Tucker Carlson Desaparecido’d by FOX … Returns to Twitter
Days before Tucker Carlson’s exit from FOX, Tucker interviewed Elon Musk, who said he got most of his news now from Twitter. Given Musk paid $44 billion to purchase Twitter, it’s no surprise that’s his go-to source.
He’s not the only one. Reading through tweets on the Monday (April 24) of Carlson’s shocking departure, Fernando Amandi Sr. tweeted:
“With Tucker’s departure from Fox there’s no reason to see any cable or TV news on any network. Twitter is becoming the must go to source for worldwide and national news, opinions, breaking news, talk shows, messaging and on the ground eyewitness videos…”
That may become increasingly so. Carlson’s Twitter page on April 24 had 6 million followers; it had grown to 6.3 million by Wednesday, 6.6 million by Thursday and 6.8 million on May 7. For FOX, Tucker delivered the largest audience in cable news, and his contributions had kept FOX ahead of CNN and MSNBC for more than 100 weeks. The obvious question is: Why the heck would FOX and Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of FOX Corporation, do this? With Tucker’s departure, FOX viewership immediately dropped significantly, and the company rapidly lost $700 million of market cap. After cultivating a solid brand over many years — since 1996 — in one fell swoop, they Bud Lighted themselves.
Twitter offered a range of rumors, gossip, speculation, warm wishes, ugliness and news about the Tucker exit. Kind words came from journalist and podcaster Jason Whitlock, who tweeted:
“I’ve watched Tucker Carlson get closer, and closer to God, and get closer, and closer to understanding what’s at the heart of what’s going on in America.”
Whitlock in following days tweeted about the implications of Tucker’s departure. Kind words too came from Donald J. Trump, Jr., who said that Tucker’s FOXNews departure “changes things permanently” in the media landscape, and called Carlson a “once-in-a-generation type talent.” Radio host and columnist Larry O’Connor said:
“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 dogs. They treated me like I was a part of the family. It turned what would have been a sad and lonely day into one I’ll never forget. His family is full of joy and love and laughter. Tucker is the winner today.”
Oodles of Speculation
In the speculation category, several tweets were about BlackRock increasing its stake in FOX to 15 percent earlier this year. One stated, “This is NOT a coincidence. BlackRock is simply too powerful — pushing ESG down our throats.” With $8.6 trillion in managed assets, the multi-national investment company is the largest asset manager in the world, or as @PaulHook_em described the company in his tweet:
“BlackRock is the enemy within and it’s time America wakes up to this fact.”
The inference from the online speculation is that BlackRock with its large investment could influence the direction of FOX. Given the negative impact of Tucker’s exit on the company valuation, is that in the interest of BlackRock clients to see a decline? One would think no, but maybe they’re playing some long game, Destination Unclear?
Other interesting speculation came from the online news outlet, The Gateway Pundit. Via Twitter, they said that former House Speaker (2015–2019) Paul Ryan, who is now a member of the FOX board of directors, urged FOX to “Move on from Trump” and “Was Likely Involved in Tucker Carlson’s Separation from Channel.” Ryan Cunningham on Twitter posted:
“BREAKING: Leaked court documents show Fmr Speaker Paul Ryan may be at the center of the Tucker scandal all in the name of moving on from Trump. ‘Ryan was hopeful that the events of January 6 were so shocking that it would help the conservative movement and Fox News move on from Donald Trump.’”
That seems like Ryan, a long-standing member of The Swamp, but does he have that much sway over the seven other FOX board members? That includes former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser, not the sharpest tack in the toolbox I’m told on good authority. Maybe the board doesn’t even matter; maybe it all gets down to chairman Rupert and Lachland, his son and board member.
A Messenger from God
One of the more entertaining theories as to Tucker’s ouster was that Rupert’s fiancée, a Tucker fan, referred to Tucker as “a messenger from God,” which did not sit well with Rupert, who then kicked out both the fiancée and Tucker. Okay, so break off the wedding bells if the 66-year-old former dental hygienist is too evangelical for you, Rupert, but did you really need to dump Tucker too? Given the amount of air-time FOX gives to a number of their journalists and pundits who talk about faith, that seems a shallow theory.
