Editor's note: Bradley Blankenship is a Prague-based American journalist, political analyst and freelance reporter. The article reflects the author's opinions, not necessarily the views of CGTN.

On Monday night, Fox News political talk show host Tucker Carlson distanced himself from the extremely racist and sexist online remarks of his show's top writer and offered no apology before announcing a "long-planned" vacation from the show. 

While the writer's comments were anonymous and supposedly not the views of the show (as Carlson said), the views are clearly shared by Carlson and also managed to find themselves into the show through coded speech. This event is yet another clear example that Fox News – especially the Tucker Carlson Tonight show – is deeply bigoted. 

The former writer, Blake Neff, was revealed by CNN Business to have been posting bigoted remarks anonymously on a forum known for its offensive content. It was not a one-off – this was going on for years and the remarks are staggering. There is a stream of vitriolic comments against Black people, Asians, women and others that have continued even into the past several months and weeks. 

After being exposed, Neff resigned and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace released a statement condemning his speech. 

"Neff's abhorrent conduct on this forum was never divulged to the show or the network until Friday, at which point we swiftly accepted his resignation," Scott and Wallace wrote. "Make no mistake, actions such as his cannot and will not be tolerated at any time in any part of our work force."

Carlson, who has frequently lauded Neff as a brilliant writer and a key part of the show's creative direction on numerous occasions, did not address Neff's contributions to his show on Monday night.

"We don't endorse those words, they have no connection to the show. It is wrong to attack people for qualities they cannot control. In this country we judge people for what they do, not for how they were born," Carlson said.

However, it's not incidental that an obvious white supremacist was a writer for Fox's flagship nightly show. Carlson's own statements both privately and publicly contradict his claim that the words of his former writer have had no impact on his show.

Carlson has used his platform to escalate hostility against "foreigners," undocumented and documented alike. He has claimed in the past that immigrants make America "dirtier" and has praised "European culture" and "Western civilization" as superior – once saying that "white men" deserve credit for "creating civilization."  

Last week, he attacked Senator Tammy Duckworth – an Iraq War veteran and double amputee being vetted as a possible vice presidential candidate for the Democratic Party – by suggesting she hates America along with one of his favorite targets, Representative Ilhan Omar. Both politicians are women of color. 

"We have to preserve our nation and heritage," said a caption beneath pictures of the two women on his show. This wasn't a white supremacist dog whistle but a foghorn that many were quick to point out.

To no one's surprise, white supremacists like Richard Spencer have praised Carlson for his show – because he is one of them. 

Recordings of Carlson himself picked up by Media Matters and released in 2019 demonstrate how deep his personal vitriol goes, especially against ethnicities under attack by U.S.-launched wars. In them, Carlson engages in unhinged attacks against seemingly every imaginable group with a smug attitude to boot. 

"They can just shut the f*** up and obey, is my view. And, you know, the second we leave, they're going to be calling for us to return, because they can't govern themselves," Carlson said in 2006 while commenting on the war in Iraq.

In 2012, Carlson said that "Iran deserves to be annihilated" because "we [the United States] are the only country with the moral authority… the only country that doesn't seek hegemony in the world.”

While Carlson has eased up on the issue of American aggression – even attacking neocon darling John Bolton to his face and hosting anti-war voices on his program – it was still racism that motivated this. 

"Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys – that's why it wasn't worth invading," as Carlson himself said. 

Carlson's racist tropes have merely evolved depending on political expediency – especially now against Asians, especially Chinese, who he is scapegoating over the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar attacks against immigrants and other minorities that are his trademark have not relented.  

All of this behavior, which very clearly demonstrates his own views to be totally in line with Blake Neff's, explains why he didn't issue an apology on Monday night's program. Instead, he put quite a considerable amount of effort to go on the attack precisely because he isn't sorry. 

"Self-righteousness also has its costs," Carlson said. "We are all human. When we pretend we are holy, we are lying. When we pose as blameless in order to hurt other people, we are committing the gravest sin of all, and we will be punished for it."

Ironically, both Neff and Carlson have made clear in their remarks that they don't consider many other groups to be equal to whites by using dehumanizing and vitriolic language. Yet, Tucker Carlson Tonight appeals to humanity in attacking those who feel "holy" in pointing out the obvious one-to-one connection between his own views and those of his top writer. 

Any reasonable person wouldn't buy this line. Fox News has exposed itself yet again as being a hotbed for white supremacy and bigotry as its flagship program is demonstrably hosted and written by bigots. Hopefully, Carlson's vacation is indeed long – permanent even.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)