Why Rupert Murdoch fired Tucker Carlson American Republicans are outraged by the clothing debate – he takes it very calmly here

Michael Wolff is a controversial figure in American journalism. He is considered a mixture of scandalmongers and political analysts. He is also a prolific writer and has published, among other things, a book about publisher Rupert Murdoch and three books about Donald Trump.

What all these books have in common is that they give the impression that the author is close to the action. However, this cannot be verified because Wolff largely relies on anonymous sources. Politically, he is difficult to classify. He enjoys the role of the cynic who thinks everyone is stupid, both Trump and the New York Times.

But even the harshest critics testify to one thing: Michael Wolff is a smug writer. His books are fun, in a way they are the counterpart of TV series like ‘Succession’. As is known, this series is about a fictional publishing family that, purely coincidentally, has many similarities with the Murdochs.

In ‘The Fall’ the publisher is not fictional, but actually Rupert Murdoch. Together with ex-president Trump and former star presenter Tucker Carlson, he is one of the main characters in the book. Wolff describes the three as follows:

The 92-year-old Murdoch has now become a grumpy old man. He also just announced that he is stepping down as head of his media empire, handing over control to his eldest son Lachlan. Yet he has little appreciation for his three children from his first marriage: Lachlan is a “child-headed”, his brother James is a “hot-headed”. Both have an endless argument with their sister Elisabeth.

However, Murdoch harbors the utmost contempt for Donald Trump. He calls him a “a…hole,” “obviously crazy,” and an “idiot” – on a good day. Above all, Trump is a ‘loser’ for Murdoch.

His relationship with Tucker Carlson is completely different. This was originally planned as a counter-program to the star presenters from the founding era, such as Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity. O’Reilly was a Catholic Irishman and had to be fired for sexual harassment. Murdoch also has little interest in Hannity; he considers him a ‘blockhead’ (idiot) and Laura Ingraham, who also belongs to the Catholic mafia, is an alcoholic.

Carlson, on the other hand, was originally the ‘all American boy’, the traditional WASP representative (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant), with all that entails: money, elite school and bow tie. It was therefore intended as a counter-program to the plebeian Catholic mafia. On a human level, Murdoch got along well with Carlson. Shortly before firing the star presenter, he invited him and his wife to a private dinner and then thanked him for the interesting evening.

However, Carlson developed differently than planned. He did not become a decent presenter, on the contrary, he quickly became even more radical than the sedate Hannity. That is exactly why he quickly became a superstar on Fox News with his extreme statements. Therefore, he was given the most coveted spot in the daily routine, the hour between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Then came the legendary defamation lawsuit against Fox News, brought by voting machine manufacturer Dominion. The Murdoch broadcaster had made several completely out-of-the-box claims that the voting machines had been manipulated in favor of Joe Biden and that the software for these machines had been developed under Hugo Chavez, the dictator of Venezuela who died in 2013. .

According to Wolff, Murdoch blamed Trump for the mess. If he had admitted his election defeat, this would not have happened to anyone, the editor raged. “Trump has maneuvered the station into this untenable situation,” Wolff wrote. “Look, it’s Trump’s fault.”

As a result, Fox News, under pressure from Murdoch, began reporting extensively and very kindly about Ron DeSantis. It was clearly the intention that the governor of Florida would serve as a counter-candidate to Trump. Tucker Carlson even invited him to a private dinner. It didn’t turn out well. “Ron DeSantis sat at the table for two hours and spoke very loudly,” Wolff describes the meeting. “He was impersonal, cold and interested in nothing but himself.” Yes, it is even said that he kicked his wife’s beloved dog under the table.

However, the newfound love for DeSantis did not prevent the defamation lawsuit from proceeding. Things didn’t go well here either. The evidence against the TV station was so overwhelming that defeat in court became increasingly likely. And Dominion had sought $2 billion in damages.

Through gritted teeth, Fox News was forced to negotiate. The first offer was for $500 million in damages – and Sean Hannity would be fired. That wasn’t enough. Ultimately, the amount was increased to 787 million and Tucker Carlson had to be sacrificed.

The star anchor was surprised when Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott told him over the phone that he was being released immediately. He did not respond like a gentleman, although Murdoch himself contacted him shortly afterwards and expressed the hope that they could still remain friends.

However, Carlson had already flirted with Elon Musk. Carlson now regularly posts long messages for X (formerly Twitter) and attacks his former employer head-on. He published an interview with Trump at the exact same time that the first debate between the Republican presidential candidates aired on Fox News.

Tucker Carlson is not the first star anchor to involuntarily leave Fox News. As mentioned, Bill O’Reilly had to leave because of sexual harassment, Glenn Beck became untenable even for Fox News because of his crazy conspiracy theories, Megyn Kelly took on Trump at a time when he was the network’s darling.

All of these former stars have more or less failed. The Fox News brand was stronger than them. However, the tide could be turning for Tucker Carlson. Since his dismissal, the channel has suffered massive ratings losses. In addition, cable television has generally developed into a medium for old to very old people.

Michael Wolff therefore believes that the Tucker Carlson drama represents the beginning of Fox News’ decline. “The Murdochs have a bad feeling about Carlson, about Trump, but also about themselves,” he writes. “It is far too late that they are now trying to tame the monster they themselves created.”