Why did Fox News part ways with Tucker, whose name has never been tarnished with scandals of any kind? Speaking to Sputnik, journalist and pundit, Carmine Sabia weighs in on this issue.
The much-talked-about news of Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News has made a splash in the US and beyond. The decision to part ways with the 53-year-old was reportedly made on Friday evening by Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch. Tucker himself has yet to comment on his exit from the news network.
“What's the benefit for Fox here? The Dominion lawsuit is over. Tucker was not a big pusher of the election conspiracy theory. So what's the gain? If you're Fox News and the only [thing] that I could think of is there's a clip from last week where Tucker Carlson just tears the doors off of Big Pharma. And then a week later, he's fired,” Sabia said.
He added that he subscribes to the view that Tucker’s departure could be due to his purported support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.), who last week launched his 2024 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Separately, Sabia underscored that he had “never heard a negative thing” about the now-former Fox News host, who the journalist said played a role of a propagandist. “[I’ve] never heard of him being a jerk,” Sabia added.
Carlson's ouster comes less than a week after Fox agreed to pay $787 million in settlement money to Dominion Voting Systems as part of a defamation suit brought by the company in connection with former US President Donald Trump’s claims about the "rigged" 2020 election and the system's software.
As for RFK Jr., he tweeted on Monday that Carlson’s exit took place because of the 53-year-old’s intrepid monologue about pharmaceutical companies earlier this month.
The nephew of late President John F. Kennedy then went further, arguing that Carlson had been "fired" by Fox News, despite the network saying in a statement the two parties had "agreed to part ways."
"Fox fires Carlson five days after he crosses the red line by acknowledging that the TV networks pushed a deadly and ineffective vaccine to please their Pharma advertisers. His breathtakingly courageous April 19 monologue broke TV's two biggest rules: Tucker told the truth about how greedy Pharma advertisers controlled TV news content and he lambasted obsequious newscasters for promoting [COVID vaccine] jabs they knew to be lethal and worthless," RFK added.
While RFK Jr.'s previous anti-vaccine remarks have stirred up some backlash, even among his relatives, Carlson embraced Kennedy's statements, even echoing them sometimes.
During an episode of his show earlier this year, the now former Fox News anchor compared the vaccination campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic to "what the imperial Japanese army and the Nazis did in their medical experiments."
Russian air defense forces destroyed 15 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Tuesday.
"During the last 24-hour period, air defense capabilities shot down 15 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the settlements of Nezhdanovka in the Kharkov Region, Kuzemovka, Topoli and Lisichansk in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Vasilyevka, Kirillovka and Torskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Novoukrainskoye, Basan and Lyubimovka in the Zaporozhye Region and Knyaze-Grigoryevka in the Kherson Region," the spokesman said.
Russian paratroopers thwart Kiev’s attempt to deploy reserves to Artyomovsk
Russian assault teams continue active operations for destroying Ukrainian troops in the western part of Artyomovsk while paratroopers and combat aircraft thwarted Kiev’s attempt to deploy reserves to the city, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Donetsk direction, the assault teams continued their active operations for destroying the enemy in the western part of the city of Artyomovsk. Airborne forces, operational/tactical and army aviation rendered direct support to the assault teams in capturing the city and thwarting the enemy’s attempts to deploy reserves there," the spokesman said.
Artillery of the southern battlegroup struck the Ukrainian army units near the settlements of Bogdanovka, Krasnoye and Stupochki in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the general said.
"In the past 24 hours, aircraft flew nine sorties and the battlegroup’s artillery accomplished 62 firing objectives to support the assault teams in the Artyomovsk area," Konashenkov reported.
Russian forces destroy 65 Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk area
Russian combat aircraft and artillery destroyed a Ukrainian ammunition depot in the Kharkov Region and eliminated roughly 65 enemy troops in the Kupyansk area over the past day, he said.
