Tucker Carlson has issued a statement following his exit from Fox News.
In a video posted to Twitter on Wednesday, Carlson delivered a vague speech in which he spoke about what it’s been like to “step outside the noise” and how “true things prevail.”
“One of the first things you realize when you step outside the noise for a few days is how many genuinely nice people there are in this country,” Carlson started. “Kind and decent people, people who really care about what’s true. And a bunch of hilarious people, also. A lot of those. It’s gotta be the majority of the population, even now. So that’s heartening.”
He continued, “The other thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are. They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years, we won’t even remember that we had them. Trust me, as someone who has participated. And then at the same time, and this is the amazing thing, the undeniably big topics, the ones that will define our future, 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? It’s been a long time. Debates like that are not permitted in American media.”
Though he never addressed Fox News directly, Carlson finished his statement by saying that America’s “current orthodoxies won’t last” and there “aren’t many places left” where one can find “Americans saying true things.”
“Both political parties, and their donors, have reached consensus on what benefits them, and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it. Suddenly, the United States looks very much like a one-party state. That’s a depressing realization, but it’s not permanent. Our current orthodoxies won’t last. They’re brain dead. Nobody actually believes them. Hardly anyone’s life is improved by them. This moment is too inherently ridiculous to continue. And so it won’t,” Carlson said. “The people in charge know this; that’s why they’re hysterical and aggressive. They’re afraid. They’ve given up persuasion, they’re resorting to force. But it won’t work. When honest people say what’s true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful. At the same time, the liars, who have been trying to silence them, shrink and they become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe. True things prevail. Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren’t many places left, but there are some. And that’s enough. As long as you can hear the words, there is hope. See you soon.”
Good evening pic.twitter/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
Fox announced Carlson’s exit in an April 24 statement that read: “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.” A spokeswoman for Fox News declined to elaborate.
Carlson’s flagship Fox News series “Tucker Carlson Tonight” started airing in November 2016 and eventually made Carlson the network’s most-watched primetime host. The final episode of the show aired April 21, 2023. The host joined Fox News in 2009 as a political analyst after working at CNN in the early aughts and hosting the MSNBC series “Tucker” from 2005 to 2008.
Carlson’s abrupt exit from Fox News was announced just days after corporate parent Fox Corp. agreed to pay $787.5 million in a settlement to Dominion Voting Systems after being accused of defaming the ballot-technology company by passing along specious conspiracy theories about its role in the 2020 presidential election. Carlson was expected to have to testify in the matter and the goings-on at his show were expected to be analyzed in a separate suit Fox is navigating involving Abby Grossberg, a former producer.
