Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Tucker Carlson Slammed After Trying To Claim George Floyd Actually Wasn't Killed By Police

Tucker Carlson Slammed After Trying To Claim George Floyd Actually Wasn't Killed By Police
Fox News

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed when an officer of the Minneapolis Police Department knelt on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

Once videos of Floyd's death by asphyxiation circulated widely on the internet, a protest movement picked up steam. The remainder of 2020 saw countless protests in cities across the US and the entire world.


Those demonstrations called for an end to the racist police killings of black and brown people, a list that numbers so many more than just George Floyd.

Floyd's death occurred less than a year ago, but Fox News' Tucker Carlson has already begun trying to rewrite history. During his show Wednesday evening, Carlson claimed that Floyd died of a drug overdose.

Carlson spewed the lie while he incorrectly refuted Democrats' claims in the ongoing impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump for his role in inciting the January 6 Capitol insurrection:

"The known facts of what happened on January 6 deviate in very important ways from the story [Democrats] are now telling us...and in many places the known facts bear no resemblance to the story they're telling. They're just flat out lying."
"The question is, why are they lying."

Then, under the auspices of providing context, Carlson told another falsehood, this time about the death of George Floyd:

"Beginning on Memorial Day, [Black Lives Matter] and their sponsors in corporate America completely changed this country."
"How'd they do that? They used the sad death of a man called George Floyd to upend our society. Months later we learned that the story they told us about Floyd's death was an utter lie."
"There was no physical evidence that George Floyd was murdered by a cop. The autopsy showed that George Floyd almost certainly died of a drug overdose--Fentanyl."

That is not true.

There was physical evidence George Floyd was murdered by a police officer.

Two autopsies concluded that.

First, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and declared that Floyd's death was cause by "a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s)."

The Medical Examiner cited fentanyl intoxication as an "other significant condition," but not as a cause of death.

Hennepin County Medical Examiner

Floyd's family also ordered an independent autopsy which concluded Floyd died of a "homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain."

So whichever autopsy is cited, Floyd's death was ruled a homicide.

Take a look at Carlson's nonfactual rant for yourself.

As the clip circulated on Twitter, people expressed outrage.

They called for Fox News to take Carlson off the air and they pushed for boycotts of the few sponsors still advertising during Carlson's show.





Even Fox News itself has deemed Carlson's comments nothing anybody should take seriously. The conservative television network, in defending Carlson against accusations of slander, argued that Carlson's cannot be believed by viewers, NPR reported.

Mary Kay Vyskocil, the judge overseeing that case, laid it out in her opinion:

"Fox persuasively argues, that given Mr. Carlson's reputation, any reasonable viewer 'arrive[s] with an appropriate amount of skepticism' about the statement he makes."
"Whether the Court frames Mr. Carlson's statements as 'exaggeration,' 'non-literal commentary,' or simply bloviating for his audience, the conclusion remains the same — the statements are not actionable."

Nonetheless, Carlson's comments continue to fill the airwaves and kick around on Twitter. But perhaps the now legally ordered skepticism will result in the fact checking necessary to wade through the lies and the truths.

More from People

Screenshots from @caroclaireburkeee's TikTok video
@caroclaireburkeee/TikTok

TikToker Reveals Why There Aren't More Male Kindergarten Teachers—And She's Got A Point

In recent discussions surrounding public education in the United States, there have been many "make it make sense," "the math ain't mathin'," and "thanks to the patriarchy" moments.

One such discussion, led by TikToker Caro Claire Burke, has gone viral on the platform for digging into why young boys are "falling behind" in their education, to the point that many are in favor of boys starting school a year later than girls, and why there aren't more male teachers in the classroom, acting as role models for these young boys.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @yourbestmisha's TikTok
@yourbestiemisha/TikTok

Gay TikToker Tears Up After Receiving Heartfelt Message From Childhood Bully 20 Years Later

We all make mistakes, and for most of them, a genuine apology and attempt to do better will make up for them. But sometimes, we make mistakes that even an apology will not make up for.

Still, there are other things, like being bullied, where being apologized to would really help us heal. But for most of us, those well-earned apologies will never come.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jim Acosta; AI-generated  Joaquin Oliver
The Jim Acosta Show/YouTube

Jim Acosta AI Interview Backlash

Former CNN White House correspondent and independent journalist Jim Acosta is under fire after posting a YouTube interview with an AI-generated avatar of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, one of 17 people killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The video, which Acosta promoted on social media as a “show you don’t want to miss,” was published on August 4, the day that would have been Oliver’s 25th birthday. It features a digitally resurrected version of the late teen, created with generative AI based on an old photograph. The avatar appears wearing a black beanie and jacket, its expression somber yet unnervingly lifelike.

Keep ReadingShow less
DJ Calvin Harris
Chelsea Lauren/WireImage/Getty Images

DJ Calvin Harris Divides Fans After Sharing Graphic Photos Of His Wife's Placenta Being Turned Into Pills

Pregnancy and child birth can be beautiful things, but there are parts of the whole experience that we don't necessarily want to look at—especially when it's someone else's.

DJ Calvin Harris and his wife, Vick Hope, recently welcomed their first child, Micah, into the world, after Hope arranged for a home water birth.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Baby Was Just Born From A 31-Year-Old Embryo—And The Jokes Are Hilariously On Point
Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images; @iambfendii/Twitter

Hilarious Jokes Follow Birth of 31-Year-Old Embryo Baby!

Move over, Gen Z—there’s a new baby on the block—and he’s technically your elder.

An Ohio couple recently welcomed a son conceived from an embryo frozen for 31 years, setting a new record for the longest-frozen embryo to result in a successful birth.

Keep ReadingShow less