He later added that in the Southwest, “thanks to illegal immigration, huge swaths of the region are covered with garbage and waste that degrade the soil and kill wildlife.” Fox backs Carlson Despite the criticism he engenders, Fox News backs Carlson at all costs. The network’s lawyers argued in a 2020 slander lawsuit that viewers knew to treat material on his show with scepticism – something not borne out by the many people interacting with and spreading his content online. However, the father of four seems impervious to criticism, saying in an appearance on “The Rubin Report” talk show: “You should only care about the opinions of people who care about you.” It is a lesson learned from what he has called his “weird childhood,” marked by the departure of his artist mother when he was only six years old. She moved to France and never saw her children again.

Carlson was raised by his journalist father and followed in his footsteps after unsuccessfully trying to join the CIA.

The road to fame was long: Carlson previously worked at CNN and even found himself temporarily unemployed around his 40th birthday. Despite the political influence he wields, Carlson – who says he has never owned a television – lives far from the heart of the United States government, in a rural corner of Maine, where he usually records his show. Will politics be the next step? For a time, there were rumours that he could parlay his fame into a 2024 run for the presidency. Carlson dismissed the idea with a laugh on conservative podcast “Ruthless” in January. “I’m a talk show host; I enjoy it,” he said. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .