Dear MoveOn member,
White supremacy motivated the Buffalo killer who opened fire with the express purpose of killing Black Americans. Sadly, his terrifying and deadly ideas are no longer fringe but are rooted in a theory shared by many Republican leaders and given amplification regularly by the most-watched cable "news" host on television: Tucker Carlson.1
Carlson has given voice to the racist, antisemitic conspiracy theory known as the "great replacement theory" more than 400 times since 2018, according to an analysis by The New York Times.2 And in doing so, he's driven a white supremacist vision into the heart of public Republican discourse—and given ideological footing for the deranged ideas of the Buffalo killer.
That's why MoveOn is doubling down right now on efforts to confront Fox News and Tucker Carlson. In the aftermath of the Buffalo race massacre, more and more Americans are tuned in to just how dangerous Carlson is—which is why we need to seize this moment to push Fox into taking away his megaphone and showing there are consequences for giving hate speech a home on-air.
Will you join this critical effort and chip in $5 a month to hold Fox and Carlson accountable—and help us do whatever it takes to get him and his hate speech off the air?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Carlson's and Fox's outrages are nothing new. They include giving comfort to the violent insurrectionists, promoting disinformation about COVID-19, and voicing support for Vladimir Putin at the start of his ruthless assault on Ukraine.
And The New York Times recently ran a series of articles exposing just how deep into white supremacy Carlson has reached—and by doing so, just how broadly he has promoted deeply racist ideas.3
The white supremacist Buffalo massacre is an alarm bell: The "great replacement theory" isn't just an idle idea—it is the animus behind the gunman's actions and contributes to hate speech and violence across the country.
Confronting this racist ideology of Tucker and the right will need to take many forms, and there's no one action that will solve this crisis. But getting Carlson off-air will show there are consequences for promoting white supremacy and will remove one of the most prominent and prolific spokespeople normalizing this grotesque theory and using race to divide Americans.
More than 100,000 MoveOn members have already asked Fox to take Carlson off the air. This mobilization follows campaigns in which MoveOn members have joined with allies to demand advertisers pull their ads from his show and cable providers make Fox optional—a move that would defund their hate speech and disinformation.
MoveOn is ready to double down on this work, but we need your help in this moment and then to sustain it, John. Can you chip in $5 a month to help out?
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
The New York Times began its investigative report on Carlson with this stark statement: "When President Donald J. Trump left office, Mr. Carlson filled the void on the right."4
It was a chilling reminder of the power that Carlson holds over not just right-wing voters but right-wing politicians as well. Prominent elected officials, including the third-ranking Republican in Congress, are now parroting these views as Carlson's enormous platform gives permission to more right-wing leaders to become more public, forceful, and unapologetic with their hate speech.5
We cannot allow this virulent racism to continue running our politics, and we must redouble our efforts to fight against the racism and culture of white supremacy we experience in our everyday lives—especially when a prominent voice is pushing such ideology so aggressively and trying to normalize it in our political discourse.
Taking Carlson off the air is an important step in this process.
Join the fight by chipping in $5 monthly.
No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Justin, Allison, Alexis, Amy, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "The 'great replacement' conspiracy theory isn't fringe anymore, it's mainstream," NPR, May 17, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/162469?t=8&akid=324111%2E40999114%2EFnuz6t
2. "Night after night, the host of the most-watched show in prime-time cable news uses a simple narrative to instill fear in his viewers: 'They' want to control and then destroy 'you.'" The New York Times, April 30, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/162846?t=10&akid=324111%2E40999114%2EFnuz6t
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.
5. "Stefanik echoed racist theory allegedly espoused by Buffalo suspect," The Washington Post, May 16, 2022
https://act.moveon.org/go/162470?t=12&akid=324111%2E40999114%2EFnuz6t
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