Tucker Carlson, the polarizing conservative prime-time host ousted by Fox News on Monday, has broken his silence.
Carlson posted a two-minute video to Twitter on Wednesday evening, speaking out for the first time since being let go.
In his remarks, Carlson lashed out at the media and both major U.S. political parties for silencing debate, casting an unspecified “people in charge” as a “hysterical and aggressive” cabal determined to protect their power. As such, he tacitly suggested that he had lost his place at the helm of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” for challenging “the current orthodoxies.”
Carlson did not address a discrimination lawsuit filed by his show’s former head of booking, Abby Grossberg, which sources told The Times was related to his exit.
Grossberg was moved off “Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo” and onto “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” where, the lawsuit alleges, she was bullied, subjected to antisemitic comments and coerced by company lawyers to give misleading answers in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against the network. (Fox News denied Grossberg’s claims.)
In the video posted to Twitter, Carlson also omitted any mention of his role in the Dominion case, recently settled for $787.5 million.
Instead, Carlson turned to the conspiracy theories that had become his stock in trade: “The United States looks very much like a one-party state,” he argued, claiming that it has been “a long time” since “legitimate debate” took place over such subjects as “war, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power [and] natural resources.”
News of Carlson’s departure on Monday set off a social media frenzy, much of it gleeful. Actor George Takei was one of many who weighed in: “Don’t let the door hit you on your way out, you horrid, soulless man,” Takei tweeted. “On the other hand, go ahead. Let it hit you good.”
Chelsea Handler, whom Carlson had recently disparaged in a misogynistic rant as an “aging, deeply unlikable woman who never had kids,” posted a video to Instagram Monday saying, “What a historic day for the nation. Lying to the American people for a living has suffered a serious setback.” Handler also alluded to Carlson’s remarks about her, saying, “Guess who’s not jobless with children?”
As for Carlson’s fans, it remains unclear if they will stand by Fox News or by the controversial ex-host, though the network’s ratings were down sharply in prime-time in the aftermath of Carlson’s exit. Should Carlson seek to reach his audience directly rather than through another media outlet such as Newsmax or One America News, it might look like his straight-to-camera address on Twitter on Wednesday, following other right-wing figures, such as Alex Jones, who have capitalized on social media and the internet to reach to millions.
Wherever he ends up next, Carlson appeared to promise a return to the spotlight in the signoff to his video address: “See you soon.”
