Don Lemon On Tucker Carlson Saying White Supremacy Is A Hoax: "Was That Not The Dumbest Thing You've Ever Heard?"
Carlson's claim comes several days after a white man opened fire in an El Paso Walmart Supercenter. He is suspected of publishing a white nationalist, anti-immigrant manifesto prior to the shooting.
Don Lemon responded to remarks Tucker Carlson said Tuesday night where he claimed that America's white supremacy problem "is a hoax."
"This is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax," Carlson said on Fox News. "It's a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power. That's exactly what's going on."
After sharing a clip of Carlson's comments on CNN, Lemon looks on at his guests and asks, "Was that not the dumbest thing you've ever heard?"
According to the Anti-Defamation League, white supremacist murders in the U.S. "more than doubled in 2017," with far-right extremist groups and white supremacists "responsible for 59% of all extremist-related fatalities in the US in 2017." They were responsible for 20% of these fatalities the year before.
Three years ago, a classified FBI counterterrorism policy guide surfaced that revealed white supremacists have infiltrated law enforcement agencies across the country.
The guide states that "white supremacists and other domestic extremists" are a part of local, state and sheriff departments in the United States.
In a recent public address, Donald Trump spoke out against hatred and white supremacy, saying: "In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy. These sinister ideologies must be defeated. Hate has no place in America."
However, he did not address the criticisms of his own harsh rhetoric against illegal immigration, which critics say has contributed to a rise in racially-motivated attacks.