On the 24th of April 2023, it was announced that Tucker Carlson and Fox News had “Agreed to part ways”. There was no on-air farewell, no celebration, just an abrupt, clinical statement.
Tucker Carlson Tonight was the #1 cable news show by a wide margin, consistently beating all other shows on Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN in total viewers, often in key demographics for advertiser. It served as a powerful, and sometimes the only voice for the populist right in America. It even set the tone for other conservative media. Whatever Tucker Carlson was talking about, everyone else would have to talk about it, too.
When he left, many of of his audience found that Fox News doesn’t represent their views anymore. His sudden exit revealed internal divisions in the conservative movement and significantly weakened their viewership. He also started his own platforms, while Fox News tried to replace him.
The “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Phenomenon: A Force in Conservative Media
Before his departure, Tucker Carlson’s show served as an ideological compass for a significant segment of American Conservatives. He had a distinct brand of populist nationalism and an “America First” ideology that wasn’t well-represented on other shows, but it resonated with his audience. His show often pushed beyond the typical Republican talking points and didn’t shy away from controversy, not only used anti-establishment or anti-elite rhetoric, but providing an ideological framework for the anti-establishment populism movement that is active today.
He became a master at framing political and social issues as a conflict between “them” (the elite “globalists”, ivory tower academics, coastal liberals, technocrats, mainstream institutions, corrupt politicians or ruling class, etc…) and “you”, the common American, who is assigned as a victim of these institutions. Carlson is critical of immigration both legal and illegal, and pushed the “great replacement” theory that is now common in the populist right. He is also broadly against U.S. foreign interventions, and questions U.S. alliances and aid to countries like Ukraine and Israel.
Carlson’s influence extended beyond TV and into actual policy making, becoming an informal advisor for the Trump administration, and essentially helping them win elections through his support. He has an ability to articulate the grievances of MAGA and the populist right, and to translate this into real political action. This influence on the Right made him indispensable to Fox News, at least in theory.
The Departure: Unanswered Questions and Immediate Fallout
Given his position at Fox News and the American right wing, it was baffling to many viewers that he would leave in this abrupt manner. The Network did not provide an official reason, sparking many speculations. Below are a few of them:
Dominion Defamation Lawsuit
The sudden dismissal happened days after Fox News settled a $787.5 million defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems, the company that created the voting machines used in the 2020 presidential elections
Dominion was suing Fox News for defamation because the network hosted several figures (such as Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani) who claimed that the voting machines were rigged in favor of the democratic party, or were designed to commit election fraud.
In order to win the lawsuit, Dominion had to prove that Fox News published this information with malice, or at least with “reckless disregard” for the truth.
During the pre-trial discovery phase, unsealed court documents revealed that Tucker Carlson held private beliefs that contradict the narrative portrayed on his show. This includes texts from Carlson describing Sidney Powell, a key promoter of election fraud claims, as “lying by the way. I caught her. It’s insane,” and further dismissed her as a “nut” and “fucking bitch.” He even directly challenged her in a text, stating, “You’ve convinced them that Trump will win. If you don’t have conclusive evidence of fraud at that scale, it’s a cruel and reckless thing to keep saying.” These damning text messages likely contributed to Fox’s decision to settle outside of court.
The timing and scale of this event is widely believed to have caused the split. However, its worth noting that many of the staff at Fox News expressed a similar discrepancy (pushing election fraud claims while privately denying them) and yet they weren’t fired.
Internal divisions
Other text messages exposed deep contempt and criticism he had for Fox News executives, for example he called them “incompetent liberals” who were “destroying our credibility.” They may have considered this an internal betrayal, and decided to fire him.
Tucker Carlson was also dealing with a different lawsuit filed by his former producer, Abby Grossberg. She alleged that he fostered a hostile, misogynistic, and antisemitic work environment on his show. She also claimed that she was pressured by Fox News attorneys to give misleading testimony in the aforementioned Dominion case.
