Jessica Tarlov recently made a highly contested claim during a recent segment of “The Five” when the panel was discussing the horrific Bourbon Street terror attack in New Orleans, in which a man drove a pickup truck through a crowd of pedestrians while displaying an ISIS flag. However, Tarlov claimed that “white supremacists” were a more significant threat to the nation.
During remarks on the show, Tarlov said, “We put up all those numbers about how many people have been killed by jihadists, but it’s not as many as those who have been killed by white supremacists. So, the New America Foundation has done a breakdown in terrorist attacks since 911 it goes through 2023 we have to add the 2024 numbers once they’re available.”
Breaking down the supposed numbers behind her argument, Tarlov continued, “But you have 134 killed by far-right wingers, 107 killed by a jihadist, 17 killed by misogynist or incels, 13 killed by black separatist nationalists, and one killed by a…” However, before she could continue, her co-hosts interrupted her, questioning the validity of the data. Slamming the pushback from the rest of the panel, Tarlov exclaimed, “I don’t know, how many people fell off an ice cream truck?”
Tarlov’s remarks quickly spread across social media, as the apparent terrorist attack in New Orleans has led conservatives to push back on the argument from Democrats that “white supremacy” is the greatest threat to the United States. The popular X account Johnny Maga wrote, “Jessica Tarlov just claimed that “White supremacists” have taken more lives in U.S. terror attacks than Jihadists, black nationalists and far-left-wingers combined.”
However, one user in the comments section decided to dig into the statistics and fact-check Tarlov’s claim. According to the data provided by this user, White Supremacists have been responsible for approximately 59 deaths, encompassing terrorist attacks such as the Charleston church shooting of 2015 and the Buffalo Supermarket Shooting of 2022. Narrowing the date range between 2011 and 2021, the total number of deaths was 49.
In contrast, the user highlighted terrorist attacks from Islamic Extremists, which, from 2001 to 2025, accounted for over 3000 deaths. However, discounting the mass casualty attack on the World Trade Centers, Islamic attacks still produced 105 deaths. Narrowing the time period between 2011 to 2021, this results in 77 deaths. All these figures seemingly debunk Tarlov’s argument. See the user’s post below:
@JessicaTarlov Get your facts right, liar. pic.twitter.com/gxWtbWRafP
— K. Z. R. Dav (@RoBarDa7340) January 4, 2025
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Another person argued in the comments section, “Well, since we’re talking white supremacy, shall we remind ourselves that the kkk was a democratic founded organization as a response to the republican efforts to abolish slavery? Just for a bigger picture, or are we just cherry picking what suits our narrative?” Others, while disagreeing with her, defended Tarlov. “I think Tarlov serves as a lightning rod for The Five. Although I disagree with virtually everything she believes, I think she is one of the most articulate progressives on air. Compare her to Joy Reid, Jennifer Rubin, Whoopi Goldberg, etc,” another person said.
Watch Tarlov’s argument below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot fromt he