In the Kupyansk direction, operational/tactical and army aviation and artillery from the western battlegroup struck the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Dvurechnaya and Sinkovka in the Kharkov Region, the spokesman specified.
"The enemy’s losses in that area in the past 24 hours amounted to 65 Ukrainian personnel, two armored combat vehicles and a pickup truck. In addition, in the area of the settlement of Ternovaya in the Kharkov Region, an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian army’s 67th mechanized brigade was obliterated," the general reported.
Russian forces eliminate 80 Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman area
Russian forces struck Ukrainian army units in the Krasny Liman area, eliminating roughly 80 enemy troops in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Krasny Liman area, aircraft, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems from the battlegroup Center struck the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Nevskoye and Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Grigorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
The enemy’s losses in that area in the past 24 hours amounted to "80 Ukrainian personnel, two infantry fighting vehicles and a D-20 howitzer," the general specified.
Russian forces destroy 360 Ukrainian troops, mercenaries in Donetsk advance
Russian forces destroyed roughly 360 Ukrainian troops and mercenaries in their Donetsk advance over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"The enemy’s losses in that area in the past 24 hours amounted to 360 Ukrainian personnel and mercenaries, seven infantry fighting vehicles, eight armored combat vehicles, seven motor vehicles, a D-20 howitzer and two Gvozdika motorized artillery systems," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroy over 120 Ukrainian troops in southern Donetsk, Zaporozhye areas
Russian forces destroyed over 120 Ukrainian troops and two howitzers in the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye areas in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
In the southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, aircraft, artillery and heavy flamethrower systems from the battlegroup East inflicted damage on the enemy units in areas near the settlements of Ugledar and Pavlovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Novodanilovka and Kamenskoye in the Zaporozhye Region, the spokesman specified.
"Over 120 Ukrainian personnel, an armored combat vehicle, nine motor vehicles, D-20 and Msta-B howitzers and an Akatsiya self-propelled artillery gun were destroyed in those areas in the past 24 hours," the general said.
Russian forces eliminate 20 Ukrainian troops, US-made M777 howitzer in Kherson area
Russian forces destroyed 20 Ukrainian troops and a US-made M777 howitzer in the Kherson area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kherson direction, as many as 20 Ukrainian personnel and a US-manufactured artillery system were destroyed in the past 24 hours as a result of damage inflicted on the enemy by fire," the spokesman said.
Russian forces neutralize four Ukrainian subversive groups in Kharkov area, LPR
Russian forces neutralized four Ukrainian subversive groups in the Kharkov Region and the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In areas near the settlements of Orlyanskoye and Krakhmalnoye in the Kharkov Region, Novosyolovskoye and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, the activity of four Ukrainian subversive/reconnaissance groups was thwarted," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroy Ukrainian S-300 targeting radar in DPR
Russian forces destroyed a targeting radar of a Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the area of the settlement of Selidovo in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a targeting radar of a Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system was destroyed," the spokesman said.
Operational/tactical and army aviation aircraft, missile troops and artillery of the Russian group of forces struck 98 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and equipment in 124 areas, the general reported.
