On Monday, Erick Erickson, a syndicated talk host, implied that Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host, was given preferential treatment by the Murdoch family, allowing him unrestricted control over the network. At the same time, the management hesitated to hold him responsible for his actions.
Fox News terminated Carlson’s employment earlier in the day without disclosing any specific reasons. The network stated that both parties agreed to part ways and that Carlson’s last show aired on Friday, April 21st.
“When the discovery came out in Dominion v. Fox, the discovery seemed to suggest, in the text message correspondence with Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity, that they had a disdain for the news portion of Fox,” said Erickson. “They believed they were working for a company that hated them, and they also believed they had a level of clout within the company, given their ratings, they could get away with much.”
Tucker Carlson first joined Fox News as a political commentator in 2009. He later became a co-host of the network’s morning show “Fox & Friends Weekend” in 2012. Carlson left Fox News in 2016 to pursue other projects but returned to the network in 2017 as the host of his prime-time show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
“I have to think the discovery of those text messages would impact this,” said Erickson. “There were reports that Tucker Carlson believed he could ignore Suzanne Scott, the head of Fox News, and that Suzanne Scott was frustrated with the staff around Tucker Carlson for being willing to ignore her. Both denied it, but in light of this, perhaps those rumors are true.”
According to Erickson, Fox News remains a viable network, citing the case of Bill O’Reilly’s dismissal as an instance where the public believed the network would crumble. Still, instead, it managed to expand its viewership.
“Tucker Carlson was bigger than Bill O’Reilly,” Erickson said. “Not only was Tucker Carlson bigger than Bill O’Reilly, but Carlson did something you must appreciate for Fox News. He made the audience younger, and Tucker brought in younger voices; he brought in a younger audience. He focused on cultural issues others at Fox News refused to engage with.”
