Fox Hosts And Commentators Defend Tom Brokaw For Saying Hispanics Need To Assimilate

A day after former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw issued a lengthy Twitter apology for saying Hispanics need to “work harder at assimilation” during a Meet the Press roundtable discussion, a number of Fox hosts and commentators rallied to the veteran journalist’s defense, stating Brokaw had nothing to apologize for and he was a victim of reverse racism and PC culture run amok.

Towards the end of Sunday’s MTP broadcast attempted to explain why Republican voters in Middle America feel they need a border wall, claiming that he’s heard them say they don’t know if they want “brown grandbabies” and they are concerned about intermarriage and cultures conflicting with each other. Speaking for himself, he added the following observation:

“I also happen to believe that the Hispanics should work harder at assimilation. That’s one of the things I’ve been saying for a long time. You know, they ought not to be just codified in their communities but make sure that all their kids are learning to speak English, and that they feel comfortable in the communities. And that’s going to take outreach on both sides, frankly.”

Brokaw received some pushback on air, as PBS Newshour’s Yamich Alcindor said “the idea that we think Americans can only speak English, as if Spanish and other languages wasn’t always part of America, is, in some ways, troubling.” After intense backlash over his comments, Brokaw said he was “truly sorry” for his comments and thanked Alcindor for speaking up, adding that she’s a “wonderful colleague and an important voice.”

On Monday morning, Fox News senior political analyst and longtime anchor Brit Hume chimed in on Twitter about the controversy, saying he was sad to see Brokaw was taking heat over his remarks.

Sorry to see @tombrokaw catching hell for saying Hispanics need to do a better job of assimilating. This proves that any criticism of any non-white ethnic group is automatically considered racist and shows how the national consensus against racism has been weaponized.

— Brit Hume (@brithume) January 28, 2019

“Sorry to see @tombrokaw catching hell for saying Hispanics need to do a better job of assimilating,” Hume tweeted. “This proves that any criticism of any non-white ethnic group is automatically considered racist and shows how the national consensus against racism has been weaponized.”

In addition to Hume’s defense, Fox Business’s Stuart Varney brought on Fox News media analyst Howard Kurtz Monday to discuss the issue. And the two men largely agreed that Brokaw was getting a raw deal from the “PC police” for the crime of being a “little too candid.”

“His heart is in the right place,” Kurtz noted. “What did he say that was so terrible? I understand some Hispanics were offended, but PC police are after him. Every immigrant has been told going back to the early 1900s, assimilation is a way for you and your children to succeed. Brokaw said both sides should work together to bring that about.”

Varney responded by complaining that this “PC clamp-down” makes it difficult to “solve problems without speaking openly and freely,” causing Kurtz to agree with him and note that Brokaw “didn’t think he was saying anything controversial.”

“His wording was off,” the MediaBuzz host added. “I understand that. He was very quick to apologize but if you can’t talk about any immigrant group, their children should learn English and learn to assimilate in the community, that is the secret to American success. And people can push back on this or that comment but overall we need to have a candid conversation about this. Maybe Brokaw’s problem he was a little too candid.”

Varney replied, “I would love to see a real candid conversation.”

Meanwhile, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists blasted “both the commentary and apology,” saying his “‘sorry some Hispanics were offended’ apology” is “not an apology at all” and “further demonstrates Brokaw’s lack of understanding of what forced assimilation does to communities.”

Watch the clip above, via Fox News.