Religious Rhetoric
In his later years, Tucker Carlson began adopting an increasingly spiritual and even apocalyptic worldview that he expressed in his on-air commentary. For example, he would frame political or cultural topics as a battle of good versus evil, or suggest demonic or evil forces were at play, especially in topics that he viewed as “anti-human” like certain aspects of transgenderism, the push for nuclear war, or AI. He would sometimes encourage his audience to pray to counter these forces.
This kind of talk resonated deeply with a subset of his audience. However, it became a significant hurdle for Robert Murdoch, the head of Fox News. He may have considered this rhetoric alienating to viewers who didn’t share these beliefs, negatively affecting his entire brand.
It was reported that around late March, 2023, Carlson had dinner with Murdoch and his then-fiancée Ann Lesley Smith. Smith is deeply religious and evangelical, and told Carlson she believed he was “a prophet from God”. She even pulled out a Bible to read passages from Exodus, that she believed foretold Carlson’s mission. This was unsettling to Murdoch who reportedly “just sat there and stared”.
Just days after this dinner, Murdoch called off his 2-weeks engagement to Smith, and the next month Tucker Carlson was taken off the air. This was essentially like canceling his ex’s favorite show.
Financial Risk
Like other major cable news channels, Fox News is always renegotiating deals with cable and satellite TV providers, ensuring their channel remains in paid subscription bundles. During 2023-2024, Fox News was in the middle or renewing many of these contracts, and the $787.5 million Dominion settlement may have been damaging to their reputation, especially when it revealed embarrassing internal communications.
Even though others at Fox expressed similar views on election fraud, stopping Tucker Carlson’s show right after the settlement could signal to investors that the network took decisive action, mitigating future liabilities, even if it cost them their star host. It could be a way to reassure stakeholders that they are protecting their long-term reputation and financial stability, despite the upfront cost of the settlement.
The Weakening of Fox News: A Test of Brand Loyalty vs. Host Loyalty
Tucker Carlson’s populist audience was less interested in all this drama. Many of them saw that he was the only TV host representing their views, and that the remaining roster on Fox News was too tame and “pro-establishment” by comparison.
In the immediate aftermath, the overall viewership dropped by as much as 50%, and took an even deeper plunge during his 8 PM ET time slot. The decline was steep, especially for the demographic preferred by advertisers (25-54).
Rival networks saw some temporary spikes in viewership, such as “All In with Chris Hayes” on MSNBC (a left-leaning network), occasionally surpassing Fox in that hour. This was unthinkable when Tucker Carlson’s show was on.
The network had to confront the fact that the audience wasn’t loyal to the channel. They didn’t care about the Fox News Brand itself. His fans were drawn in by Carlson’s anti-establishment narrative and his ability to articulate their grievances.
Eventually, Jesse Watters took the 8 PM spot and tried to appeal to the same populist audience that Carlson served. He focused on culture war issues and used “controversy” to grab attention, deliberately manufacturing “owning the libs” moments in his interviews. However, he often stays within the guardrails of the overall Fox news policies and is less likely to criticize foreign interventions for example. He also lacks the ideological depth and nuance of Tucker Carlson, instead focusing on direct, more digestible points. The network overall recovered its #1 spot, but some of Tucker Carlson’s audience never came back.

The Impact on American Conservatives: Fractures and New Fronts
Tucker Carlson’s departure didn’t just create a void on television, it also revealed an indelible fracture in the conservative movement itself, forcing right wing media to adapt. Smaller conservative outlets like Newsmax and OANN Saw a significant boost in viewership, but this was temporary.
Among his most loyal viewers, there was a sense of betrayal by Fox News, leading to calls for boycotting the network across social media, where his most ardent supporters already had accounts. They interpreted his dismissal as a form of censorship by a powerful organization, further cementing his “anti-establishment” image. This also made them suspicious of any established media, even if they are right wing.