In all, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed 411 Ukrainian warplanes, 228 helicopters, 3,849 unmanned aerial vehicles, 415 surface-to-air missile systems, 8,849 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,094 multiple rocket launchers, 4,655 field artillery guns and mortars and 9,762 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
Special operation, 24 April. Main:
▪️Russian air defense shot down 38 Ukrainian drones in a day, the Ministry of Defense reported;
▪️In the Kupyansky and Krasnolymansky directions, Kyiv lost about 130 military personnel; the losses of the Ukrainian army in the Donetsk direction amounted to more than 280 servicemen and mercenaries;
Zakharova said that some countries staged a farce from the UN Security Council meeting
▪️The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Iskander attacked the mercenaries' deployment point in Konstantinovka, killing up to 60 militants of the so-called "Georgian Legion";
▪️Putin agreed to equalize the position of all participants in the special military operation, including in terms of monetary allowance;
▪️Lavrov, speaking at the UN Security Council, said that the Nazi regime in Kyiv cannot be considered representative of the inhabitants of the territories who refused to accept the 2014 coup, and it is impossible to consider the Ukrainian issue in isolation from the geopolitical context;
▪️The Black Sea Fleet repulsed the attack of surface drones on the outer roadstead in Sevastopol, the governor said, one surface drone was destroyed, the second exploded itself, no objects were damaged;
▪️Ukrainian troops left a couple of brigades in Artemivsk, the rest of the forces were withdrawn, the Spanish Mundo writes, citing a source;
▪️Kyiv will never have enough military and equipment, said the commander of the Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv region;
▪️Washington warned Kyiv against being ambitious in the issue of the offensive, a similar warning was received by the Afghan authorities in 2021 shortly before the fall of Kabul, writes Politico;
▪️Ukraine planned to launch strikes on Russian territory on February 24 this year, but at the request of Washington, they postponed them, writes the Washington Post;
▪️A fire at an oil depot occurred in the city of Rovenki in the LPR as a result of an attack by a Ukrainian drone.
A Sudanese woman tells of her ordeal fleeing Sudan.
Fighting in Sudan eased on Tuesday and more foreigners and locals fled the capital Khartoum. With civilians leaving Khartoum in cars and buses, the streets of one of Africa's biggest metropolitan areas were largely emptied of ordinary daily life, with those still in the city huddling at home.
Since the warfare erupted on April 15, tens of thousands have already left for neighbouring Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, despite the uncertainty of conditions there.
One Khartoum resident, who declined to give his name, said he feared that with fewer international observers, fighting forces would show less respect for civilians.
The fighting has turned residential areas into battlefields. Air strikes and artillery shells have killed at least 459 people, wounded over 4,000, destroyed hospitals and limited food distribution in a nation already reliant on aid for a third of its 46 million people.
Foreign countries have airlifted embassy staff out after several attacks on diplomats, including the killing of an Egyptian attaché shot on his way to work. Some countries are also extracting their private citizens.
Britain launched a large-scale evacuation of its nationals on military flights from an airfield north of Khartoum. France and Germany said they had each evacuated more than 500 people of various nationalities, and that a French commando had been hit by crossfire during the operation.
As army and paramilitary forces again clashed in Khartoum and across the country, terrified Sudanese have endured acute shortages of water, food, medicines and fuel as well as power and internet blackouts, the UN said
As people attempted to flee the chaos, countries began landing planes and organising convoys in Khartoum to pull out their nationals. Some foreign citizens were injured. Gunfire rang out across the city and dark smoke hung overhead, a Reuters reporter said
Sudan’s warring rivals agree to 72-hour ceasefire
A 72-hour ceasefire between Sudan’s warring generals officially came into effect Tuesday after 10 days of urban combat killed hundreds, wounded thousands and sparked a mass exodus of foreigners.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to the ceasefire “following intense negotiations,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement shortly before the truce took effect from midnight (2200 GMT Monday).
Previous bids to pause the conflict failed to take hold, but both sides confirmed they had agreed to the three-day halt.
“This ceasefire aims to establish humanitarian corridors, allowing citizens and residents to access essential resources, health care, and safe zones, while also evacuating diplomatic missions,” the RSF paramilitary tweeted.
In a statement on Facebook, the SAF said it would also abide by the ceasefire on condition its rivals did so.
Intense clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army have forced residents to flee Khartoum for safety. (Reuters)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned earlier that Sudan was on “the edge of the abyss” and that the violence “could engulf the whole region and beyond.”
The fighting has pitted forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the RSF.
The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then-president Omar Al-Bashir unleashed in Darfur, leading to war crimes charges against Bashir and others.
The Forces of Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc which the two generals ousted from power in a 2021 coup, said the truce would allow for “dialogue on the modalities of a permanent ceasefire.”
