Tucker Carlson’s abrupt exit from Fox News highlights network's enduring influence on GOP

Fox News’ decision to cut ties with host Tucker Carlson has highlighted the close ties between the cable news network and the Republican Party. Fox has for a long time been an influential ideological force on the party, and anyone who fills the newly created vacancy in the network’s prime-time lineup could influence how Republicans craft policy and participate in elections.

Fox announced on April 24 that the network and Carlson had “agreed to part ways,” adding that the final broadcast of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” had aired on April 21. Carlson did not speak about the impending separation on his final show, and reporting since then has indicated that its ending was unexpected.

“Tucker Carlson Tonight” launched in 2016 and was the most-watched show on Fox News, frequently reaching as many as 4 million viewers on weeknights. The show echoed the stances of Republican leaders like former President Donald Trump, expressing hostility to immigration and ethnic minorities.

Carlson’s tenure at Fox News reflected a pivotal change in the network’s relationship with the Republican Party, says Andrew Lawrence, deputy director of rapid response for Media Matters for America, a progressive media watchdog. [Disclosure: The author of this story worked at Media Matters for America from 2004 to 2017.]

In an interview with the American Independent Foundation, Lawrence said that under Roger Ailes, the network’s founder, “Fox News existed to prop up the Republican Party. But following the removal of Ailes, the rise of Trump and Tucker, that completely flipped on its head to where the Republican Party now exists to prop up Fox News. Republican politicians know if they don’t get on the good side of the hosts on Fox they cannot win a primary.”

The show also set the tone for many Republican leaders, popularizing conspiracy theories that were embraced by elected officials. During the 2022 election cycle, Carlson frequently used his show to tell Republican candidates to focus on the issue of crime, with a specific focus on blaming policies from progressives and Democrats. The party quickly fell in line.

Republicans also followed Carlson’s directives to attack education programs that include the perspectives of historically oppressed people and to push legislation curtailing the rights of transgender people.

Carlson’s departure from the network now calls into question the future of Fox News, as well as that of the Republican Party. Carlson’s program has significantly influenced the party over the last six years, and his absence now leaves an ideological void that has not yet been filled.

Carlson’s departure came just a few days after the announcement that Fox had agreed to settle a lawsuit filed against it by Dominion Voting Systems, a voting hardware and software company, based on allegations that Fox had aired false reports that the company had been involved in rigging the 2020 presidential election in favor of President Joe Biden. The announced $787.5 million payment is the largest publicly known defamation settlement in American history involving a media company.

Fox is also being sued for defamation by another election systems company, Smartmatic, for $2.7 billion over allegations that it aired falsehoods about that company’s involvement in the 2020 election.

During his time at Fox News, Carlson attracted widespread criticism and condemnation for embracing white nationalist rhetoric, airing misogynistic content, and promoting racism. Many advertisers had pulled away from his show in response to public outcry.

Paul Kane, congressional bureau chief for the Washington Post, said in an analysis published on April 26 that Carlson’s sway over Republican lawmakers “ranged from influential to outright bizarre. … Not since the late radio host Rush Limbaugh and his ‘dittoheads’ soared to the top of conservative talk radio in the 1990s has one news personality held such sway on a congressional caucus.”

Media Matters’ Lawrence cited a Jan. 6, 2022, appearance by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” during which the senator apologized to Carlson for having described the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by supporters of Trump on the U.S. Capitol as a “violent terrorist attack.”

“The way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy and it was frankly dumb,” Cruz said. Carlson has repeatedly misinformed his viewers about the attack and promoted conspiracy theories about it.

Lawrence believes the dynamic of Republicans bending to the will of Fox News hosts like Carlson has been harmful to the party’s political prospects: “The problem for Republicans, which we’ve seen the last two election cycles, is that what wins a Republican primary is often repugnant to the voters needed to win in a general election.”

Carlson privately expressed cynical attitudes about the right and his own network, raising questions about the sincerity of the views expressed on air.

During the Dominion trial, personal texts Carlson sent on Jan. 4, 2021, criticizing Trump for promoting election conspiracies were made public.

“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” Carlson wrote. “I hate him passionately. … I can’t handle much more of this.”

Even as he was the network’s most prominent and public face, Carlson was caught in a recently leaked video disparaging its work. “Nobody watches Fox Nation because the site sucks,” Carlson told a producer, referring to Fox’s streaming service that featured several programs he hosted.

Lawrence characterized Carlson’s removal as a positive step for the country:

“If you’ve found yourself saying, Terrible things seem to be accelerating in this country recently, I think you can point to Tucker Carlson as the reason,” he told the American Independent Foundation. “The way that he was able to take fringe figures and issues from the depths of the extreme right wing and turn them into mainstream talking points was unique and dangerous and we should all be grateful that he will no longer have the megaphone Rupert Murdoch provided him for the last seven years.”

The network frequently promoted bigoted attacks and false information before Carlson was a host and has made no indication that it would cease doing so after his departure.

Still, Lawrence cautioned, “Even without Tucker, Fox News is still Fox.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.