Tucker Carlson on Wednesday delivered a blistering verdict on the state of modern America, declaring the country was looking ‘very much like a one-party state’, where the ‘people in charge’ were silencing debate and becoming ‘hysterical and aggressive’ because ‘they’re afraid’.
Speaking two days after he was fired from his position as America’s most-watched cable news host, Carlson addressed his fans in a two-minute video that was posted to Twitter, and spoke cryptically about being silenced.
He said America’s ruling class has ‘given up persuasion: they are resorting to force.’ But, he insisted, the ‘honest people’ would ultimately win.
‘The liars who have been trying to silence them shrink, and they become weaker,’ he said.
‘That’s the iron law of the universe: true things prevail.’
Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night posted a video discussing in oblique terms the ‘debates’ and discussions shaping America – and only referencing in passing his own firing, saying it led him to ‘step outside the noise for a few days’
The 53-year-old’s word represented a fiery rebuke to the Fox News executives who fired him.
Carlson was said to be stunned by the Monday morning call from Suzanne Scott, CEO of Fox News. She and Lachlan Murdoch, the CEO of Fox Corporation, are said to have made the decision on Friday night – less than a week after the company settled a defamation suit with Dominion voting systems for $787.5 million.
Carlson’s text messages to co-hosts and colleagues were pivotal to Dominion’s case, because he admitted that the on-air claims he made of the 2020 election being stolen were farcical, and mocked those promoting the conspiracy theories against Dominion.
More damaging, according to reports, were other messages – not all of them made public – in which Carlson ridiculed and criticized Fox News management.
In one message, he called a senior woman at Fox a ‘c***’, according to The Wall Street Journal – which is also, like Fox, owned by the Murdochs.
Furthermore, the controversial host was accused of presiding over a toxic environment, with a former booking producer taking legal action against him and the network for harassment and discrimination.
The network did not give a reason for Carlson’s firing, saying: ‘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.’
Carlson was seen on Tuesday night with his wife Susan, driving a golf cart to dinner near their Florida home
The pair have been married for more than 30 years and are parents to four adult children: daughters Hopie, Lillie and Dorothy and son Buckley Carlson
Carlson became a household name through Tucker Carlson Tonight, which became Fox News’s flagship show. In 2022, it averaged about 3.3 million viewers per show
Carlson, in his Wednesday video, did not directly mention his firing, but said that he had been able to ‘step outside the noise for a few days’.
He was seen on Tuesday night with his wife Susan near their $8.4 million home in Fort Myers, Florida.
‘Retirement is going great so far,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘I haven’t eaten dinner with my wife on a weeknight in seven years.’
Pressed on his future, he joked: ‘Appetizers plus entree.’
Carlson on Wednesday said that the brief break had made him appreciate ‘how many genuinely nice people there are in this country – kind and decent people, people who really care about what is true.’
He said it had also made him realize ‘how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are.’
He continued: ‘They are completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years we won’t even remember that we had them. Trust me, as someone who has participated.’
Carlson said that he was concerned the ‘undeniably big topics’ were being ignored – emphasizing themes that he has addressed in his nightly show, and his documentary series.
‘War. Civil liberties. Emerging science. Demographic change. Corporate power. Natural resources.
‘When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues? It’s been a long time. Debates like that are not permitted in American media.’
The news anchor has sparked anger with his depiction of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as ‘a border dispute’, and his proclamation that Ukraine ‘is not a democracy’.
He has also generated headlines with his promotion of ‘displacement theory’ – arguing that Democrats are deliberately allowing migrants in to the country to expand what they believe will be a favorable electoral base. Carlson previously said that immigration makes the United States ‘dirtier’.
Tucker Carlson Tonight ran from 2016 until 2023, when Carlson was ousted on Monday
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson discusses ‘Populism and the Right’ during the National Review Institute’s Ideas Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on 29 March, 2019
He said the important topics had been silenced, because America’s leaders did not want a debate.
”Both political parties, and their donors, have reached consensus on what benefits them – and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it,’ Carlson said.
‘Suddenly the United States looks very much like a one-party state.
‘That’s a depressing realization.’
But Carlson, who worked at CNN, PBS and MSNBC before joining Fox in 2009, said he was confident the current ‘braindead’ thinking would soon be gone.
‘Our current orthodoxies won’t last. They’re braindead. No one actually believes them,’ he said.
‘Hardly anyone’s life is improved by them. This moment is too inherently ridiculous to continue, and so it won’t.
‘The people in charge know this, and it’s why they are hysterical and aggressive – they’re afraid. They’ve given up persuasion: they are resorting to force.
‘But it won’t work. When honest people say what’s true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful.
‘At the same time, the liars who have been trying to silence them shrink, and they become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe: true things prevail.’
Carlson’s firing is said to have been ordered by Rupert Murdoch and executed by Lachlan Murdoch (left), the CEO of Fox Corporation. Lachlan’s brother James Murdoch (right) resigned from the board of News Corporation in the summer of 2020
He attempted to end on an upbeat note, saying that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
Carlson is likely to be constrained by a no-compete clause in his contract, meaning he cannot immediately jump to another channel.
He is also likely to be involved in the legal battles to claw back the remainder of his contract, and has hired the top Hollywood lawyer Bryan Freedman, who has a track record of getting multimillion-dollar settlements for TV stars and has represented celebrities like Quentin Tarantino, Julia Roberts and Seth Rogen.
Freedman has also been hired by Don Lemon, ousted by CNN on the same day as Carlson was forced from Fox.
Freedman is still working to secure a settlement for Chris Cuomo, fired by CNN in 2021. He represented Megyn Kelly when she left NBC.
Kelly has speculated that Carlson will ultimately ‘go independent’ and create his own media outlet.
‘Where can you still find Americans saying true things?’ Carlson asked on Wednesday.
‘There aren’t many places left, but there are some. And that’s enough.
‘As long as you can hear the words, there is hope.’
He concluded: ‘See you soon.