Might a 92-year-old mogul get so annoyed as to make a move that would send his company’s valuation south, just weeks after FOX settled a lawsuit for a staggering $787.5 million? Perhaps. This is the man who texted his last wife that he was going to divorce her. That was Jerry Hall, model, actress, former wife of rock star Mick Jagger and former girlfriend of musician Bryan Ferry. Hall and Murdoch were married in 2016 and divorced in 2022.
Murdoch was also the original evil media mogul of our time before the media heavyweights pretty much all became evil (and before we knew about George Soros and too many politicians to count who no longer bother to hide their dark sides). So understandably it was assumed Rupert was the inspiration for the Elliot Carver character (played by Jonathan Pryce) in the 1997 James Bond film, “Tomorrow Never Dies.” In actuality, the character was based on publisher Robert Maxwell, father of Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and sex trafficker for Jeffrey Epstein. But, if the shoe fits …
Carlson’s coverage of January 6, 2021, protests in Washington, D.C., was floated as another theory as to why FOX unceremoniously dumped their golden goose. All available footage from the government regarding January 6 of course should have been released much earlier. But even without the footage, anyone with a functioning brain and reasoning capacity who followed the events of January 6 at the Capitol knew that it was a protest of those opposed to four years of actions by the Left, culminating in what many believed was a compromised election. It was not the so-called insurrection (what is an insurrection in today’s world?) that the failed Fourth Estate and propaganda arm for the Democrat Party labeled it and continued to label it for the next 28 months. Straight outta the Democrat playbook: Tell a lie enough times, and it becomes the truth. Tucker’s coverage was a strong counter to the propaganda machine and insurrection narrative.
A lawsuit from former FOX employee Abby Grossman against FOX was also the topic of coverage as “proof” of what a bad man Tucker is. Yet, it was reported that she had never met Tucker in the time she worked for his show as a booking agent, where she claimed there was a hostile work environment and, *gasp*, pictures of Nancy Pelosi wearing a plunging swimsuit! (All I want to know is: Were there darts to throw at the pictures?) And FOX remained committed to fighting Grossman’s “unmeritorious legal claims,” a FOX spokesperson said. So that one ends up being a bit of a nothing burger, along with various other stories designed to chum the Tucker waters. But among the more colorful ones for vivid characterization, “The Hollywood Reporter” was tops referring to “A racially charged and bloodthirsty text” by Tucker. LOL.
Greenwald, PJW
Two of the best attempts at trying to understand what may have happened came from real journalist Glenn Greenwald and online videocaster of Prison Planet, Paul Joseph Watson. Also, there is good analysis from Phil Boas at the “Arizona Republic” here.
Greenwald tweeted that:
“Tucker was the cable host who most: * Opposed US proxy war in Ukraine; * Denounced CIA, FBI and DHS for its systemic lies and corruption; * Devoted himself to a pardon for Julian Assange; * Objected to regime change efforts in Cuba; * Criticized Trump Admin’s militarism.”
The ever spot-on and direct Paul Joseph Watson said:
“As someone who routinely, night after night, on the biggest and most visible commentary platform in the United States — in the world, in fact — challenged and demolished foundational regime narratives, Tucker Carlson … could no longer be tolerated.”
Watson continued:
“Tucker Carlson was virtually the only prominent voice on television news to tell Americans the truth about what they’re facing, not misguided policy decisions, not partisan political jockeying between whose vision best serves the country, but the unbridled, malevolent, deliberate agenda to ram through the complete destruction of America and everything it represents.”
Watson then referenced Tucker’s recent talk at the Heritage Foundation — worth listening to here. In it, Tucker says:
“What you’re watching is not a political movement; it’s evil.”
Also worth watching is Carlson’s brief, but impactful Twitter video that was posted the third day after the news broke of his exit and garnered 81 million views.
