Tucker Carlson asks 'what is a white supremacist' after Biden's promise to stamp out extremism

Tucker Carlson on Wednesday asked ‘what exactly is a white supremacist’ after Joe Biden’s promise to stamp out political extremism.    

The Fox host said in his opening monologue: ‘Now that we’re waging war on white supremacists, can somebody tell us in very clear language what a white supremacist is?

‘We should know specifically and precisely who exactly he has declared war on. We have a right to know that. 

‘Innocent people could be hurt in this war. They usually are.

‘There could be collateral damage in this war. And the casualties will be Americans. So again, what is a white supremacist? You might be surprised to learn just how broad the definition for that has become.’ 

Carlson’s comments came on the day Democrat Biden was officially sworn into office, denouncing ‘political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat’. 

But Carlson said the media is ‘withholding information the president is not well’, adding: ‘You knew for certain Joe Biden isn’t well. Everyone in Washington knows that. 

He wasn’t the only Fox host to take a stab at Biden. Sean Hannity called President Biden’s address to the nation ‘forgettable’ and ‘full of cliches.’   

 In his speech Wednesday, Biden denounced the ‘racism, nativism, fear, demonization,’ that propelled the assault on Capitol Hill by an overwhelmingly white mob of Trump supporters who carried symbols of hate, including the Confederate battle flag.

‘A cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us,’ Biden said in the nearly 23-minute-long speech promising to heal a divided nation. 

‘A cry that can’t be any more desperate or any more clear. And now a rise of political extremism, white supremacy, domestic terrorism that we must confront and we will defeat.’

Compared to his immediate predecessors, three of whom attended Wednesday’s inauguration, Biden is the first president to directly address the ills of white supremacy in an inaugural speech. 

Arguing that ‘not many Americans’ support white supremacy, Carlson on his show then reeled off a list he claimed had been labeled as white supremacy by some, including the Fourth of July, celebrating Columbus day and voting for Donald Trump.  

He added: ‘Here’s the problem. Let’s say you don’t buy those definitions. Let’s say you’re for example white but poor, and you have trouble accepting the idea that you are benefiting from some kind of structural advantage. 

‘You better shut up about it if you know what’s good for you because according to the United States Army, the ‘denial of white privilege’ is a classic sign of, yes, white supremacy.’

He also insisted that the media had been withholding information about Biden’s ailing health, saying: ‘No one said it out loud, not a worry. They withheld that news from you as they have for months. So much for speaking truth to power.’ 

Later in the show Carlson touched on Trump’s Twitter ban, arguing that if Biden really wanted unity he should call on ‘on his allies and the monopolies in Silicon Valley to stop censoring people, Americans’.  

If Biden did that, Carlon said he ‘would unequivocally praise him’, adding: ‘I think all people of principle would do that.’

Hannity said on his show: ‘Joe predictably meandered his way through a truly unremarkable, totally forgettable, prerehearsed set of remarks. 

‘The rest of the media mob were flat out lying to the American people, as usual. This was not in any way, shape, or form a memorable speech.’

He said it was ‘laughable’ that Biden had picked unity for the theme of the address, saying: ‘After four years of outright lying, conspiracy theories, witch hunts, one hoax after the other, vitriol, nonstop hysteria, two impeachments, including one that is still unconstitutionally ongoing, Biden’s hollow calls for unity … [are] total and complete B.S.’ 

Biden delivered his inaugural address on the very platform that the insurrectionist mob scaled two weeks ago to breach the Capitol building, vandalizing federal property and taking selfies on the Senate floor. 

The riot left at least five people dead, including a Capitol police officer.

The rioters, some espousing racist and anti-Semitic views and conspiracy theories, were incited by baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the November presidential election. 

Some attempted to stop Congress from certifying the Electoral College results, in which Black and Latino voters played a significant role in handing victory to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

‘To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words,’ Biden said in his speech. ‘It requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy. Unity.’