Tucker Carlson tells his viewers that the country's white supremacy problem 'is a hoax'

"White supremacy is the ideology that has killed more Americans than any other terroristic ideology in the history of America," Wesley Lowery said on Sunday's "Reliable Sources."

On Monday John Avlon wrote about the feedback loop of "hate and extremism, cascading copy-cat violence and a pattern of white supremacists citing each other — and the President — in online forums like 8chan, where hate and conspiracy theories proliferate."

Jelani Cobb came out Tuesday with a new column about "how the trail of American white supremacy led to El Paso."

And the Los Angeles Times has an editorial in Wednesday's paper titled, "As the El Paso massacre showed once again, white supremacy is the poison in our well."

I'm mentioning all of this because Tucker Carlson says the country's white supremacy problem "is a hoax. Just like the Russia hoax. It's a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power."

This nonsensical claim came after several days of scrutiny of the El Paso suspect's racist views. Somehow Carlson asserted that "the whole thing is a lie." He downplayed the threat by saying it's "actually not a real problem in America. The combined membership of every white supremacist organization in this country would be able to fit inside a college football stadium."

The point, of course, is that men like the suspect in El Paso aren't "members" of an "organization."

Jonah Goldberg, knowing President Trump is a fan of Carlson's show, responded by saying this on Twitter: "If Trump apes these talking points, it'll be awful for the country and devastating for Trump's presidency."

The Fox factor

At the same time, over on MSNBC, "host Chris Hayes suggested there is 'no distance' between the anti-immigration rhetoric published in the El Paso shooter's racist manifesto and commentary uttered by Fox News opinion hosts like Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Brian Kilmeade," Mediaite's Caleb Ecarma wrote.

We made a similar point on "CNN Tonight" on Monday, and I said there's no evidence that the suspect watched Fox's "invasion" and "illegals" coverage, but millions of viewers DO watch it every day...

A false equivalence

Oliver Darcy emails: Since the Dayton shooter's extreme left-wing Twitter account came to light, there have been many comparisons between him and the suspected El Paso terrorist. A lot of Q's have been asked about why news organizations are highlighting the alt-right politics of the suspected El Paso gunman, while spending relatively little time talking about the left-wing views of the Dayton killer.

But it's not as cut and dried as some people are making it seem. There is a key difference between the two cases: The El Paso shooter left behind an online post explaining that he was committing his act of terror because of his racist politics. In the Dayton case, police say there's no indication so far that the shooter's politics were a factor. That is a crucial distinction...

Gilroy is now being investigated as domestic terror

"The 19-year-old gunman who used an assault-style rifle to shoot people at the Gilroy Garlic Festival last week had a 'target list' made up of religious institutions and political groups of both parties, as well as federal buildings and courthouses," authorities said Tuesday, per CNN's latest story. "Given the threats to nationwide organizations, the FBI is opening a domestic terrorist investigation into the shooting..."

"It's always going to be too soon"

Comedy Central host Arturo Castro wrote and filmed a sketch last year about gun violence. Castro plays a Central American immigrant who came to the United States and is stunned to find out about the country's mass shooting culture. "If he is not in a cartel," his character asks, "then where is he getting his guns?" His teacher tells him, "You can get guns anywhere. It's America. I can get you a gun." The character ultimately decides to return to Central America.

This sketch, titled "Welcome to America," was "originally set to air on last week's 'Alternatino' but was pushed to this week out of sensitivity for the Gilroy, Calif. mass shooting," THR's Katie Kilkenny wrote.

Then Castro and the producers thought about delaying it AGAIN due to last weekend's attacks. But "after a lot of soul-searching, I realized that it's always going to be too soon as long as we keep allowing this to happen and don't come together to make things change," Castro said. So the sketch aired on Tuesday night...

Universal's "The Hunt" is bound to be controversial

"In the aftermath of mass shootings within days of one another that shocked and traumatized the nation, Universal is re-evaluating its strategy" for a "certain-to-be-controversial satire" film called "The Hunt." It is set for release on September 27, THR's Kim Masters and Tatiana Siegel report. "The violent, R-rated film from producer Jason Blum's Blumhouse follows a dozen MAGA types who wake up in a clearing and realize they are being stalked for sport by elite liberals."

Per THR, "ESPN pulled an ad for the film" over the weekend, and "an ESPN source says no spots for the film will appear on the network in the coming weeks." Details here...

FOR THE RECORD

-- The Washington Post's main homepage headline on Tuesday night, looking ahead to Wednesday's visits: "Trump to face skepticism, protests in El Paso, Dayton" (Washington Post)

-- After "Deadline: White House" on Tuesday, host Nicolle Wallace said she misspoke "about Trump calling for an extermination of Latinos." She tweeted: "My mistake was unintentional and I'm sorry. Trump's constant assault on people of color and his use of the word 'invasion' to describe the flow of immigrants is intentional and constant." (Twitter)

-- About the New York Times' Monday night headline headache: The Times admitted that "TRUMP URGES UNITY VS. RACISM" was a bad headline... (Daily Beast)

-- Gabriel Snyder spoke with New York Times exec editor Dean Baquet, who "doesn't see himself as the vanguard of the resistance," although that's what some (many?) Times readers want him to be. Very interesting quotes from Baquet here... (CJR)

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