LIfe insurance company Pacific Life is cutting ties, at least for now, with Fox News host Tucker Carlson in light of racist comments on Tucker Carlson Tonight Thursday night.
When discussing immigration policy, Carlson said,
It’s indefensible, so nobody even tries to defend it. Instead, our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer, and dirtier, and more divided. Immigration is a form of atonement. Previous leaders of our country committed sins; we must pay for those sins by welcoming an endless chain of migrant caravans.
An advertisement for Pacific Life insurance came on after the segment ended. On Friday, the company tweeted,
Pacific Life’s national advertising campaign runs on numerous networks and cable stations and on a variety of news, business, and sports programs. One of our ads appeared on Tucker Carlson’s show last night where Mr. Carlson made a number of statements regarding immigration. As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson’s statements. Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take pride in. We will not be advertising on Mr. Carlson’s show in the coming weeks as we reevaluate our relationship with his program.
A message from Pacific Life: pic.twitter.com/bDq9hzia53
— Pacific Life (@pacificlife) December 14, 2018
Social media pressure is mounting on other advertisers, too, particularly job posting site Indeed.com.
https://twitter.com/leobutterfly/status/1073964524271820800
Thanks for shedding light on this Shaun. Canceling all our business with @indeed. Can’t support them with a clear conscience.
— Ahmed Hashim (@ahashim) December 15, 2018
https://twitter.com/pytaylor88/status/1074103550995685376
Carlson frequently advocates racist positions on his show, particularly in light of the recent caravan of refugees and migrants coming to the southern border from Central America.
A Fox News spokesperson told the Daily Dot, “It is a shame that left-wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed ‘media watchdogs’ weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech. We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.”
As of this writing, no other companies have pulled their advertising from Carlson’s show.
The Daily Dot reached out to Pacific Life and Indeed for comment, but neither responded by press time.
H/T The Washington Post