Tucker Carlson Says ‘Mexico Is A Hostile Foreign Power,’ Wants U.S. To ‘Strike Back’
Tucker Carlson, the controversial Fox News host who has frequently been accused of sexism and bigotry, advocated on Friday for a U.S.-Mexico “war,” The Daily Beast reports.
As the publication put it, during the opening monologue of Tucker Carlson Tonight, the host appeared to be pushing his own “overstuffed envelope.” Carlson discussed the ongoing tensions between the United States and its southern neighbor, arguing that Mexicans immigrating into America are part of a broader conspiracy created by the Latin American country’s government.
Carlson described Mexico as a “hostile foreign power,” urging the United States to “strike back.”
“When the United States is attacked by a hostile foreign power it must strike back, and make no mistake Mexico is a hostile foreign power,” he said.
The host then laid out his theory, where he believes that the Mexican government is deliberately sending the country’s poorest citizens to the United States, in order to maintain the grasp it has on the entire Mexican society.
“For decades the Mexican government has sent its poor north to our country. This has allowed that country’s criminal oligarchy to maintain power and get even richer but at great expense to us,” he stated.
Carlson said that he believes immigrants “ruined” the United States, impacting numerous sectors of the American society. He described the supposed influx of migrant workers as a “flood,” echoing President Donald Trump and other immigration hardliners.
“The flood of illegal workers into the United States has damaged our communities, ruined our schools, burdened our healthcare system and fractured our national unity.”
These statements represent the latest controversial comments from Tucker Carlson, who has supposedly descended into white supremacy, according to watchdog group Media Matters. The non-profit detailed the Fox News host’s alleged descent into racism in late May, publishing on its website a timeline meant to demonstrate how Carlson has changed over the years.
Tucker Carlson's descent into white supremacy: A timeline https://t.co/ZaIjqI3mjT pic.twitter.com/sLMKqaNjAh
— Media Matters (@mmfa) May 31, 2019
Carlson rose to national prominence as a fierce critic of former president Barack Obama, whom he once accused on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ show of pushing “Nazi” politics. The host made a number of inflammatory remarks over the years, some implicitly and some openly bigoted, according to Media Matters.
Carlson’s remarks about Mexico come amid rising tensions between the Trump administration and Mexico. As The New York Times reported, Trump threatened earlier this week to punish Mexico with tariffs unless the country does something about what the president claims is an illegal immigration problem.
Opinion: Trump’s Mexico tariffs show he has no interest in solving the immigration crisis https://t.co/RsRV19MkaK
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 1, 2019
Trump’s tariff threats reverberated across the American business community, and some Republican politicians are even urging the president to back down.
