Tucker Carlson’s Fox News Show Loses More Advertisers Due To Comments About Immigration Making US ‘Dirtier’
Tucker Carlson, one of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters on national television, is facing backlash from advertisers after he made an insensitive remark about immigrants, according to Business Insider.
Carlson, who hosts Tucker Carlson Tonight, has seen at least five advertisers pulling out from his show after comments on immigration he made last Thursday.
Saying that America was being short-changed by other countries as only people with lower-level skills were coming to the county, Carlson blamed them for making the United States “poorer and dirtier.”
“Instead we’re getting waves of people with high school educations or less. Nice people, no one doubts that, but as an economic matter this is insane. It’s indefensible, so no one even tries to defend it,” he said.
“Instead our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us, even if it makes our country poorer and dirtier and more divided.”
Carlson’s viewpoints echo that of Trump, who called Mexicans “rapists” during his infamous 2016 presidential campaign and has since also repeatedly claimed that other countries are only sending their worst people to America in order to make it weaker.
Tucker Carlson defends "poorer and dirtier" immigration comment after companies pull ads from his show https://t.co/a9rd4uy6Bc pic.twitter.com/XGFTLHSPGc
— The Hill (@thehill) December 18, 2018
A day after his comments, insurance company Pacific Life announced that it will “not be advertising on Mr. Carlson’s show in the coming weeks as we reevaluate our relationship with his program.”
“As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements,” it added.
Then, the online design marketplace Minted announced on Twitter on Monday that it would be dropping the show as well.
[1/2] Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We do not agree with Mr. Carlson's comments and his opinions are not consistent with the values we hold at Minted. Like other advertisers, our media purchases are done broadly across a number of networks.
— Minted (@Minted) December 18, 2018
Jobs site Indeed, which also previously advertised on Carlson’s show pulled out too, saying its “bipartisan” views did not align well with what the Fox News host believed.
“As a company, we are nonpartisan ? our site is for everyone, regardless of background or beliefs,” a spokesperson for Indeed told HuffPost.
But if anyone thought that advertisers pulling out of Carlson’s show would be a wake-up call for him or the network, they would be mistaken. Instead of apologizing for his comments, Carlson doubled-down on Monday night, evidently taking his cue from Trump, according to the Washington Post.
“The left would very much like you to stop talking and thinking about bad decisions they’ve made over the years that they happen to be profiting from,” the Fox News host said. “‘Shut up,’ they’re screaming, including to this show. Obviously, we won’t, and you shouldn’t either.”
“We’re not intimidated. We plan to say what’s true until the last day.”
Tucker Carlson addresses the advertiser exodus, saying that "it won't work for the show, we are not intimidated. We plan to say what's true until the last day"
He then defends his remarks: "Thanks to immigration, huge swaths of the [Southwest] are covered with garbage and waste" pic.twitter.com/pSW00MnSNA
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 18, 2018
