Both CNN and Fox News found some common ground today in condemning the protests outside Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s house on Wednesday night.
Earlier today, the Inquisitr reported that an angry mob thought to be an anti-fascists group that organized on a now-suspended Twitter page, Smash Racism DC, gathered outside of Carlson’s D.C.-area residence and chanted while his wife, Susie, and their four children hid in the pantry and called the police.
“Tucker Carlson, we will fight, we know where you sleep at night,” they chanted. At one point the group also chanted, “racist scumbag, leave town!” In addition to the intrusive chanting, members of the crowd rang Carlson’s doorbell and ended up breaking the oak door of his house. The mob also indicated that Carlson wasn’t safe in his home during the incident.
Today, Fox News issued a joint statement from CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace that condemned the incident.
“The incident that took place at Tucker’s home last night was reprehensible. The violent threats and intimidation tactics toward him and his family are completely unacceptable. We as a nation have become far too intolerant of different points of view. Recent events across our country clearly highlight the need for a more civil, respectful, and inclusive national conversation. Those of us in the media and in politics bear a special obligation to all Americans, to find common ground.”
CNN retweeted Fox’s joint statement with a comment that said, in part, “it’s completely unacceptable to threaten a TV host and his/her family.”
Something @CNN and @foxnews can agree on: it’s completely unacceptable to threaten a TV host and his/her family. https://t.co/JM4RDphrOS
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) November 8, 2018
Now that both Fox and CNN appear committed to helping facilitate a respectful and inclusive civilized national conversation, it remains to see if or how they will work together to help ensure that happens on their respective networks and websites. With Tuesday’s election, Democrats soundly took back the House of Representatives, while Republicans kept the Senate.
However, the vitriolic rhetoric has not died down since the midterms, and twice in one day, reporters became the news instead of reporting the news in the 24 hours since the election. CNN reporter Jim Acosta lost his White House press credentials after an intense exchange with President Donald Trump during his post-election press conference.
Meanwhile, the United States experienced another deadly mass casualty shooting in a California bar. For now, the lack of a civil national conversation shows in many facets of the country, and perhaps, working together, CNN and Fox News might take a step together toward regaining civility and easing tensions.
