It is already old news in the political world that Fox News Media revealed Monday that it would be parting ways with longtime cable news host Tucker Carlson.
Fox’s press release on the matter appeared to imply that the separation was entirely mutual. Many have cast doubts on this, including numerous left-wing outlets such as the Los Angeles Times, Vox, and MSNBC.
Some on the right seem to be reacting to the story with an implied assumption that Carlson was fired as well; conservative commentators Larry O’Connor and Matt Walsh both posted online about positive encounters they had with Carlson earlier in their careers.
When I first moved to DC, @TuckerCarlson heard it was my first Thanksgiving away from home. I had just gone through a divorce and my kids were on the other side of the country.
He invited me to his home and I enjoyed Thanksgiving with his father, his wife, his children and his…
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) April 25, 2023
Extremely rare that someone much higher on the totem pole will send you a word of encouragement when they stand to gain nothing from it. There are only a few people in the business who will do something like that and one of them is Tucker Carlson. Great talent and a good man.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 25, 2023
Fox News Channel senior meteorologist Janice Dean echoed these sentiments, posting online that she and others are “in shock” from the news of Carlson leaving Fox, and that in spite of some claiming the contrary, “there are countess [sic] stories of him helping his friends quietly, behind the scenes and away from the spotlight.”
As Blaze Media pointed out, there were expectations that Carlson would be appearing on air for Fox on Monday given that in Friday’s episode of his show, he stated, “We’ll be back on Monday.” This only added more fuel to speculation surrounding whether or not there is more to Fox’s account of a mutual agreement to part ways. Especially when one considers that Fox’s Monday press release indicated that “Carlson’s last program was Friday, April 21st.”
Given Carlson’s controversy and prominence, it is unsurprising that certain people have celebrated his separation from Fox News, including Defense Department staffers, according to Politico.
“We’re a better country without him bagging on our military every night in front of hundreds of thousands of people,” stated one senior DoD official, who Politico claims gave an anonymous interview. The same staffer apparently accused Carlson of making a mockery of the media and complained he “repeatedly cherry-picked department policies and used them to destroy DoD as an institution.”
Another DoD employee reportedly commented, “Good riddance.”
Politico reported that upon being asked to give his reaction to the government employees rejoining in his exit, Carlson simply replied in a text message, “Ha! I’m sure.”
