Do you suppose it occurred to anyone at Fox News that in making Tucker Carlson the scapegoat for their legal woes, the network would only hurt itself while making him more powerful?
In the last two weeks, Fox’s ratings have collapsed, and not just during Tucker’s former time slot.
Meanwhile, Tucker is shaping up to be the news media’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, struck down only to return more powerful than Fox News could possibly imagine.
Axios reported yesterday that Tucker’s lawyer sent a letter to Fox accusing them of breaching the terms of the contract that Tucker is locked into until January 2025. His letter alleges that Fox broke its promises not to use Tucker’s private messages as a pretext to hurt him professionally and not to settle the Dominion case in a way that puts the fault on the popular host.
In short, his lawyer is challenging the non-compete clause in the contract that keeps his client hamstrung for more than a year and a half.
I said the day after Tucker was ousted that Fox firing him wouldn’t silence him, nor would it “prevent him from having just as large an audience somewhere else.”
Well, I was partially wrong. It is looking as if Tucker may have found a way to draw an audience much larger than the one he enjoyed at Fox News.
In other words, Fox executives stuck him down and he is becoming more powerful than they could possibly imagine.
Just two days after losing his job, Tucker posted a video on Twitter that was watched (as of today) 24.3 million times. The tweet containing the video has been viewed over 82 million times.
Now, in this video, Tucker didn’t offer any hints at what he planned to do next.
Although, in hindsight, the very posting of this video on Twitter was the hint.
Because yesterday, Tucker posted a second video announcing that he was bringing his show to Twitter.
Now, Axios did report over the weekend that Tucker spoke with Twitter’s eccentric CEO Elon Musk about possibly working together. But at the time, Axios couldn’t provide any details about what the pair had in mind.
Now we know.
As I write this, Tucker’s video announcement (which has been up for less than 24 hours) has already been watched 18.7 million times while the tweet itself has been viewed over 84 million times.
In short, by ousting the popular host, Fox News made Tucker Carlson even more powerful.
It’s a bit like the Streisand Effect, isn’t it?
By singling out Tucker Carlson, Fox drew all attention to him, both from those who like him and those who believe he is a dangerous enemy of “democracy,” a peddler of “disinformation,” or, as that bed-wetting pillocks at CNN called him yesterday, a “right-wing extremist.”
Now all eyes are on Tucker Carlson while Fox News viewers find something better to do than tune in.
All-in-all, not a well-thought-out plan on the part of Fox News.
Now, I understand why Fox told Tucker to hit the bricks, I really do.
The network is going to have to cough up just over three-quarters of a billion dollars to Dominion Voting Systems to settle its lawsuit. It still faces another lawsuit from another voting machine company, not to mention that frivolous lawsuit from a former producer.
Fox needed a scapegoat and Tucker Carlson was the obvious choice since his commentary causes so much distress within the Washington establishment.
Hannity wasn’t going to be the scapegoat. The Washington establishment loves the guy. I mean, Lindsey Graham appears on Hannity’s show so often, he probably has his own special chair and company coffee cup.
And Maria Bartiromo isn’t a big enough name to placate the angry establishment gods.
So Tucker had to be the sacrifice.
But Fox’s decision to keep him locked in his contract smacks of pure meanness – a final screw you on his way out the door.
To be honest, it would not surprise me in the least if we later discovered that Fox conspired with the Washington establishment to keep Tucker locked down until January 2025. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that’s the case, nor am I peddling a conspiracy. I’m just saying, it wouldn’t surprise me.
It’s not a secret that the GOP establishment does not want Tucker Carlson popping off about the war in Ukraine or anything else that might drive the Republican base away from the party’s position on certain issues. But the Republican base has always conflicted with the establishment, so trying to silence Tucker won’t make a damn bit of difference there.
Then again, the GOP establishment probably didn’t have to conspire with Fox at all since Fox News executives and the establishment are already ideologically aligned. It’s like what Rush Limbaugh used to say about the Obama administration. Obama never had to order someone like Lois Lerner to do his dirty work. His administration just made sure that the people hired would carry out Obama’s wishes without having to be told.
The question now is whether Fox News wants to fight Carlson’s legal maneuvers to free himself from his contract.
Given all the other legal problems the network faces, Fox may decide it isn’t worth it.
Then again, Fox executives might dig in and refuse to budge just to bollocks up Tucker’s plans.
But whatever happens, if the goal was to strike him down, Fox News failed.
Rather than silence him, Fox has made Tucker Carlson a far more powerful voice in the media than he ever was when he worked for them.
Whether that’s good or bad depends on how you feel about the guy.