Online writings linked to the gunman show he was motivated by a belief that the white race was dying out, like several other mass shooters before him. The "great replacement theory" is white supremacist rhetoric that warns of an elaborate conspiracy by Democratic and Western elites - and possibly orchestrated by Jewish people - to systematically replace white Americans with non-white people through immigration, interracial marriage and other means. Other times he’s referenced the theory by its name. "The Democratic Party has decided that rather than convince you, people who are born here, that their policies are helping you and making the country better and stronger, they will change the electorate," Carlson said, minutes after saying he wasn’t sure what the theory meant.įox News host Tucker Carlson on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on May 17, 2022, as captured by the Internet Archive. "It is everywhere in the last two days, and we are still not sure exactly what it is."Ĭarlson’s critics and viewers would have been right to think twice about his feigned ignorance.Ĭarlson has promoted the core principles behind "great replacement theory" hundreds of times - including on his May 17 program. "You’ve heard a lot about the ‘great replacement theory’ recently," Carlson said on his primetime show May 17. Fox News host Tucker Carlson falsely claimed he was unfamiliar with the racist and antisemitic "great replacement theory" cited by the mass shooter in Buffalo, New York.