Trump Loses Tucker as His Media Mouthpiece
Carlson gets the boot, and Trump’s media presence all but disappears
Okay, so FOX isn’t exactly mainstream, but it’s as close to it as Trump will ever get. And now that his champion, Tucker Carlson, has been unceremoniously fired from FOX, it’s hard to imagine Trump getting the kind of attention he is used to from any of the remaining FOX hosts— especially now that FOX has just settled a lawsuit with Dominion for repeating Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
Trump may still have Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and Maria Bartiromo in his corner, but none of them wields the power that Carlson did. (I’m pretty sure nobody in Congress is shaking in their boots for fear of what Bartiromo et al. will say about them.)
Conversely, Carlson had tremendous power — at least as long as he was on FOX. As a result, many in the Republican Party were beholden to Carlson and terrified of what he might say about them. Some have even accused Carlson of using his power to effectively influence policy in the Republican Party.
As for Carlson, he must have been surprised when he found out just ten minutes before air time on Monday that he wasn’t going to be on the air. Even the pundits are scratching their heads over what exactly was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.
Was it the nasty and insulting comments Carlson made about the Murdochs? Was it the enormous check FOX had to write to Dominion, partly due to Carlson’s on-air lies and the texts/emails that proved he knew they were lies? Was it the upcoming lawsuit filed by his former producer, who has accused Carlson of creating a toxic work environment? Or was it his constant insistence that the United States should pull out of Ukraine and let Putin have his way?
The tail was wagging the dog so the dog had to go
I’m guessing it was all those things and something else: Carlson had too much power for too long. Like Trump, who thought he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose any votes, Carlson seemed to believe he was the most important person at FOX and the only one who mattered. To his detriment, he conveniently forgot about the man who owns the network — the one who had to cough up $787.5 million to make up for the lies Carlson and his colleagues repeatedly told on air.
Murdoch probably thinks he can control the other boneheads who still work for him, but Carlson is another story. Carlson no longer sees himself as a mere TV personality; he’s a power broker. He is the ultimate influencer, and the power he’s been able to amass by aligning himself with Trump is unprecedented in television history. There is no way Carlson would give that up voluntarily.
Tucker Carlson is Murdoch’s Frankenstein. So, naturally, Carlson had to go.
Bannon heartbroken over Carlson’s departure
Perhaps the one most shaken by the sudden and unexpected departure of the most obnoxious man on cable television is Trump fanboy and fellow fraudster Steve Bannon. Bannon was reportedly close to tears when he realized Trump no longer has anyone he can feed lies to who will pretend to be a news host on what pretends to be a news channel.
Without FOX, specifically Tucker Carlson on FOX, Trump has lost the most significant ally in his never-ending quest to bullshit the American people.
Of course, FOX will still pretend every case against Trump is part of a “witch hunt,” but none of it will have the same power behind it without Tucker Carlson.
Russians are relying on fabrication and projection to explain Tucker’s sudden departure
B Kean wrote a great piece on how the Russian media is handling the departure of their beloved “Tooker.” In short, not well. Already some are saying it’s a little too coincidental that Tucker left the day before Biden announced his candidacy. And some expect to hear that Tucker has been imprisoned for his honest critique of the American president.
It’s astonishing how quickly and easily conspiracy theories are generated in a country without a constitutional right to free speech. Moreover, the ease with which Russians accept their incapacity for truth-seeking is frightening. We should pay attention to this because this could be our future if we are foolish enough to re-elect Trump.
As Kean suggests, Carlson may take a job in Russia as a mouthpiece for the Kremlin. He’s certainly qualified. I am hoping he does. I’d love to hear how wonderful life is in a country that would no doubt record every sordid detail of his life and use it to control him.
I wonder how much he’d miss the good old days when he could trash the president of his country with impunity and make millions by spreading lies. Would he ever try to say or do anything Putin might not like? Does he have any idea what would happen to him if he did? I’d like to find out.
Trump’s legal battles loom just as Carlson disappears
It’s clear why Steve Bannon is upset by Carlson’s departure. Things are starting to unravel for the disgraced, twice-impeached, now-indicted ex-president. Without his mouthpiece to create a diversion from Trump’s dire straights, the reality of his perilous situation might reach some of the people Carlson’s been helping Trump deceive all these years.
This week, a civil case brought against Trump by E. Jean Carroll began. After being accused of raping and subsequently defaming Carroll, Trump initially responded, “She’s not my type.” It was a statement that was as stupid and disingenuous as it sounded at the time. It morphed into an irony of epic proportions when later, in depositions, Trump mistook Carroll for his second wife, Marla Maples, after he was shown a photograph of Carroll exiting a limo.
There is also the ongoing Manhattan DA fraud case. The next court date won’t be until December, but time flies, right? In the meantime, DA Bragg has been putting pressure on Trump Org CFO Alan Weisselberg in the hope that the 75-year-old currently serving a five-month sentence at Rikers Island might finally testify against Trump.
Then there is the case brought by the Fulton County, Georgia, DA, which has been heating up. According to recent filings, DA Fani Willis discovered that the lawyer representing ten Republicans implicated in the fake elector scam failed to tell them they’d been offered immunity.
Moreover, at least one of the ten has told DA Willis that there were some parts of the scheme that only some of the ten were involved in — not all. This presents a conflict since all ten have the same lawyer — who is, not surprisingly, being paid by the GOP.
There are also the two cases Special Counsel Jack Smith is spearheading — the one tied to Jan. 6 and the one about the classified documents Trump took from the White House and then tried to hide.
With all this happening, it’s hard to imagine that Trump will be able to maintain his innocence even with Ingraham, Hannity, and Bartiromo working overtime.
As for Tucker, even FOX won’t say his name now. When asked for comment, Hannity responded, “We’re not talking about him.”