Far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson has repeatedly broadcast anti-immigrant sentiments to millions of viewers on his nightly show.
He's amplified the white supremacist Great Replacement theory, he's said immigrants make cities "dirtier," and—in leaked recordings—referred to Iraqis as "semiliterate primitive monkeys."
So it's no surprise that Carlson has already begun drumming up hatred for a wave of Afghan refugees coming to the United States following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, despite the fact that many of these refugees were crucial in assisting U.S. soldiers on the ground in the region.
In his latest xenophobic screed, Carlson claimed that Democrats were calling for more refugees in order to turn swing states blue in the upcoming 2022 and 2024 elections.
Watch below.
Tucker is outright arguing that Afghan refugees, who cannot vote, are being settled in swing states in order to flip those states blue.pic.twitter.com/p6yDSIuzT7— nikki mccann ram\u00edrez (@nikki mccann ram\u00edrez) 1630541522
Carlson said:
"[Democrats] are flooding swing districts with refugees they know will become loyal Democratic party voters. They're opening the southern border in more than 200,000 illegal migrants per month. That's the equivalent of two Afghan airlifts every 30 days."
Of course, the claim is absurd.
In order to even be eligible for U.S. citizenship—and potentially gain the right to vote—refugees must be lawful permanent residents of the United States for at least five years, according to U.S. Customs and Immigration.
Carlson almost certainly knows this, but seized on the widespread belief of his viewers that undocumented immigrants and non-citizens somehow vote in numbers massive enough to steal elections.
People called him out on it.
An entire anti refugee narrative will be built around this, because it\u2019s \u201cfair to ask if our elections are being manipulated\u201d (This is where their hate is justified internally) and they\u2019ll forget one tiny little fact that an 18 yr old intern could\u2019ve googled, refugees don\u2019t vote.https://twitter.com/nikkimcr/status/1433221140621705216\u00a0\u2026— Michael Kaplan (@Michael Kaplan) 1630587630
They play on viewers emotions, & lie. Psychological/mental/emotional ABUSERS/MANIPULATORS! thats tuckems. #STOPTHEABUSEhttps://twitter.com/nikkimcr/status/1433221140621705216\u00a0\u2026— Blue Robin (@Blue Robin) 1630575673
Of course, he doesn't mention they can't vote..https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1433221140621705216\u00a0\u2026— Peggy Mueller \ud83d\uddfd (@Peggy Mueller \ud83d\uddfd) 1630543408
Tucker Carlson just proved that on Fox News, brains & intelligence aren't a requirement to be a host, just hatred & racism.\n\nFox News was already responsible of inciting the violent insurrection on Jan 6.\n\nFox News won't be happy until we are all fighting each other!\n\n#DemVoice1https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1433221140621705216\u00a0\u2026— Tony Hussein #DemVoice1 (@Tony Hussein #DemVoice1) 1630542487
This axxhole fails to say it takes 1-3 years to get a GREEN CARD first (permanent residence) & then you MUST wait 5 YEARS to become a US citizen. You MUST then prove you\u2019ve worked & paid taxes as a permanent resident & NOT received welfare! Americans are IGNORANT about process!https://twitter.com/nikkimcr/status/1433221140621705216\u00a0\u2026— Nancy Hernandez (@Nancy Hernandez) 1630547948
The racist buzzwords in his argument didn't go unchecked either.
Meanwhile, on the nightly white supremacy front\u2026https://twitter.com/nikkimcr/status/1433221140621705216\u00a0\u2026— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1630587071
After spending a week pretending to care about the plight of Afghans to try and \u201cown\u201d Biden, the Goebbels and Himmler of the GOP are going full racist tonight. First, here\u2019s Tucker stressing that Afghans may be settled in swing states to help Democrats.pic.twitter.com/W989Ycoe3e— Ron Filipkowski (@Ron Filipkowski) 1630542243
I wonder if Tucker would come across as more authentic for his target audience if he spoke in wild mannerisms with an Austrian accent and wore strange little moustache. "The Afghan is our demise!"https://twitter.com/NikkiMcR/status/1433221140621705216\u00a0\u2026— J\u00fcrgen "jkr" Kraus (@J\u00fcrgen "jkr" Kraus) 1630588110
There are growing calls to increase the cap on refugees in the United States.