To the editor:
It has been announced that Tucker Carlson, the demagogic host of "Tucker Carlson Tonight," which had been the top-rated program on all of cable television, has been systemically discharged by Fox Chief Executive Lachlan Murdock, with the approval of his father, the founder and potentate of Fox News, Rupert Murdock, devoid of any explanation, leading one to speculate as to the rationale as to why and how the decision was made.
Perhaps such might have transpired as a result of the recent settlement by Fox News of a defamation lawsuit against it by Dominion Voting Systems, in which Fox reportedly agreed to pay Dominion an historic $787 billion, as a result of Fox's often repeated, but never substantiated claims that somehow Dominion had rigged the 2020 presidential election against then-President Donald Trump, which was repeated virtually endlessly on the air by nearly all of the program hosts, but, in particular, Carlson.
In addition, it has been reported that Carlson's texts and e-mails revealed that in actuality he hated Trump passionately, and referred to the Trump presidency as a disaster, while hypocritically praising Trump in order to placate his viewers.
Carlson also has repeatedly, and disgracefully, described the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in our nation's capital as peaceful and patriotic, which was counter to all discernible evidence.
It also was revealed that Carlson, who is well known for his demagogic style, while promoting incendiary, unsubstantiated and false claims, who has been described as an on-air hate monger, might, in addition, have been responsible for creating a toxic workplace environment, as he had reportedly been quite disrespectful to women and, furthermore, is being sued by former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg, with similar concerns being expressed in addition to his perceived lack of respect for many of his supervisors at Fox.
Carlson, who is the personification of fake news, following his replacement of former Fox News mega-host Bill O'Reilly, who also was fired by Fox, during the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. weekday timeslot on Fox News, had been a host previously on three other programs on CNN and MSNBC, which proved to be less than successful. However, during his previous on-air stints, Carlson portrayed himself as more of a journalist and less of a provocateur and, although still quite conservative, was much more respectful to the facts, before the adoption of his current demagogic persons, with little regard for facts and reality in order to entertain rather than properly inform his viewers.
It will be quite interesting, indeed, to see what the future might be for Carlson, as well as his former time slot on Fox News.
Richard Hord
Martins Ferry