At least 427 people have been killed and more than 3,700 wounded, according to UN agencies.
Among the latest to die was the assistant administrative attache at Cairo’s embassy in Khartoum, Egypt’s foreign ministry said.
The official was killed while heading from home to the embassy to follow up on evacuation procedures, it said.
The United States and European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian nations launched emergency missions to bring to safety their embassy staff and Sudan-based citizens by road, air and sea.
But millions of Sudanese are unable to flee what is one of the world’s poorest countries, with a history of military coups.
People gathered at bus stations around Khartoum on Monday in a bid to escape the capital
They are trying to survive acute shortages of water, food, medicine and fuel as well as power and Internet blackouts.
UN agencies reported some Sudanese civilians were able to escape “to Chad, Egypt and South Sudan.”
“We must all do everything within our power to pull Sudan back from the edge of the abyss,” Guterres said.
He had also, again, called for a ceasefire.
Britain requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Sudan, which was expected to take place Tuesday, according to a diplomat.
A UN convoy carrying 700 people completed an arduous 850-kilometer road trip to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast from the capital, where they left behind gunfire and explosions.
The United Nations head of mission Volker Perthes said the convoy arrived safely.
“Thirty-five hours in a not-so-comfortable convoy are certainly better than three hours’ bombing and sitting under the shells,” he said.
A UN statement separately said he and other key staff will “remain in Sudan and will continue to work toward a resolution to the current crisis.”
With Khartoum airport disabled after battles that left charred aircraft on the tarmac, many foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips to countries including Djibouti and Jordan.
US special forces swooped in with Chinook helicopters Sunday to rescue diplomats and their dependents, while Britain launched a similar rescue mission.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said more than 1,000 EU citizens had been taken out during a “long and intense weekend” involving airlift missions by France, Germany and others.
China said it had “safely evacuated” a first group of citizens and would “try every means to protect the lives, properties and safety of 1,500 plus Chinese compatriots in Sudan.”
Japan said it had evacuated 45 of its nationals and their spouses and temporarily closed its embassy in Khartoum.
The capital, a city of five million, has endured “more than a week of unspeakable destruction,” Norway’s ambassador Endre Stiansen wrote on Twitter after his evacuation.
One evacuee, a Lebanese man, said after being bussed to Port Sudan that he left only “with this T-shirt and these pyjamas, all that I have with me after 17 years.”
Those Sudanese who can afford to are also fleeing Khartoum on crowded buses for the more than 900-kilometer desert drive north to Egypt.
Among the 800,000 South Sudanese refugees who previously fled civil war in their own country, some are choosing to return, with women and children crossing the border, said the UN refugee agency.
In the capital, street battles have left the sky often blackened by smoke from shelled buildings and torched shops.
“There was a rocket strike in our neighborhood... it is like nowhere is safe,” said resident Tagreed Abdin, an architect.
Experts have long drawn links between the RSF and Russian mercenary group Wagner. Blinken earlier on Monday voiced “deep concern” that Wagner risked aggravating the war in Sudan.
The military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests that raised hopes for a transition to democracy.
The two generals seized power in the 2021 coup, but later fell out, most recently over the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army.
The world has approached perhaps an even more dangerous line than the one it was close to during the Cold War, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the UN Security Council at a meeting on effective multilateralism through defending the principles of the organization's Charter.
According to Lavrov, the future of international relations depends on the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.
He called on the United States and Europe to respect other members of the international community and stressed that no one ever granted the "Western minority" the right to speak on behalf of the entire humankind.
Here are Lavrov’s key pronouncements.
About West’s conduct
"No one authorized the Western minority to speak on behalf of all of humanity. They should behave decently and respect all members of the international community," he stressed.
