Tucker Carlson claims writer who resigned over racist/sexist posts has 'paid a heavy price'
On Tucker Carlson Tonight Monday, Carlson addressed the controversy surrounding his former top writer Blake Neff, who resigned on Friday after being exposed by a CNN investigation for having spent years posting racist and sexist remarks online under a pseudonym.
“First, what Blake wrote anonymously was wrong. We don’t endorse those words. They have no connection to the show,” Carlson said. “It is wrong to attack people for qualities they cannot control. In this country, we judge people for what they do, not for how they were born. … Blake fell short of that standard and he has paid a heavy price for it.”
Carlson also appeared to defend Neff and lashed out at those who would delight in his downfall.
“We should also point out to the ghouls now beating their chests in triumph at the destruction of a young man, that self-righteousness also has its costs,” Carlson said. “We are all human. When we pretend we are holy, we are lying. When we pose as blameless in order to hurt other people, we are committing the gravest sin of all, and we will be punished for it.” Carlson also announced he was going to be off the air for a few days on what he called a pre-planned vacation.
Just moments earlier on Carlson’s MSNBC competitor, All In With Chris Hayes, a deep dive into Neff’s work on Carlson’s show was already in progress. Hayes showed a quote from Neff to the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine: “Anything [Carlson is] reading off the teleprompter, the first draft was written by me.”
Hayes then played a clip of Carlson praising Neff in 2018. Speaking with Fox News’s Greg Gutgeld, Carlson said, “Well, I mean, I write, you know, every night I work on the scripts. We have a wonderful writer, Blake Neff, on the show.” “A wonderful writer. Wonderful writer, the guy who says, ‘I wouldn’t get Lasik from Asians for free,’” Hayes responded, referencing one of Neff’s racist online comments.
Hayes went on to lambaste Carlson, not just for his show, but for The Daily Caller as well, an online publication which was co-founded by Carlson, that also employed Neff before he moved to his position at Fox News.
“You have a guy who had a racist writing his scripts for years,” Hayes said, “who founded a publication that employed multiple people with ties to white nationalism, who’s been praised again and again by the most outspoken racists in the country who love his show. A man who’s hemorrhaged advertisers over the year because on his show, he sounds just like Blake Neff.”
Tucker Carlson Tonight airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on Fox News Channel.
All In With Chris Hayes airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on MSNBC.
Watch Richmond mayor Levar Stoney call confederate monuments ‘the fake news of their time’:
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Trump says ‘deaths are way down’ on day Fla., Texas, Calif. report record COVID-19 deaths
Lou Holtz condemns Big Ten adjusting schedule for fall sports to to coronavirus
Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.