Fox News host Tucker Carlson
Tucker CarlsonDon Lemon defends Tucker Carlson amid confrontation video Fox News blasts 'ambush' of Carlson at Montana fly-fishing store Psaki says Biden admin 'needs' Fox News in order to fight vaccine misinformation MORE bashed CNN and called it "more destructive" for the country than the QAnon conspiracy theory during a segment Tuesday night.
Carlson focused his segment on what he called "disinformation" online, going after CNN and other outlets for their coverage of police shootings and race relations.
"Who is lying to America in ways that are certain to make us hate each other? And certain to destroy our core institutions?" Carlson said on his show.
"It was cable news, it was politicians talking on TV, they're the ones spreading disinformation to Americans," he asserted, before playing clips of various Democratic politicians.
"There is disinformation out there and it does hurt people," he said, adding "a lot of Americans are completely and utterly misinformed" about police shootings.
Later the host called CNN "a disinformation network, more powerful than QAnon and far more destructive."
QAnon is an internet conspiracy that claims that a group of Democratic leaders and other public figures are part of a global sex trafficking ring. Several of the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 told authorities they are followers of QAnon.
Media outlets have done extensive reporting on the subject over the last several years and some academics and pundits have called on public officials to declare the conspiracy a threat to national security.
While discussing perceptions about police shootings on his show Tuesday night, Carlson remarked about efforts to find out "where the public is getting all this false information, this disinformation."
"We spent all day trying to find the famous QAnon, which in the end we learned was not even a website. If it was, we could not find it," he said.
Carlson riffed about his staff checking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) Twitter feed because "we heard she traffics in disinformation" since "CNN told us," adding there was "nothing there."
"Next we called our many friends in the tight-knit intel community. Could Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich PutinRussia says 24 diplomats asked by U.S. to leave by September Is Ukraine Putin's Taiwan? Democrats find a tax Republicans can support MORE be putting this stuff out there? The Proud Boys? Alex Jones? Who is lying to America in ways that are certain to make us hate each other and certain to destroy our core institutions? Well, none of the above, actually. It wasn’t Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
Carlson's remarks about QAnon drew swift backlash on social media, with many critics interpreting his comments as his staff being unable to find information about the highly publicized conspiracy theory.
Tucker Carlson is a total fraud. It’s all an act. This is a guy who is, to my knowledge, the only person in tv history to have hosted shows on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC! At each, he adopted a persona that fit the network. It’s all a grift, folks. https://t.co/SzHs6mfpB8
— US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 24, 2021
Before he resigned in disgrace, Tucker Carlson's top writer was an active member of popular Qanon message boards like 4chan and 8chan. Tucker should've just called him. https://t.co/enb4XM1C1Q
— Max Burns (@themaxburns) February 24, 2021
"Next step in the whitewash: 'who is this ‘Q’ of which you speak? There is no website!' Deny, plead ignorance, misdirect..." tweeted Rep. Adam Kinzinger
Adam Daniel Kinzinger58 percent say Jan. 6 House committee is biased: poll Sunday shows - Delta variant, infrastructure dominate A new kind of hero? Last week's emotional TV may be a sign MORE (Ill.), one of former President Trump
Donald TrumpThe Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Facebook - White House, Dems play blame game over evictions The Memo: Left pins hopes on Nina Turner in Ohio after recent defeats Biden administration to keep Trump-era rule of turning away migrants during pandemic MORE's fiercest critics in the Republican Party.
Kinzinger added, "is there any question why people are confused? Quit lying, accept reality and use your energy to make us a better country."
Next step in the whitewash: “who is this ‘Q’ of which you speak? There is no website!” Deny, plead ignorance, misdirect... is there any question why people are confused? Quit lying, accept reality and use your energy to make us a better country. #Country1st #restoreourgop https://t.co/mYT4OAhmY8
— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) February 24, 2021
Last week, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany also came under fire after sending a tweet seen as a nod to the QAnon movement.
