Did Fox News Bring on a White Nationalist to Discuss Critical Race Theory?
Last night, Fox News host Laura Ingraham invited Daniel Concannon onto her program to discuss Critical Race Theory (CRT). Concannon had recently resigned from his position as the director of an after-school program in New Hampshire over training that he claimed discriminated against him for being white. His resignation letter, which actually contains the phrase “I can’t even,” complains that the training was meant to endorse the “dehumanization and hatred of white people.” A few days earlier, Concannon’s story was featured on Tucker Carlson’s program, where he was hailed as a brave hero for standing up to the evils of CRT.
During his segment on The Ingraham Angle, Concannon repeatedly argued that he wanted New Hampshire to remain “normal,” but a quick glance at his Twitter account raises questions about what exactly he considers to be normal. Concannon follows a litany of accounts associated with white nationalists, including Nicholas J. Fuentes, white nationalist and leader of the so-called “Groyper Army.” Other follows include Lana Loktoff and Henrik Palmgren, white supremacist founders of alt-right media company Red Ice TV, and The Unz Review, a website featuring articles by avowed white supremacists funded by Holocaust denier and businessman Ron Unz. Concannon has retweeted many of these accounts, as well as the account of white nationalist organization VDARE.
Concannon is careful not to be too extreme in his own writings, though he does seem to adhere to the white genocide conspiracy theory that has inspired several white supremacist mass shootings over the last few years. Most of Concannon’s recent posts stick to the topic of CRT, but he also expresses disdain for health officials and mask mandates.
Did Laura Ingraham or Tucker Carlson know of Concannon’s white nationalist connections before agreeing to amplify his grievances? Will they continue to feature his story despite his apparent extremist leanings? I hope the answer to both questions is “no,” but I’m not optimistic.
As for CRT, if it’s true that some aspect of its teachings has led to a man with white nationalist tendencies to leave the public school system, then, despite the bellyaching from the right, maybe it’s a good thing after all.
