Here's how Fox News chose to spin Trump's 'shithole' remarks

Tucker Carlson.
(Image credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

On CNN and MSNBC, a bipartisan array of pundits and lawmakers condemned President Trump's "shithole" remarks, but on Fox News, Tucker Carlson rushed to Trump's defense, blaming the backlash on overzealous political correctness, while Jesse Waters downplayed the comments as how "the forgotten men and women in America talk at the bar."

On The Five, Watters said Trump's remarks were "a little offensive," but "there's so many more offensive things happening in the world. ISIS beheading people. There's crime in the inner city. There are people getting kicked off welfare." Trump was talking "about third-world countries," he continued. "You're bringing in people that have very low skills and low education." (That's actually not true, GOP pollster Frank Luntz noted on Twitter: "43 percent of immigrants from 'shithole' African countries have a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 33 percent of the overall American population.")

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.