Tucker Carlson's First Video Message Trounces All Fox News Prime-Time Shows Combined
A two-minute message from Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night drew a bigger audience than all the Fox News programming on Monday and Tuesday evenings.
Carlson’s post on his Twitter account was at over 40.5 million views Thursday as of about 8:30 a.m. Eastern.
On Tuesday night, starting with Jesse Watters at 7 p.m. and ending with Greg Gutfeld at 11 p.m., Fox News drew 8.85 million viewers, according to figures published Wednesday by Mediate.
On Monday, over that same time period, Fox offerings drew 11.4 million viewers, according to Mediaite.
Carlson’s Wednesday night message did not discuss why Fox News fired him on Monday.
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
Much of the message contrasted the echo chamber of political debates on TV with the real world.
“The other thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid the debates you see on television are, they’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing,” Carlson said.
“In five years, we won’t even remember that we had them,” he said. “Trust me as someone who has participated.”
“Yet at the same time — and this is the amazing thing — the undeniably big topics, the ones that will define our future, get virtually no discussion at all: War, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, natural resources. What was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues? It’s been a long time,” Carlson said.
Carlson said powerful forces stifle the debates America needs.
“Debates like that are not permitted in American media. Both political parties and their donors have reached a consensus on what benefits them and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it. Suddenly, the United States looks very much like a one-party state,” he added.
“That’s a depressing realization, but it’s not permanent. Our current orthodoxies won’t last. They’re brain-dead. Nobody actually believes them.” he said.
“The people in charge know this. That’s why they’re hysterical and aggressive. They’re afraid. They’ve given up persuasion. They’re resorting to force, but it won’t work,” Carlson said.
As with anything Carlson says, Twitter was filled with reactions.
Good evening! Thank you, Tucker, for continuing to be a voice of reason in an insane, upside down world. We need your rational analysis and comforting realism now- in the midst of faux hysteria, wild slanders & hyperbolic outrage at every turn. You are our “breathe of fresh air”-…
— karen garrett hunnicutt (@karenhunnicutt7) April 27, 2023
The Storm is Coming!
— Carrie Lee (@carrielee09) April 27, 2023
“When honest people say what’s true calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful. At the same time, the liars who’ve been trying to silence them shrink. They become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe. True things prevail,” Carlson said in the video.
“Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren’t many places left but there are some and that’s enough. As long as you can hear the words there is hope,” he said.
“See you soon.”
Last year, Carlson’s show on Fox News averaged 3.32 million viewers, according to the New York Post.
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