Thursday, April 27, 2023

Critics dispute Tucker Carlson’s statement on why Fox News dumped him

Maya Boddie, Alternet
April 27, 2023

Tucker Carlson speaks during the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) Feszt on August 7, 2021 in Esztergom, Hungary. (Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images)

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson spoke out Wednesday night about his departure from Fox News.

Carlson's exit comes after Fox suffered a major loss in a $787.5 million defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems for the network's attempt to help overturn the 2020 election.

NBC News reports, "In the lead-up to the Dominion trial, Carlson's internal communications were released and showed him criticizing former President Donald Trump and acknowledging the falsity of his claims about the 2020 election."

READ MORE: Tucker Carlson exits Fox News

Now, the far-right pundit is speaking for himself.

Former GOP prosecutor Ron Filipkowski shared a clip from Carlson's spiel via Twitter, writing, "Tucker finally issues a statement. He basically says that the deep state uniparty wanted to silence him because he was tackling the biggest issues of our time that nobody else would talk about."

In the video, Carlson asserted, "Notice, when you take time off, you see how unbelievably stupid most of the debates on television are. They're completely irrelevant, they mean nothing. Trust me as someone who's participated."

He continued, "And yet at the same time... the undeniably big topics get virtually no discussion at all. War, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, natural resources...When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues? Debates like that are not permitted in American media."

READ MORE: Tucker Carlson, Fox News and the problem of faking 'authenticity'

"Both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them, and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it," he said, adding the United States "suddenly looks like a one party state."

The right-wing talking head concluded by raising the question, "Where can you still find Americans saying true things?"

Last month, CNN anchor John King slammed Carlson for his dishonesty.

"Lying is a big piece of the Fox formula and we have glaring new proof of that today," King said referring to Carlson's text messages claiming he "passionately" hates former President Donald Trump, despite telling Fox News viewers the opposite. "Key players at Fox, in their own words, admitting they knew Donald Trump and his allies were lying about 2020 election fraud. Yet, Fox repeatedly promoted Trump's lies anyway because it was good for ratings. We know this because of newly released court filings that include Fox emails and text messages."

Now that Carlson has spoken out, Twitter users aren't buying any of what Carlson is selling.

READ MORE: Tucker Carlson and why selling groupthink had to end

Steve Carvalho: "Revisionist History"

Luke Zaleski: "Tucker's doing exactly what @elonmusk did—He's trying to suggest he's the ultimate arbiter of truth and an outsider and centrist in order to overtake the media landscape, shift the Overton window, and rebrand in his middle-age. And like with Elon MAGAs are all all-in—in lockstep."

Lonnie Hammack: "Well maybe he got it partially right. He said 'true things prevail.' His show ended because of his lies. Those didn't prevail."


T M Watts: "There's no way anyone could possibly fall for this, yet sure as the sun rises each day, some actually will."

@agamkcuf: "It's very on brand for it to be everyone's fault but his own. Tucker is the classic frat boy who never grows up but has the right connections and money to continue to fool people."

READ MORE: Russian state outlet RT reaches out to Tucker Carlson

Mark Pitcavage: "Guy I knew in college: I got fired. Me: Why? Guy I knew in college: Two-hour rant about how Yes and Genesis had really gone to hell since the olden days."

Tori: "Thank you @RonFilipkowski for translating. There was no way I was going to unmute this to hear his gross voice and rhetoric."

Rory Flynn: "When in doubt, go with grandiosity. And keep it vague. Super vague."

Watch the video below or at this link.


READ MORE: 'How can he do that?' John King baffled by Tucker Carlson lying for Donald Trump despite hating him

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