In a move that possibly constitutes a death wish, Tucker Carlson slammed K-Pop super group BTS' recent appearance at the White House to discuss anti-Asian hate in America. And as a result, the Fox News personality has awakened the BTS ARMY.
In a televised segment, Carlson said:
"Things have gotten very bad for Joe Biden, both public-facing and internally. What are they doing about it? Well, they broke glass in case of emergency and invited a Korean pop group to speak at the White House today."
He then played a short clip, where BTS' RM introduces BTS, says it's an honor to be invited to the White House, and states that their purpose in coming was to "discuss the important issues of anti-Asian hate crimes, Asian inclusion, and diversity."
Carlson's main gripe was to criticize President Biden for inviting a Korean group to discuss hate crimes in the U.S., implying that inviting BTS to the White House was merely a PR move and not a move of any real substance
While we at Kpopstarz also have our own reservations about the White House inviting BTS speak on anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S., Carlson's base message in his criticism seems center, not on the nuances of the Asian vs. Asian American experience, but stems mostly from his distaste towards the White House doing this sort of thing in general.
Later in the segment, Carlson brings on the controversial Candace Owens, who then proceeds to pit the Asian/Asian American and Black communities against each other - which seems to entirely undermine any good faith criticism Carlson had towards the BTS-Biden meeting.
Unsurprisingly, this negative coverage on BTS' White House visit elicited the wrath of the BTS ARMY.
Possibly one of the largest and most fervent fan groups on the internet, the members of BTS' giant fan base are referred to as members of ARMY. Devoted to defending their biases on all corners of the internet, the ARMY has become notorious for rocketing BTS to the top of social engagement awards, and also throwing their weight behind social and political causes.
Previously, the ARMY has been mobilized for good when credited in part for drowning out the #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag on Twitter with fancams and memes of their favorite idols, crashing the iWatch app that the Dallas police department was using to solicit tips to arrest Black Lives Matter protesters, and for trolling former President Donald Trump by reserving thousands of tickets to his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma and then never showing up, forcing the former president to speak to a much smaller crowd of around 6,000 attendees than the 1 million he had bragged about on Twitter.
Now, the BTS ARMY has been mobilized once again - to take down Tucker Carlson. As the rest of us watch with glee, BTS fans have gone after Carlson on social media with memes. It doesn't sound like much now, but as one Twitter user remarked, "he doesn't know the force he just awoke."
Another Twitter user mused, "So it will be K-Pop fans who finally bring him down."
Yet another Twitter user invoked a The Lord of the Rings meme, where Gimli and Legolas discuss never thinking a dwarf and an elf would end up as allies, except that this time, it's a reference to allying with K-Pop stans.
Only time will tell what damage the BTS ARMY will wreak to Carlson's online presence. In the meantime, grab your popcorn (and stream BTS).
Check out BTS' full White House appearance here.
