Tucker Carlson attempted to "whitewash" his former head writer's racist, sexist and homophobic behavior

The Washington Post

Carlson's addressing his former top writer Blake Neff's resignation last night was a "feeble attempt to wish away the whole matter," says Erik Wemple. "The prevailing emotion from Carlson isn’t regret or remorse," says Wemple. "It’s anger — anger that he has lost his top writer to a mob of 'ghouls.' And what an anger it is: If there’s been one through-line on Tucker Carlson Tonight, it has been the smearing of CNN. Whenever CNN has a controversy, Carlson highlights whatever breakdowns may have occurred, along with his usual conspiratorial commentary. To lose his top writer over a CNN scoop that had every fact, every allegation buttoned down just so — that had to have disappointed the highly rated host." Wemple adds: "The short monologue furnished plenty of evidence that Carlson can’t level with his audience. Instead of detailing what Neff had posted on AutoAdmit, Carlson euphemized those postings with all the sophistication of a seasoned Washington operative. To recap: 'What Blake wrote anonymously was wrong. We don’t endorse those words. They have no connection to the show. It is wrong to attack people for qualities they cannot control.' That’s oblique enough that viewers of Tucker Carlson Tonight might have come away with the impression that Neff hadn’t written vile racist and sexist commentary in a forum where he was free to express his innermost feelings...As noted above, Neff drafted Carlson’s nightly segments. The notion that, somehow, the innermost thoughts of the show’s top writer have 'no connection to the show' is like saying that pizza sauce has no connection to pizza."