Post-Week 1 of TC Exit
Talking head, diva and sometime-drunk Don Lemon got the boot from CNN the same day as Tucker, but his story died relatively quickly. On the same day too, it was announced that Susan Rice, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, would be leaving her role in the installed Biden regime at the end of May. That story had less attention than Lemon’s. One would have thought it would have gotten much more attention, particularly given the theories that Rice has been the one actually running the presidency. So of the high-profile departures, most of the attention went to Tucker.
Beyond the Twitterverse, coverage the first week of Tucker’s FOX departure was voluminous, and didn’t let up much in week №2, post-departure. The only thing that finally edged Tucker off the news cycle of “analysis” was the coronation of the King of England, and to a lesser extent, daily updates on the health status of actor Jamie Fox. To the latter, why so much attention? Who knows in Weird World we now inhabit. Perhaps he’s much more “beloved” than I know.
One thing clear a week post-separation of Tucker and FOX was that the new American Fascist-Socialist-Totalitarian Party (formerly the Democrat Party) was unsatisfied with sabotaging a career; their goal is complete destruction of individuals they target. Proof of that is in their playbook. See “Donald Trump.” Keep pounding away, relentlessly, at the object of your hatred.
And what of the void left in the wake of Tucker’s departure? For anyone taking on the 8pm, M-F East Coast time slot at FOX, good luck! Talk about a thankless position to be in. The first to step in after Tucker was given the heave-ho was Brian Kilmeade, who probably should have known better than to draw attention to this “honor.” But he did nonetheless, by inviting viewers to tune in at 8pm! He was royally shat upon. Read tweets here.
The Last Days of Journalism
We’re now into the third week since Tucker departed and, with all the theories and pieces of information that have been put forth, still really don’t know why he was dropped so callously. Who knows what the “real” relationship between Tucker and the management at FOX was, what other intrigue was going on, what pressures might have been put on FOX by Deep Staters? Maybe we’ll know the “True Story” one day. For now, for FOX’s part, their official parting words were very few:
“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.”
Better to go out a martyr, who is “killed” by the network for telling the truth, but is still above ground to live another day — hopefully many days — and keep speaking truth to power.
What is known is FOX screwed up big time. They didn’t just fire one guy; they destroyed a brand. They had cultivated a sense of family among the FOX personalities, and viewers felt as though they were part of the family. Viewers went from seeing onscreen camaraderie and what appeared to be respect for each other (with the exception of Geraldo Rivera and Juan Williams!) to fellow broadcasters who didn’t have the cojones to stand with Tucker. FOX showed a complete disregard for its loyal audience. And while the rest of the FOX crew is good, well, they’re just not Tucker. With such a harsh decision too, some FOX viewers now wonder if FOX isn’t just controlled opposition.
Tucker Carlson was FOX News. Maybe that was too much for too many egos. The Fourth Estate — made up of journalists — has one role (or it did, before it became the captured bitch of corporations and government). That’s to report and tell the truth. Those elected to office who are liars, cheats, thieves and working to destroy America — and their supporters and enablers — need to be called out and held to account. That’s what Tucker did so brilliantly and with a style and sense of humor very much his own. And what made him truly stand out in recent years is that he was one of the few doing this from a major media outlet, as journalism has died, turned into a propaganda machine.
To Tucker’s sense of humor, briefly after his FOX exit, his Twitter account description read, “Emmy-award-winning broadcast journalist, graduate of Harvard College & Yale Law. Frequent visitor to the Aspen Inst. Fully vaccinated. She/her.”
Good one, Tucker!
*****
In a bit of homage to Tucker, here’s his trademark “Good Evening and Welcome to Tucker Carlson Tonight” intro. and a blast from the past from when he appeared on Dancing with the Stars doing the cha-cha-cha:
· Tucker Intro. from Tucker Carlson Tonight
· Tucker on Dancing with the Stars, 2006
I won’t be watching FOX anymore, but I will be looking forward to what Carlson does next, including, just announced, a return of his show via Twitter.
Maria writes about the connection between overpopulation & wildlife loss, and occasionally about other topics that confound her. @BetheChangeforAnimals