Carlson leveraged the fact that his supporters were online anyways and started launching videos on X (formerly Twitter), which had more vocal conservative users after Elon Musk bought it.
Carlson also launched The Tucker Carlson Network (TCN) which is a standalone, subscription-based website. It also hosts free videos and interviews which are circulated on social media channels. The website is marketed as “An alternative to legacy media”.
From this newfound independence, Tucker Carlson continues to wield significant power in shaping conservative discourse, and retains a large, dedicated audience. He often comments on U.S. foreign policy and interviews global figures. One of his most popular interviews on Youtube is with Russian president Vladimir Putin. He also recently announced an interview with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian (as of July 2025). It would be very difficult for partisan legacy media to arrange interviews like these.
He often provides the main talking points for the conservative populist movement, and counter points to the narrative offered by Fox News, further widening the ideological rift in the conservative movement.
Tucker Carlson’s views:
It’s worth taking a look at Carlson’s political views, which are also common among his conservative populist audience, diverging from mainstream “Fox News” conservatism. Some of his opinions changed over time, but these are relatively constant:
Populist Nationalism, “America first”, Anti-Immigration
Prioritizing American interests above all else, and criticism of globalism and international alliances that are considered detrimental to the U.S.
This also leads to a general skepticism of U.S. interventions in foreign affairs and large scale foreign aid.
Strong emphasis on border control, national sovereignty, national cultural identity, etc…
Vocal criticism of legal and illegal immigration, arguing it dilutes social cohesion and negatively impacts the American economy and culture.
He also promotes the “great replacement theory” which argues that globalist elites deliberately try to alter the demographics of western countries.
Anti-Establishment, Anti-Elite, Scientific Skepticism
Distrust of mainstream institutions including mainstream media, mega corporations, Washington elite, and universities.
Deliberately frames cultural and political issues as a conflict between his audience “the common people” and these elite.
He is known for interviewing people with fringe or “conspiracy” ideas, like alternative theories about January 6th Capitol attack, climate change, or election fraud (which caused the Dominion Lawsuit). Some of these wouldn’t get a platform on mainstream media, which adds to the “truther” or “anti-establishment” vibe.
A good example of this was his skepticism towards the COVID-19 Vaccines or official narrative around the virus, framing it as a tool of social control or government/elite overreach.
Culture War Focus
He is very critical of progressive social movements, or “wokeness”, and any attacks on “traditional American values”, masculinity, and Christianity.
He often focused on issues like gender, race, identity politics, etc… which were very popular during his time at Fox News. However, they seem to be less popular now as of 2025. His opinions probably didn’t change, but he may talk less about these things because of the current zeitgeist, which seems to be a “culture war fatigue”.
Opinions on Donald Trump
On Fox News, Tucker Carlson was a strong supporter for Donald Trump. He was his most influential media voice, and likely helped him win, consistently defending him and his policies. He was also an informal advisor to Trump and influenced some of his decisions.
They seem to agree on a lot of points, such as populism, anti-establishment rhetoric, and anti-immigration policies. Trump’s MAGA crowd generally also watches Tucker Carlson.
However, the Dominion lawsuit revealed private texts where he expresses negative views about Trump (e.g., “I hate him passionately,” or “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.”)
He platformed the election fraud claims in support of Trump, despite privately stating he doesn’t believe them.
As of 2025, he sometimes speaks favorably of Trump on his show, but lately criticized him for his involvement in the Middle East and his support for Israel. Carlson’s staunch anti-interventionist stance reveals a further divide in the conservative movement (Pro-Israel Pro-Trump MAGA vs Trump-fatigued Anti-Interventionists)
Publicly, Trump once called Carlson “Kooky”, and Carlson apologized privately to him for “going a little too strong” on the Israel-Iran situation, so there’s some spats here and there.
Tucker Carlson himself repeatedly stated that he has no political ambition (like running for president or any other position), preferring his role as an outside commentator and influencer.