This article is being republished here with permission from The Associated Press. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; however, it does not represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers as editors.
NEW YORK (AP) – Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, no stranger to the hot seat for his comments, is criticized for suggesting no one should be surprised by the murder of two protesters during social unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Authorities “stood back and saw Kenosha burning,” he told the Fox News Channel on Wednesday. “So we’re really surprised that looting and arson turned into murder? How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with guns decided they had to keep order like no one else would?”
Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old Illinois resident and police officer, was taken into custody on suspicion of manslaughter following the murder of two people involved in unrest following last weekend’s police shooting at a black man, Jacob Blake.
Carlson’s comment drew an angry reaction online because it was seen as sympathetic to Rittenhouse or offering justification for murder.
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich tweeted Fox’s management “is complicit in Tucker Carlson’s racist, murderous rants” if they do not take action against him. Author Don Winslow dismissed the comments as “disgusting”.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Parkland shooting, called Carlson a “fool who will get people killed. … You must be removed for the safety of our children.”
But presidential son Donald Trump Jr. tweeted that ‘the left-wing media is deliberately twisting Tucker Carlson’s words to smear him. He never endorsed ‘vigilant justice’. He simply pointed out that if ‘leaders’ relinquish control of our streets to the mob, it will lead to heartbreaking consequences.’
Twitter highlighted a link in one of Carlson’s tweets for sensitive content. Carlson’s tweet had quoted words he used in the air.
Carlson, who normally competes with colleague Sean Hannity to be the most popular news host on cable television, has been criticized in the past for comments that are considered sympathetic to white nationalists. Last month, the lead writer of his show stopped after it was revealed that he posted racist reactions online under a pseudonym.
When asked for comment Thursday, Fox provided a transcript of Carlson’s segment the night before.
Fox management often comments on individual statements by their personalities. Instead, Fox is more likely to express dissatisfaction by taking someone off the air – temporarily or permanently – and Carlson is expected at his post on Thursday.
He also did not stand alone in his comments.
Conservative provocateur Ann Coulter tweeted about Rittenhouse: “I want him as my president.”
Three hours before Carlson’s statement, Fox’s Jesse Watters said Rittenhouse was not acting appropriately and “unfortunately this is what happens when a governor relinquishes his responsibility to keep the streets safe.”
Former Fox personality Megyn Kelly has been trending on Twitter for a series of retweets, including one saying “Jacob Blake was armed with a KNIFE when police shot him.” While authorities found a knife in Blake’s car after he was shot by police, it was not clear if he was in possession during the confrontation.
She also quoted in a Real Clear Politics article by Ben Shapiro: “The story is set. The (police) shooting was unfair, and racist at it. No evidence is presented, no one needs to be. And if the facts do not match with the accusations, the facts will be set aside. “
Kelly declined to comment on Thursday.
In an article on the Outkick.com website, author Jason Whitlock wrote that professional athletes who have sat in competitions because of police shootings are “useful idiots” convinced that some police shootings were examples of racism when they really were about resisting arrest.
In the publication American Spectator, author Scott McKay said that although 17-year-olds do not have to cross state lines to carry guns in demonstrations, protest groups such as Black Lives Matter bear “total responsibility” for Rittenhouse to do so.
“What did you idiots think would happen?” McKay wrote. “That you could go on burning a small town in Central America without resistance?”
But Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace on Thursday rejected any idea that Rittenhouse’s alleged actions were fair.
“Vigilant justice is a completely indecent response to street riots,” Wallace said. “There is no justification for what happened in Kenosha and vigilante justice is a crime and should be punished as a crime.”