"The West has long been uncomfortable negotiating in universal formats such as the United Nations," he said, adding that to substantiate its course toward undermining multilateralism it introduced the "idea of democracies against autocracy." Along with summits for democracy, whose participants are selected by the "self-proclaimed hegemon, it is establishing other clubs for the chosen, which act as a workaround to the United Nations." They are "devised to undermine talks on relevant topics under the United Nations’ auspices, to impose non-consensus concepts and solutions that serve the West." "First, they negotiate something... with a few participants and then present these agreements as the position of the international community."
About Ukraine
The Ukrainian issue cannot be considered in isolation from the geopolitical context. "This is not about Ukraine at all but about how international relations will be built in the future: via a solid consensus based on a balance of interests or via the aggressive and explosive promotion of [the West’s] hegemony. "It is obvious to any impartial person that the Nazi regime in Kiev cannot be seen as representing the residents of the territories that refused to recognize the outcome of the bloody state coup in February 2014 and against whom the coup plotters unleashed a war against."
About the situation in the world
"Once again, as during the Cold War, we have come to a dangerous and perhaps even more dangerous line," Lavrov said. "The situation is exacerbated by the loss of faith in multilateralism, as Western financial and economic aggression destroys the benefits of globalization. The US and its allies abandon diplomacy and demand that relations be clarified on the battlefield."
"While propagating its ‘rules’ on the international stage, it (the West - TASS) has a stranglehold on multilateralism and democracy at home by utilizing ever more repressive tools to suppress any dissent - just as the criminal Kiev regime, with the backing of its teachers: the US and its allies, is doing," the minister said.
About the Asia-Pacific Region
According to Lavrov, a "successful open system of economic and security cooperation has evolved for decades around ASEAN." "This system has produced consensus approaches that satisfy both the ASEAN Ten and its dialogue partners."
But now, "the US and its allies have employed significant resources in an effort to undermine multilateralism in the Asia-Pacific Region." "Bloc-based approaches that undermine ASEAN-centric multilateralism are evident in the creation of the AUKUS military alliance, into which both Tokyo and Seoul and even a number of ASEAN countries are pushed. Under the aegis of the United States, mechanisms are being created to interfere in maritime security issues with the aim of ensuring the unilateral interests of the West in the waters of the South China Sea."
About UN
"There has always been a quantitative and personnel imbalance in favor of the West at the UN, but until recently, the secretariat has tried to remain neutral. Today, however, this imbalance has become chronic and secretariat employees ever more frequently allow themselves politically motivated behavior inappropriate for international officials," he said. ""I am calling on the esteemed Secretary General to see to it that all of his employees observe the requirements of objectivity in accordance with Article 100 of the UN Charter."
About visas for Russian journalists
"The US embassy in Moscow sadistically said that it was ready to issue them [journalists] passports with visas when our plane had already taken off," he said.
Earlier, the delegation accompanying Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on his trip to UN headquarters in New York to attend Security Council events on April 24 and 25 had problems getting US visas. No visas were issued to Russian reporters. The American side provided no explanations for this decision.
NATO is an instrument of confrontation rather than of peace, a veritable "war machine" approaching Russia’s borders, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
"It is a war machine. And it has been approaching our borders all this time."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an instrument of confrontation.
"NATO is not an instrument of peace; it is an instrument of confrontation. NATO was designed and made this way, as an instrument of confrontation. It is a war machine. And it has been approaching our borders this whole time," he said.
"We were uncomfortable and we warned them and told them: ‘Let us discuss our concerns.’ But they did not want to," he noted, adding that the West is seeking cover up with silence or lies.
"Nevertheless, it was so and we must remember that; we must not forget about it and we must talk about it, and not shy away, to be confident about it," Peskov stressed.
According to the Kremlin spokesman, 120 foreign companies have left Russia since the country launched its special military operation in Ukraine. "Before the start of the operation, there were about 1 404 foreign companies in the country. These had 2 405 subsidiaries."
Referring to the anti-Russia sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its European allies, Peskov said they are "a double-edged sword" and it shows as the entire eurozone is experiencing an all-time high in inflation.
