Tucker Carlson accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of trying to have him taken off television after the Minnesota Democrat publicly criticized his show’s sponsors Wednesday.
Mr. Carlson made the remark amid an ongoing feud that recently escalated when the Fox News host referred to the lawmaker, a former refugee born in Somalia, as evidence of how “dangerous” immigration has become.
“Fox News is now giving a nightly platform to white supremacist rhetoric,” reacted Ms. Omar. “Advertisers should not be underwriting hate speech.”
Responding to her comment during Wednesday’s broadcast, Mr. Carlson suggested the congresswoman is set on seeing his show canceled.
“Ilhan Omar is trying to take this show off the air. Shut us up. Silence us. We want to reassure you that’s not going to happen. Why? Because we work at Fox News, and they’ve got our back, and we’re thankful for that,” said Mr. Carlson.
Fox News did not immediately return a request for comment.
Mr. Carlson has lost advertisers in the past for making controversial comments about immigration, including dozens who dropped his show last year after he claimed that immigrants make the U.S. “dirtier.”
He has regularly criticized Ms. Omar since she took office in January, and in May he called her “a symbol of America’s failed immigration system.”
“Ilhan Omar has an awful lot to be grateful for, but she isn’t grateful. Not at all. After everything America has done for Omar and for her family, she hates this country more than ever,” Mr. Carlson said during Tuesday’s broadcast, adding that the congresswoman is “living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country.”
In addition to questioning Mr. Carlson’s advertisers, Ms. Omar called him a “racist fool” espousing “dangerous, hateful rhetoric.”
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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