Politics - News Analysis

Conservatives Are Now Boycotting Red Lobster — And For the Most Ridiculous Reason Ever

Red Lobster is pulling advertisements from Tucker Carlson’s prime-time Fox News show amid an ongoing boycott against the conservative host for comments he made about illegal immigration and women’s pay…and conservatives are now threatening a boycott.

“Red Lobster’s advertising buying guidelines reflect our core values and commitment to supporting programming that represents the highest standards of good taste, fair practice and objectivity,” the seafood chain said in a statement Tuesday.

“We reserve the right to make changes to our purchases when the dialogue is no longer in line with our criteria,” the company said.

Carlson sparked outrage last month after he claimed illegal immigration made the U.S. “poorer and dirtier.” More recently, he cast doubt on the claim that higher pay for women is a “victory for feminism.” Activists like ThinkProgress founder Judd Legum renewed the boycott, specifically calling on Red Lobster to pull its ads.

According to The Wrap, Carlson has lost more than 20 sponsors since the initial backlash, but due to the timing of Red Lobster’s announcement, the restaurant chain may be the first sponsor to pull ads from the show over the women’s pay comments.

Fox News responded by recycling a statement from last month that attacked “far-left” activist groups for attempting to censor Carlson.

“We cannot and will not allow voices like Tucker Carlson to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts from the likes of Moveon.org, Media Matters and Sleeping Giants,” Fox News said. “Attempts were made last month to bully and terrorize Tucker and his family at their home. He is now once again being threatened via Twitter by far-left activist groups with deeply political motives. While we do not advocate boycotts, these same groups never target other broadcasters and operate under a grossly hypocritical double standard given their intolerance to all opposing points of view.”

And the boycotts have begun:

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