Like many news outlets, I was shocked to learn of Tucker Carlson's abrupt departure from Fox News. This departure might owe less to last week's $787.5 million settlement with Dominion than it does with former Fox News producer Abby Goldberg's lawsuit against Carlson for sexual discrimination and harassment.
If that is the case, then don't expect Fox News to let up on claims of fraud during the 2020 election and continue their revisionism of the January 6th attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Carlson was a proponent of both claims as well as the anti-Semitic white replacement theory which is phrased as the "great replacement theory". In which case, this tells me that Goldberg has got the goods on Carlson and Fox News simply got tuckered out. Otherwise, a lot more heads would roll other than Carlson's although there has been speculation that Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro might be on the way out. Still, the fact the host of their highest rated primetime show walked the plank first leads one to believe this is about his personal conduct rather than what he has said on the air.
Of course, Fox News is taking the risk of alienating a substantial segment of their viewership. Should Carlson find his way to Newsmax or OANN then he could take a bite of their prime-time ratings. Again, this is one of the reasons why I expect Fox News will continue its 2020 election and January 6th rhetoric but just use different voices.
Hours after Fox News announced it was cutting ties with Carlson, Don Lemon announced that he had been fired from CNN. Lemon's relationship with CNN has soured in recent months after a thoughtless comment regarding GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley not being in her prime at her age and subsequent allegations of poor treatment by Lemon towards female staffers. Back in October, Lemon had been moved from prime time to the morning amid declining ratings. Unfortunately for Lemon, his ratings fared even worse in the morning. Given the accusations of sexism leveled against Lemon, I wonder if he will counter with legal action alleging discrimination of the basis of race and sexual orientation.
As with Carlson, I expect Lemon will be back somewhere. Perhaps he'll reunite with fellow CNN exile Chris Cuomo at NewsNation. Meanwhile, CNN will continue to be in search for an identity that will draw an audience with newscasters who won't make the news.
I guess today is a good day to be an MSNBC viewer.
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