Tucker Carlson is facing a wave of mockery on social media after agreeing with a guest that left-wing beliefs are “Satanic”.

       The bizarre conversation took place on Mr Carlson’s Fox News show on Monday night, during which he spoke to conservative columnist Jason Whitlock. After Mr Carlson asked Mr Whitlock what percentage of Americans he thinks “actually believe” in progressive ideas about race and gender, Mr Whitlock dialed his rhetoric up to 11.

       “Tucker, I’m going to say something that’s difficult to unpack in this short amount of time, but it’s what I truly believe,” the columnist said. “I think a lot of what the Left supports is Satanic. I’m just sorry. It’s in direct objection to God, and in direct objection to the Judeo-Christian values that were at the foundation of this country.”

       Mr Carlson did not push back.

       “Well, I’m a pretty mild Protestant, personally, but I completely agree with you,” the host replied. “Especially the gender stuff – when you say you can change your own gender by wishing it, you’re saying you’re God, and that is Satanic. I completely agree.”

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       Reactions on Twitter were fiercely divided, with some applauding the two pundits.

       “Finally someone says it,” one person tweeted.

       Others angrily objected, condemning the comments as hate speech.

       “So now trans folks are Satanic. Do ppl understand the meaning of that term?” one person wrote. “To call someone Satanic when their presence in the world isn’t evil is to do great damage. This hyperbole is wildly, wildly destructive.”

       Others derided the whole discussion as absurd.

       “Not everyone believes in God. It doesn’t make them ‘Satanic’. This was truly a ridiculous conversation,” one commented.

       “If I’m being called Satanic I can accept it (just words and vitriol),” another wrote. “I’d look really cute with little horns though.”

       Though neither pundit mentioned this, calling liberal Americans “Satanic” overlaps with the QAnon conspiracy theory, which holds (falsely) that the United States government is run by a cabal of evil Democrats who molest children and worship Satan.

       Mr Carlson has a history of skirting provocatively close to such theories. In April, he said Democrats were deliberately “replacing” American voters with immigrants, which appeared to echo the racist “Replacement Theory” popular with right-wing hate groups.

       Fox News has not yet responded to The Independent’s request for comment.