CNN’s Jim Acosta Blasted Laura Ingraham And Called Tucker Carlson ‘Fox’s Chief White Power Correspondent’

Jim Acosta has had a long few years covering the Donald Trump White House, and now the CNN reporter is taking aim at some of the racist rhetoric found on another cable news network. The journalist blasted Fox News and two of its anchors, Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, most notably for their reactions to the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial for the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.

That guilty verdict earlier in the week drew relief from many and further calls for justice in the many instances of police brutality, especially against people of color. But on Fox News, various boogeyman arguments about fear of Black Lives Matter protesters and “autonomous zones” dominated the airwaves. Given that Carlson has openly advocated for the wildly racist “white replacement” theories multiple times, it’s no surprise that Acosta found time to comment on the anchor on Saturday.

But first he started with Ingraham, who has had her own history of racist viewpoints and fear-mongering in recent weeks. Acosta played a clip from her show talking about the “big lie” in America, which is apparently that systemic racism isn’t a problem across America in policing, education and housing policy, to name a few.

“Laura Ingraham, her only expertise in big lies is that she tells so many of them,” Acosta said. He then pivoted to Carlson, calling him “Fox’s Chief White Power Correspondent” and ripping his maniacal laugh-filled reaction to the guilty verdict.

Acosta said that his reaction “showed us all what’s under the hood” of his worldview.

“Tucker Carlson’s anger wasn’t about the actions of a police officer who murdered a man, but about the guilty verdict. Or as Carlson, Fox’s chief white power correspondent, described the decision, ‘Please don’t hurt us,’” Acosta said, noting that whether it’s not supposed to be taken seriously it’s extremely harmful rhetoric that is absorbed by viewers and manifests in horrible ways.

“Now you can call all of this an act or schtick. But these big, race-baiting lies have been spreading like a cancer on the far right,” he said.

It’s not all that uncommon for people working on different networks to criticize competitors, but this kind of direct attack is pretty striking from Acosta. He seems to have no problem calling out Ingraham or Carlson, and certainly had some strong words for both on Saturday.