Tucker Carlson’s enemies won’t be laughing when they see what he does next
Elizabeth Stauffer
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The news that Tucker Carlson, Fox News’s highest-rated prime-time host, abruptly left the network sent shockwaves throughout the media world on Monday. The ladies of ABC’s The View, were, of course, delirious over the development. The left-leaning website The New Republic found the news “hilarious” and wrote, “It turns out the Fox News host wasn’t nearly as bulletproof as he thought he was.”
But they weren’t the only ones to hop aboard the schadenfreude train. They were quickly joined by conservative anti-Trumpers and former Fox News contributors Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes.
WATCH: TUCKER CARLSON APPEARS UNFAZED BY FOX OUSTING IN NEW FOOTAGE
Goldberg and Hayes abruptly left Fox in November 2021 after Carlson aired a documentary on Fox Nation called Patriot Purge, in which he suggested that Ray Epps, a MAGA hat-wearing protester at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot who was recorded urging others to storm the building, was actually an FBI asset. Although Epps appeared to be a ringleader, he was one of the few protesters not to be arrested — a fact that has led to speculation about his role that day.
At any rate, upon hearing of Carlson’s ouster, Goldberg penned an op-ed titled “Tucker Carlson, not just Trump, damaged conservatism.” Among other grievances, he noted that on Sunday night, the night before Carlson was fired, CBS News’s 60 Minutes broadcast a segment debunking the claim that Epps was working with the FBI. Implying that the 60 Minutes interview with Epps should end all debate over his involvement, Goldberg wondered aloud if Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s concern that Carlson might address the story on his next show was the reason for his ouster.
It is possible Fox management was worried about Carlson’s Jan. 6 coverage.
There was certainly pressure on the network from both sides of the aisle to squash it. After Carlson aired the first compilation of government security footage from the Jan. 6 riot in February, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor to express his anger. He told his colleagues the show was “one of the most shameful hours we have ever seen on cable television,” and he called on Murdoch to “[t]ell Carlson not to run a second segment of lies.”
Even Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) publicly criticized the program calling it a “mistake.”
Clearly, Murdoch heard the message. The second segment, while it focused on Jan. 6, had been watered down to near insignificance. Goldberg then accused Carlson (and conservatives in general) of being “seduced” by the teachings of the late community organizer Saul Alinsky, a communist whose 1971 book, Rules for Radicals, essentially lists tactics the Left can deploy against the Right in order to win. Goldberg concluded: “Fox without Tucker means the worst elements on the Right have lost a megaphone.”
As comforting as that thought might be for Goldberg, it’s a very short-sighted view and little more than wishful thinking. If anything, the former Fox host will likely have an even bigger megaphone — minus the content restrictions put in place by Fox management. Carlson will almost certainly come back even bolder than before.
I don’t ever recall such a massive public reaction to the firing of a media personality. A close second was the uproar over the Left’s attempt to cancel podcast giant Joe Rogan over claims he had lied about COVID-19 and that he’d used a racial slur in the past. But liberals found out the hard way that Rogan was here to stay. The Joe Rogan Experience, the most widely watched podcast in America, averages 11 million viewers per episode.
My guess is that Carlson will go the independent route. But regardless of his path, he will surely insist on no restraints and will be more outspoken and, therefore, more dangerous (to liberals) than ever before.
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Those who have already written his career obituary will be sorely disappointed, and their brief delight over his firing may soon turn to abject fear.
Elizabeth Stauffer is a contributor to the Washington Examiner, Power Line, the Western Journal, and AFNN and a past contributor to RedState, Newsmax, and Bongino.com. Her articles have appeared on many sites, including RealClearPolitics, MSN, and the Federalist. Please follow Elizabeth on Twitter or LinkedIn.