Screenshot via Fox News
- Fox News' Tucker Carlson called Obama "a hater" Tuesday night.
- Obama told CNN that some right-wing media "capitalizes on" stoking racial resentment.
- "That guy is a hater. For real," Carlson said, accusing Obama of "dividing the country."
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Fox News' Tucker Carlson called former President Barack Obama "a hater" for criticizing conservative media and mocking opponents of critical race theory.
"Barack Obama spent eight years dividing the country along racial lines. You'd think that'd be enough, more than most people do, you'd think he'd retreat to Hawaii or Martha's Vineyard, but he's back to let you know that if you have any problem with your kid's teachers telling you that some races are better than others, you, my friend, are the racist," Carlson said in his Tuesday night show.
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper that aired Monday, Obama called out right-wing media outlets for stoking racial resentment.
"There are certain right-wing media venues, for example, that monetize and capitalize on stoking the fear and resentment of a white population that is witnessing a changing America and see demographic changes, and do everything they can to give people a sense that their way of life is threatened," Obama said.
"Low and behold, the single most important issue to them apparently is critical race theory. Who knew that was the threat to our Republic," Obama added, chuckling.
Carlson responded: "That guy is a hater. For real."
-Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) June 9, 2021
Republican lawmakers around the country are on a quest to ban educators from teaching concepts based in critical race theory in schools.
Critical race theory broadly posits that racism in the United States comes not just from individuals being bigoted or prejudiced, but is structural, systemic, and firmly embedded in the US' institutions and fundamentally shapes the country Americans know today.
Conservatives, like Carlson, disagree with critical race theory's central tenet that racism in America is widespread and systematic, and argue that teaching white children that racism is systemic is akin to teaching them to hate themselves.