Two weeks after former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s stunning firing from the channel, he seems to have figured out his next step: Twitter.
Yes, really. Carlson posted a short video on his Twitter account on May 9 announcing the news. He praised the social media site, which has touted its supposed free speech bona fides since it was taken over by Elon Musk last October. Carlson implied that he was fired from Fox News for trying to tell the “fullest” truth too often. Twitter, it seems, won’t have such limits.
Carlson’s announcement caps a tumultuous two weeks for him and Fox News. Since the pundit’s shocking departure and apparent firing on April 24, rumors have swirled as to what the host of one of the highest-rated shows on basic cable possibly could have done to merit it. Fox News’s statement said very little, merely that the two parties “have agreed to part ways” and “we thank him for his service to the network.” After two days of silence, Carlson finally tweeted a video that didn’t directly address the situation.
But it’s also looking more and more likely that Carlson’s ouster was the result of a combination of factors, including disparaging remarks about Fox News executives, a toxic workplace culture, and Carlson’s view that he was untouchable at Fox News and that the network needed him more than he needed it.
Whatever the real reason(s), they were enough that Fox News felt it needed to cut off its biggest star without even giving him a chance to say goodbye. In the aftermath, Fox News’s 8 pm ratings have cratered, while Carlson is throwing his lot in with (another) mercurial billionaire whose belief in freedom of speech has already been shown to have limits.
What’s Tucker Carlson up to now?
He’s on Twitter in a big way. On May 9, Carlson posted a short video on his Twitter account where he announced the news, saying Twitter was the “last big [platform] remaining in the world” that allowed free speech, so that’s…
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