Fox News host Tucker Carlson responded Sunday to blowback over a recent segment on his show in which he questioned the idea that “diversity is our strength.”
In a segment that Washington Post’s Erik Wemple labeled “racist” and Media Matters described as “echo[ing] white nationalists,” Carlson pushed back on the idea that “diversity” is inherently a good thing. Here’s what Carlson said:
Carlson: How, precisely, is diversity our strength? Since you’ve made this our new national motto, please be specific as you explain it. Can you think, for example, of other institutions such as, I don’t know, marriage or military units in which the less people have in common, the more cohesive they are?
Do you get along better with your neighbors, your co-workers if you can’t understand each other or share no common values? Please be honest as you answer this question.
And if diversity is our strength, why is it okay for the rest of us to surrender one of our central rights, freedom of speech, to just a handful of tech monopolies? And by the way, if your ideas are so obviously true, why does anyone who question them need to be shamed, silenced and fired?
The question spurred strong responses online, including from a few famous names:
In a series of tweets Sunday, Carlson defended his critique of the newly embraced “national motto,” which he suggested is often used to promote “mindless tribalism for political expedience.” Here’s the full text of his response:
The organized left is lying about a segment we did on Friday night. Our topic was “diversity is our strength,” a phrase our leaders use to end conversation rather than spur it. You hear it all the time. We asked, what exactly does it mean? Is it true?
“Do you get along better with your neighbors and coworkers if you can’t understand each other, or share no common values? And if diversity is our strength, why is it OK for the rest of us to surrender our freedom of speech to just a handful of tech monopolies?”
These are the questions our leaders out to be asking every day. How does a nation of 325 million people hang together? What do we all have in common as Americans? Why should we remain a country? Nothing is more important than answering this.
But our leaders aren’t even asking these questions. Instead they’re trying to silence anyone who raises them, while at the same time promoting mindless tribalism for political expedience. Division keeps them in power.
What’s at stake isn’t a cable news segment. It’s the existence of rational conversation in America. If they can prevent you from asking honest questions, there’s nothing they can’t do. More on this tomorrow night.