Fox News staff are divided and tensions are growing as Tucker Carlson’s support for political violence and domestic terrorism is splitting the network.
According to five people with direct knowledge, the resignations reflect larger tumult within Fox News over Carlson’s series Patriot Purge and his increasingly strident stances, and over the network’s willingness to let its opinion stars make false, paranoid claims against President Biden, his administration and his supporters.
Veteran figures on Fox’s news side, including political anchors Baier and Chris Wallace, shared their objections with Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and its president of news, Jay Wallace. Those objections rose to Lachlan Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of the network’s parent company, Fox Corp. Through a senior spokeswoman, Scott and Wallace declined comment. Murdoch did not return a request for comment through a spokesman.Â
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Tucker Carlson Is The New Glenn Beck
History is repeating itself at Fox News. Back in the first term of the Obama administration, Glenn Beck skyrocketed to fame with his chalkboard and Obama conspiracies. Beck was eventually undone by an advertiser boycott, but the ground that Tucker Carlson is plowing is much more fertile for divisive calls for violence and conspiracy theories.
The views of the far-right have become even more extreme since Beck left cable news. Tucker Carlson isn’t spewing his hate at 5 PM with a chalkboard. Carlson is a primetime figure with a willing audience ready to lap up his lies and justifications or racism and political violence.
Just as they were under Beck, the serious news people are troubled by Carlson, as the impossible co-existence between propaganda and news is bringing a crisis to a boil at Fox News.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
