“Tucker Carlson has become more important than Fox News itself,” said Brian Stelter, who is writing a book about Fox, Web of Lies. “His sudden departure will have major repercussions for Fox News, TV news and the Republican Party,” he said.

Carlson was not just a host, but also the main host of Fox News, more than three million viewers watched his show every night. His recent interview with former President Donald Trump was watched by seven million viewers, a record for American cable news.

Carlson, who was one of the key witnesses in the Dominion lawsuit over election fraud theories, is believed to have “paid the marble”. For NewsCorp Group owner and founder Rupert Murdoch, the past few weeks have been costly. Fox News has agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787.5 million for libel after the 2020 presidential election.

“It can be argued that Murdoch Sr. paid dearly for the support of his son Lachlan, with whose blessing Carlson even criticized his colleagues on the network,” according to The Hill, among other things.

And Carlson’s transformation from tea party liberalism to vindictive populist was, many analysts say, the result of the upheavals that divided and reshaped the Republican Party during the Obama years.

Despite his personal disdain for Trump — “I hate him,” he wrote in a January 2021 message to a colleague — Carlson fired up the former president’s old white American base. Using occasional graceful monologues about elite corruption, America’s decline, and the “ruling class” grand plan to replace Americans with immigrants from other countries and cultures, he certainly sounded like Trump, and it’s true that he was trying to create “Trumpism without Trump.” .”

Carlson did not stop anywhere. He took care from the outset to downplay the Russian invasion; initially acknowledging that Putin “should be punished” for his violent expansionism, he was quick to relay Kremlin propaganda that “the Biden and Zelensky administrations run biotech weapons labs in Ukraine.” however, in support of his position, he provided a platform to Democratic Congressman from Hawaii Tulsi Galbard, who also followed the Kremlin’s line on this issue, even publicly speaking out against the imposition of sanctions against Russia.

What’s next for Fox?

Carlson was likely fired in order for the network to limit losses, reassure investors, and stop advertising losses early. Just days earlier, Fox fired another pro-Trump reporter, Dan Bonzino. However, the problems with the channel do not end there. As with Dominion, Smartmatic is suing Fox News over 2020 conspiracy theories and fake news about wire fraud in favor of Joe Biden.

But given Fox’s track record over the past decade, the odds are in the network’s favor. Six years ago, the most popular presenter at the time, Bill O’Reilly, had a prime-time show on Fox News. The New York Times reported at the time that Fox had paid $13 million to settle lawsuits by five women who had accused O’Reilly of sexual harassment or misconduct, and more than 50 advertisers pulled out of his show. The network immediately fired him and replaced him with Carlson.

And Carlson?

Where exactly Carlson will go next is an interesting question. Billy O’Reilly’s predecessor was a media mogul hosting a podcast. There are currently no cable outlets to host Carlson, as CNN and MSNBC have moved to the left in recent years, and conservative stations Newsmax and One America News Network have only a fraction of Fox’s ratings.

However, as The Economist points out, there is a lesson here for Democrats, who were happy when Billy O’Reilly was ousted in 2018, but Carlson popped up in his place. Today they may be celebrating Carlson’s departure, but Fox News is still the highest-rated cable network in the country and is facing threats from new adversaries on the right. It won’t take long for him to find someone else to excite his audience and infuriate American liberals.