Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Wednesday called racism "one of America's problems," adding that people should "calm down" a night after he said the problem of white supremacy in the U.S. is a "hoax."
America isn't a "white supremacist country plotting the slaughter of its own people," Carlson said in a post on Twitter that was accompanied by a message that was aired on his nightly program.
According to The Hill, Carlson came under heavy criticism throughout the day for his remarks the previous night that white supremacy wasn't a "real problem in America."
There’s been a tremendous response to last night’s show. The left wants to silence us. They won’t. Here’s a portion of our response from tonight’s show. Watch this video and watch #FoxNews at 8pm ET for more. pic.twitter.com/bMRdIeC33b— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 7, 2019
Those remarks followed a mass shooting by a long gunman in El Paso, Texas, that left 22 people dead.
The suspect in the shooting is believed to have shared a racist manifesto describing an "invasion" of Hispanic immigrants before carrying out the attack. It followed a separate attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue last fall that killed 11 people, the deadliest attack in U.S. history on a Jewish community.
Since the El Paso shooting, leaders of both parties, including President Trump, have moved to condemn white supremacism.
Separately, FBI Director Christopher Wray said last month that the agency has made about 100 domestic terrorism-related arrests since October, with the majority tied to white supremacy.
In his remarks on Tuesday, Carlson said the U.S. is on the "decline" and that that frustration has led Americans to embrace new leaders, such as President Trump, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
"But this country is not on the brink of genocide," he said. "It’s not even close to that. This is not a white supremacist country plotting the slaughter of its own people. It’s a kind country full of decent people of all races, who like all people everywhere make bad decisions from time to time."
Carlson announced at the end of his Wednesday night Fox News show that he will be taking a vacation.
"By the way," he said, "I am taking several days off -- headed to the wilderness to fish with my son." Carlson added, "Politics is important, fishing with your son, sometimes more important. So I'm doing it."
A Fox News spokesperson said the vacation had been in the works before Carlson had made his controversial remarks. The spokesperson added that Carlson will return back on the air from his vacation on August 19.
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