2023-06-12 11:45:00
AVERAGES – Tucker Carlson “is back”. Not on the set of Fox News, an American channel he left on April 24, but on the social network Twitter. The columnist and television host launched his show, “Tucker on Twitter”, with already two episodes in three days and more than 150 million views. His comeback does not go unnoticed either on Twitter or in the media, where his fans as well as his detractors react.
One of the most influential voices in conservative America, Tucker Carlson, who had hosted a show to millions of viewers since 2016, announced in April his departure from Fox News. If the reasons for his dismissal have not been revealed, the columnist, who has often expressed his skepticism about the official versions of several recent events such as the election of Biden, has probably borne the brunt of an agreement between Fox News and Dominion Voting System.
The American chain agreed to pay 787.5 million dollars to Dominion, which markets electoral machines and software, to avoid a libel suit.
Repeatedly accused by his detractors of relaying “conspiracy theories”, Carlson Tucker, member of the Republican Party, did not hesitate to regularly echo their positions, in a theatrical, ironic or even mocking tone.
His departure did not mark the end of his broadcasts and his spectators found him on June 7 on Twitter, despite a contract which still binds him to his ex-employer until January 2025. “As of today, we have arrived on Twitter”, he announced. And warn: “We are told there are no guards here. If that turns out to be wrong, we will leave.”
150 million views in 2 episodes
Faithful to his style and his monologue facing the camera, Carlson Tucker devoted his first episode to the war in Ukraine, particularly to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, located in southern Ukraine and controlled by Russian forces. kyiv accuses Russia of placing explosives to prevent Ukrainian forces from launching an offensive, while Moscow accuse Ukraine to have “damaged” the barrage with a strike.
Carlson Tucker wonders if kyiv was not behind the destruction of this dam. “If it’s not intentional or a military tactic, it’s an act of terrorism. The question is: who did it?”. The host believes that Ukraine has more interest in destroying this infrastructure, since the region is controlled by the Russians and the dam particularly supplies Crimea, de facto Russian territory since 2014.
“It causes more harm to Russia (…). In reality, they destroyed this dam as they did with the Nord Stream”, gas pipelines used to transport gas from Russia to Europe, sabotaged in September 2022. The alleged role of kyiv in this operation is now at the heart of the European surveysnotably German. According to Washington Post, a general of Volodymyr Zelensky would have planned this attack.
Carlson Tucker criticizes, in the same ironic tone, Zelensky, “a sweating rat, a comedian turned oligarch, a persecutor of Christians, a friend of BlackRock”. And criticizes the media and political figures, just as in the second episodeto be “hostile to anyone leaning on” some topics like “September 11 or the death of John Kennedy”.
Fox News menace Tucker
The return of Carlson Tucker was obviously as expected as it was feared. His audience is there. The first episode has over 100 million views and the second has exceeded 50 million views. His two programs are widely relayed and the columnist receives congratulations and encouragement Internet users.
Twitter boss Elon Musk also welcomed the “move” of the former star host of Fox News. He called on others, including “those on the left”to join the network. “It would be great to have their shows on this platform (…) You will receive all our support”does he have tweeted.
It’d be great to have @maddow, @donlemon & others on the left put their shows on this platform. No exclusivity or legal docs required!
You will receive our full support. The digital town square is for all. https://t.co/v1Yse6TQ6u
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 8, 2023
The reaction is different from the mainstream media side. CNN evokes a “low budget Twitter show” et reproach to Carlson, “which relays the most extreme ideas of right-wing politics”, to express “sympathy” with Vladimir Putin.
Unaware of the number of views of the first two episodes, the same media claims that Tucker is “far from certain that the Twitter show has the same influence and reach as the single timeslot on Fox News”. However, this totaled an average of “only” 3 million viewers thanks to the “Tucker Carlson Show”.
An attitude shared by Business Insider or The Guardian, who accuse him of “peddling conspiracy theories”. The Swiss news site Watson believes that the facilitator, “paranoid”, “is more dangerous than ever”since Fox News “forced him to contain (a little) the beast, before throwing it into the spotlight”.
In France, Telerama title on Tucker who “win the conspiracy bingo”.
The Fox News channel also reacted. Not on the content of the show of his ex-host. The chain thethreatened sued for violating his contract. His attorneys reportedly sent official correspondence to Carlson’s legal team. His lawyers have already accused Fox News of having broken this contract by revealing compromising communications from its editorial writers.
Text messages and emails exchanged between hosts and Fox Entertainment owner Rupert Murdoch were made public when Dominion sued for defamation.
In response to threats from Fox News, Carlson’s attorneys countered that any legal action by Fox “would be a direct violation of their client’s First Amendment rights.”
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