Since February last year, more than 12 600 new restrictive measures against Russia have been activated in addition to the nearly 2 700 already in place, according to the Castellum.AI database, which tracks sanctions against Russia.
"The pressure on Russia will not be reduced," Peskov said, adding that this does not represent an obstacle to the country's development. Alternative directions for trade and economic cooperation with new partners are opening up, the Russian diplomat said
Tucker Carlson will no longer be able to carry on his self-generated battle against lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink at Fox News Channel.
Fox News announced on Monday that the network and its prime-time anchor Tucker Carlson have mutually agreed to end their association after more than a decade.
“FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor,” the US broadcaster said, adding that Carlson aired his final show last Friday.
Carlson, Fox News Channel’s most-watched primetime host, will leave the network in an abrupt and surprise exit, leaving the network without a fill-in for one of its most popular hours and with dozens of questions hanging over it as it grapples with pressures resulting from a $787 million settlement it will have to pay to Dominion Voting Systems
Fox expressed gratitude to Carlson “for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the company said in a statement Monday. “We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.” A spokeswoman for Fox News declined to elaborate.
Carlson will not appear on Fox News again in his current role. His last broadcast, Fox News said, took place on Friday –meaning he will not be given the opportunity to bid viewers farewell.
Neither Fox nor Carlson have offered an explanation for the break-up. The network did say that last Friday’s episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight will be the last, and that a newscast will be aired in its stead starting Monday evening.
Shares in the network’s parent company, Fox Corporation, slid by 4.7% after the announcement.
Carlson had given no hints of the show ending last week, announcing instead a new season of his documentary series for Fox, titled Tucker Carlson Originals. On Friday, he gave a keynote speech at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, again not mentioning anything about parting ways with Fox.
The host’s exit comes just days after corporate parent Fox Corp. agreed to pay $787.5 million in a settlement to Dominion Voting Systems after being accused of defaming the ballot-technology company by passing along specious conspiracy theories about its role in the 2020 presidential election. Carlson, who has passed along reports tilting at the veracity of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2020 and filled Fox News’ 8 p.m. hour with a litany of diatribes against subjects ranging from Black Lives Matter to Senator Tammy Duckworth over the years, was expected to have to testify in the matter and the goings-on at his show were expected to be analyzed in a separate suit Fox is navigating involving Abby Grossman, a former producer.
Fox News appears to be cleaning house of some of its most rightward-leaning elements. Last week, the network failed to come to renewal terms with weekend host Dan Bongino, a popular pundit in ultra-conservative circles.
Rivals will likely seize on Carlson’s absence. “For a while Fox News has been moving to become establishment media and Tucker Carlson’s removal is a big milestone in that effort,” said Christopher Ruddy, CEO of the conservative news outlet Newsmax, in a statement on Monday. “Millions of viewers who liked the old Fox News have made the switch to Newsmax and Tucker’s departure will only fuel that trend.”
In the absence of an official explanation, there has been widespread speculation that the break-up might be related to a recent lawsuit against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems. The company had sued the network for defamation in a Delaware court, alleging that Fox hosts had promoted “baseless” claims by former president Donald Trump about the 2020 election. Fox settled the lawsuit for $787.5 million last week.
Over the weekend, a prominent congresswoman also argued Carlson should not be allowed on air under federal law.
“When you look at what Tucker Carlson and some of these other folks on Fox do, it is very, very clearly incitement of violence – very clearly incitement of violence. And that is the line that we have to be willing to contend with,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, told former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, now a host on the rival cable channel MSNBC.
Declaring itself “the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink,” Carlson’s evening show first aired in 2016 and quickly became the most popular in the Fox News lineup. In June 2020, he set the record for the highest-rated quarter of any cable news program, averaging 4.33 million viewers. His recent interview with Donald Trump drew an audience of 6.7 million.
