He didn’t stay silent for long. A few days after being dismissed by Fox News, conservative presenter Tucker Carlson announced on Tuesday that he was going to broadcast his new show on Twitter, justifying his decision by saying that the platform is “not a partisan site” and “one of the few in the world” to defend freedom of expression.
Tucker Carlson’s program on Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonightbrought together, on average, 3.3 million viewers in 2022, the best audience in the evening schedule of American news channels.
The always impeccable presenter is known for his radical positions and his taste for certain far-right conspiracy theories. In particular, he helped popularize the myth of the “great replacement”.
Benevolent Twitter with conspiracy
His arrival on Twitter comes as many observers have noted an increase in hateful content on the platform since its takeover by Elon Musk in October. The new majority shareholder has himself echoed several conspiracy theories from his personal account, the most followed on the social network, in particular during the attack against Paul Pelosi, or, more recently after that in a shopping center in Texas.
“There aren’t many platforms that allow free speech,” Tucker Carlson explained in a message posted to Twitter on Tuesday. “The last in the world, the only one, is Twitter. »
In recent years, several social networks have launched by playing the freedom of expression card, including Gab, Parler, Gettr or Truth Social, created by former US President Donald Trump.
“Twitter is not a partisan site,” Tucker Carlson continued. “Everyone is allowed to do it and we think that’s a good thing. The 53-year-old presenter promised “a new version of the show we’ve been doing for six and a half years, on Twitter”. Whether he strikes a deal with Fox News remains to be seen, with a contract that could, in theory, prevent him from offering a similar show on another platform.
Problematic posts
If Fox News did not give a reason for the departure of Tucker Carlson, it would be mainly due to a series of messages exposed during the legal action of the Dominion company against the media group, for defamation.
These communications showed that the presenter was relaying accusations of electoral fraud during the 2020 presidential election while privately expressing serious doubts about the veracity of these allegations. The messages also contained scathing criticism of Fox News’ editorial staff.
In the video posted on Tuesday, Tucker Carlson accused all mainstream media of misleading public opinion and behaving like “propaganda organizations.” To avoid a lawsuit with a very uncertain outcome, Fox News has agreed to pay $787.5 million to Dominion, a company specializing in your electronics machines, denounced, without proof, as an instrument of the alleged electoral fraud of 2020 .