After Tucker Carlson Bashes Immigrants, Pacific Life Temporarily Pulls Ads

on February 23, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - FEBRUARY 23: An iPhone case with Tucker Carlson's face is left in a chair during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2... NATIONAL HARBOR, MD - FEBRUARY 23: An iPhone case with Tucker Carlson's face is left in a chair during the Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center February 23, 2018 in National Harbor, Maryland. U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to address CPAC, the largest annual gathering of conservatives in the nation. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Pacific Life Insurance Company said it would pull advertising from Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show “in the coming weeks” after Carlson implied on air last week that immigrants make the United States “poorer and dirtier and more divided.”

“Our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this,” Carlson said on his show Friday, referring to American political leadership. “We have a moral obligation to admit the world’s poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided. Immigration is a form of atonement.”

A social media campaign on Friday highlighted the clip and noted that Pacific Life’s commercial came on after Carlson’s comments about immigrants.

“That segment ended with an ad from @pacificlife,” tweeted Jordan Uhl of MoveOn.

Before the day was done, Pacific Life released a statement.

Indeed, the job search website, also said in a tweet Monday that it had “no plans” to advertise on Carlson’s show “in the future.” Asked to clarify the tweet, Tara Lambropoulos, a spokesperson for the company, told TPM in part: “Indeed has not advertised on the Tucker Carlson Tonight program in over a month, and has no plans to do so in the future.”

Pacific Life did not immediately respond to TPM’s request for comment Monday regarding whether it planned to advertise on Carlson’s show in the future.

On Friday, Fox News spokesperson Carly Shanahan framed the issue as one of Carlson’s “free speech” in a statement to the Washington Post. She sent the same statement to TPM Monday. 

“It is a shame that left wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed ‘media watchdogs’ weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech,” Shanahan said. “We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions.”

H/t Salon.

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