Fox News host Tucker Carlson claimed Thursday night that billionaire philanthropist George Soros—a frequent target of anti-Semitic tropes from the right—was “getting a return on his money” after his guest said Soros “wants to watch America burn.”
Carlson’s remarks came hours after Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner apologized for her co-hosts interrupting and cutting off former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s near-conspiratorial rant on Soros, who he blamed for violence at protests against police brutality.
Bringing on former Army Ranger sniper Ryan Cleckner to discuss a crime surge in Minneapolis following the George Floyd protests, Carlson and his guest argued that the city council’s vote to eliminate police funding was directly responsible. Cleckner, meanwhile, also pointed the finger at Soros for donating money to Democratic political races and left-wing causes.
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“This is happening in blue states with blue governors and blue cities with blue mayors and blue [district attorneys], many of whom by the way have had their campaigns funded by George Soros and many other left-wing activists that just want to watch America burn,” Cleckner exclaimed. “They are getting what they pay for, it is so laughable that they are shocked at this result and it’s so sad that these are real people that are being affected by this.”
Carlson was in full agreement with his guest.
“You are absolutely right, he did pay for a lot of this and he’s definitely getting a return on his money,” the far-right host stated. “He usually does.”
Several Fox News personalities and guests have come under fire in the past for peddling conspiracies about the Jewish investor that have been seen as anti-Semitic, specifically the belief that Soros is a shadowy puppeteer controlling arms of the government and society.
The network banned Judicial Watch’s Chris Farrell in 2018 after the then-frequent Fox guest baselessly claimed on Lou Dobbs’ Fox Business show that the “Soros-occupied State Department” was responsible for the migrant caravans. Dobbs also has a long history of trafficking in Soros conspiracies, claiming Soros’ “tentacles reach into various non-government organizations and nonprofits.”
Several Jewish organizations and groups, meanwhile, called on the network to apologize last year and ban regular guest Joe diGenova after the Trump ally alleged Soros was in control of “very large parts” of the State Department during an appearance on Dobbs’ program.
