Former President Donald Trump said Monday that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was “terrific” and was stunned at his departure from the network. “I’m shocked. I’m surprised, he’s a very good person, a very good man and very talented, as you know, and he had very high ratings,” Trump told Newsmax host Greg Kelly in an interview taped earlier Monday. “We’re just learning about it now almost as we speak.”
Fox News announced the departure of Carlson, a co-founder of the Daily Caller News Foundation, from the network Monday morning, saying they had “agreed to part ways.” The network will use rotating hosts to anchor news coverage at the 8 p.m. time slot where “Tucker Carlson Tonight” previously aired, host Harris Faulkner said.
Fox News settled a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million less than a week ago, averting a trial that could have seen Carlson and other network personalities forced to testify.
Brian Kilmeade, a co-host of “Fox and Friends,” took over the 8 p.m. timeslot Monday evening.
“Maybe he left because he wasn’t being given his free reign,” Trump said. “He wants free rein, maybe, but I was surprised by it.”
Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy predicted the network would see a windfall in a statement released earlier Monday following Carlson’s departure from Fox News.