The recently fired prominent Fox News host Tucker Carlson has expressed interest in presiding over debates for Republican candidates and is said to have explored the idea with former President Donald Trump.
Recently, the former president and front-runner for the Republican nomination suggested boycotting the forums mediated by Fox News since the “hostile” network did not ask his opinion on the matter. The Washington Post reports that Carlson and Trump discussed replacing Fox News as the host moderator in order to “take a jab at his former employer”
The first presidential debate slated for the summer, which will be moderated by Fox News, Carlson’s previous employer, has been threatened by Trump as a no-show.
After Fox News settled a significant legal dispute with Dominion Voting Systems for allegedly more than $787.5 million, Carlson left the cable news network. The settlement’s connection to Carlson’s departure is unknown, and alternative hypotheses have been put out in the media.
According to the WaPo article, Carlson appeared ready to forgo millions of dollars and breach his Fox News contract, which is valid through 2024, in order to pursue other options.
The Washington Post report states in part:
Carlson and his team have discussed the possibility of moderating a candidate forum outside of the traditional protocols surrounding the GOP primary debate system, according to two people familiar with the considerations. These people said the setup — as well as Carlson’s availability to take on that kind of role, given the noncompete constraints of his contract with Fox — remain unclear. But Carlson has personally expressed enthusiasm about the idea, according to people familiar with his comments. At least one major candidate — Trump — has told Carlson he’s interested, according to a person familiar with the exchange.
The former Fox host’s interest in a debate is said to stem in part from its potential to loosen the Republican National Committee’s grip on the process, as well as to challenge the role traditionally played by the major television networks. “He could go straight to the candidates, stream it live, invite the networks but maintain control over the process,” said one person familiar with the discussions..
Carlson is reportedly accepting calls from networks interested in hiring him, which is in line with claims that he is interested in hosting the candidate forums. These networks include Newsmax, One America News Network, and Trinity Broadcast Network. The conservative media outlet Newsmax, which had a rise in prime-time ratings this past week at the same time Fox was losing viewers from Carlson’s former time slot, made a stronger plea, according to the Post.
According to the newspaper, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said he would be open to “rebranding Newsmax under Tucker’s name,” a concept that has apparently caught Carlson’s attention.
However, Carlson’s contract situation with Fox News is still up for debate, which might prevent one of the most well-known TV hosts in history from making any imminent career moves.
“As of right now, the plan remains the same: pay out Carlson’s contract and keep him on the sidelines through the 2024 elections,” an insider who is close to Fox News top executives reported to Breitbart News a week ago. “They knew they would take a beating for this, but everyone — and I mean everyone — is pretty rattled. They weren’t expecting the blowback to be this bad. Hate to say it, but it’s clear that Rupert [Murdoch] has lost a step or two.”
Since Carlson left, Fox News’ ratings have fallen dramatically, especially in the competition with CNN and MSNBC, two progressive cable news networks, during his time slot. According to one report, Carlson’s position on Fox News saw a drop in viewers of around 50%.
Days after leaving Fox News, Carlson released a video in which he seemed to hint that his fans should anticipate him moving on to other platforms shortly.
“When honest people say what’s true, calmly, and without embarrassment, they become powerful,” declared Carlson in the video. “At the same time the liars who’ve been trying to silence them shrink, and they become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe. True things prevail.”
Over 80 million people saw the two-minute video on the Twitter app.
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
Tucker attended a fundraiser in Oxford, Alabama on Thursday, according to 1819 News. At Rainbow Omega, a residential care facility for persons with mental disorders, he was the keynote speaker.
According to Yahoo News, “The organization had booked Carlson in the fall of last year before the latest controversies began to swirl around the television host and ticket sales had been slow until his firing last week — which led to a sold-out venue at the 1,200-seat Oxford Performing Arts Center.”
Carlson did not directly address the issues surrounding his firing during his one-hour address but began his remarks alluding to his current employment status.
“I’m probably the first unemployed person you ever invited to speak,” Carlson said getting a hearty laugh from the audience. “It’s funny. I rarely give speeches because I’m working and when I accepted this speech six months ago I didn’t realize how much free time I would have. One never knows, does one.”
Carlson said he accepted the invitation “because I do love Alabama. It has everything that I like.”
He said the second reason he came was “in a sincere way, I support what Rainbow Omega does.”
Rephrased from: The Republic Brief By: Trump Knows
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