Fox’s (NASDAQ:FOX) Tucker Carlson is in hot water again. The opinionated chat show host gave his thoughts on American immigration, and it has caused his show to lose 13 advertisers.
Tucker Carlson Loses Advertisers
Here’s what he said that has caused the debacle:
“As an economic matter, this is insane. It’s indefensible so nobody even tries to defend it. Instead, our leaders demand that we shut up and accept this. ‘We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor,’ they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided. ‘Immigration is a form of atonement; previous leaders of our country committed sins, we must pay for those sins by welcoming an endless chain of migrant caravans.’ That’s the argument they make.”
The Issue
The issue has been taken with his sentiment on immigration. Specifically, with the phrase “even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.” Now, the chat show host has lost 13 advertisers who are pulling their campaigns so as not to “align” with Tucker Carlson’s rhetoric.
The companies pulling the plug include IHOP, Just For Men, Voya Financial, Pacific Life, Zenni Optical, Nerd Wallet, Nautilus Inc., Minted, SmileDirectClub, Jaguar Land Rover, Ancestry.com, SCOTTeVEST, and United Explorer Credit Card.
Each of the companies gave a statement detailing their reason to boycott the show, but the general sentiment was that they did not want to affiliate with Carlson’s political views.
Opinion
The Tucker Carlson Fox show has always been politically driven. As host, Carlson has never been one to shy away from giving his opinion, which often opposes far left-leaning ideas. The risk of offense is great but so are the issues he covers. It will never be a show that could possibly appease everyone.
Fox Network is standing by its host, as are other advertisers such as Mitsubishi, which believes in the freedom of speech.
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Fox made the following statement:
“We cannot and will not allow voices like Tucker Carlson to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts […] Attempts were made last month to bully and terrorize Tucker and his family at their home. He is now once again being threatened via Twitter by far-left activist groups with deeply political motives. While we do not advocate boycotts, these same groups never target other broadcasters and operate under a grossly hypocritical double standard given their intolerance to all opposing points of view.”
Freedom of Speech
America has been in the throes of a war on the freedom of speech. The issue is compounded by companies too afraid to offend. Pulling the plug on these campaigns is too dramatic and hasty in my opinion. After all, the Carlson show has always tackled serious political issues and has never pulled any punches. If it did, then it would not offer viewers every side of the political spectrum.
Perhaps these 13 companies should advertise on morning children’s TV instead? That may be safer for snowflakes.
Featured Image: Flickr
