Fox News' Tucker Carlson sparks backlash for 'racist' and 'dangerous' segment on Rep. Ilhan Omar

Tucker Carlson.
(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is under fire for a recent segment about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), which a CNN panel on Wednesday tore into as "racist" and "dangerous."

Carlson on his show on Tuesday went after Omar, who came to the United States with her family at a young age amid Somalia's civil war, CNN reports. The Fox News host accused Omar of having "undisguised contempt for the United States and for its people" and said that she's "living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country."

Omar fired back at Carlson on Twitter, labeling him a "racist fool."

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Carlson's segment drew backlash on Wednesday including from a CNN panel, with Alisyn Camerota criticizing his comments as "dangerous," while John Berman, amid a discussion of the segment, suggested some were attempting to "create intellectual depth to what, to many, just is a racist comment," Mediaite reports. "A flat out racist comment, or offensive comment, suggesting that people shouldn't be allowed in the country."

President Trump weighed in to this controversy on Wednesday morning, retweeting a post from conservative commentator Mark Levin that read, "Once again, CNN comes to the defense of rabid anti-Semite Ilhan Omar." Watch Carlson's original comments via Media Matters for America below. Brendan Morrow

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.