In a conversation with comedian Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III (a.k.a. “Theo Von”), ex-Fox News host Tucker Carlson distanced himself from David Duke, referring to the white supremacist and former Klan leader as a “fed.” Carlson also acted surprised that Duke would publicly support him, telling Von that he and Duke “don’t share a common culture.”

Carlson made the remarks on Von’s YouTube show This Past Weekend after he claimed that he’s “not interested in talking about race.”

“The system is completely rigged and you know that — you were asking how do you get reliable information about the news — the news media wanna talk about race,” Carlson told Von. “That’s like their main thing that they wanna talk about. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian.”

Carlson said that race is “not an interesting conversation because you can’t change your race” and added that it’s “not that interesting a topic to me, personally. I’m not interested in talking about race.” Although comments Carlson has made throughout his television career indicate otherwise.

He said what’s more interesting is that “America is being looted by a small number of people who are getting away with it,” and that if anyone asks questions about it they will be smeared as racist. Carlson joked that Von, who grew up in Louisiana, is automatically racist because David Duke is also from Louisiana.

Von told Carlson that he “used to lift weights with David Duke.”

“In prison?” Carlson asked, joking that he could “see you guys in the [prison] yard” with “all the Aryan Nation guys.”

Von told Carlson that he and Duke actually went to the same gym and that he occasionally saw him at a seafood restaurant he worked at. “So he’d pop in there and I’d watch him eat shrimp or whatever,” Von said. He also told Carlson that Duke came across as a “nice guy” and that there “was never any racial things.”

“I’ve never met him but I will say this — and I’m not saying he’s a fed, though he’s obviously a fed,” Carlson said. “But every time I’d get a new show — I don’t know anything about David Duke. I’m from La Jolla, California. He wasn’t quite as popular there. But every time I’d get a new show there’d be some news story ‘David Duke endorses Tucker Carlson.'”

Carlson laughed and said, “I don’t know you, I don’t know anything about you. I’m from La Jolla, okay? We don’t share a common culture.”

David Duke has repeatedly praised Tucker Carlson, and in one episode of his radio show remarked that he and Carlson talk about the same things. Duke asked how, given that, he could be an “evil guy.”

Carlson’s accusation that Duke is a “fed” is likewise unsurprising, considering his track record of making similar accusations, particularly against Trump supporter Ray Epps, a man he attempted to frame for the entire Jan. 6 insurrection. And right-wing media figures, including Carlson, have used such false flag conspiracies against anyone who makes them look bad.

From the Oct. 31, 2023 episode of This Past Weekend