Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will cover the time slot vacated by ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson next week.
McEnany â who is currently promoting her new book, âSerenity in the Storm: Living Through Chaos by Leaning on Christâ â is the co-host of âOutnumberedâ on the network.
Mediaite reported Thursday that she has been tapped to host âFox News Tonightâ at 8 p.m. ET from Monday to May 12.
She shared the news on Twitter, saying, âPlease join me next week as we dig into the state of politics, media, culture, and faith in America!â
âFox News Tonightâ has been hosted by Lawrence Jones this week, and the time slot was covered by Brian Kilmeade the week before.
Ratings for the time slot have cratered in the absence of Carlson, who was cableâs top-rated host before Fox Newsdismissed him on April 24.
âTucker Carlson Tonightâ averaged more than 3 million nightly viewers in the first quarter of the year, while âFox News Tonightâ has drawn less than half of that audience.
The absence of Carlson also has affected other shows in the networkâs lineup, including âJesse Watters Primetime,â Hannityâ and âThe Ingraham Angle.â
Each show has seen a sharp decline in both total viewers and among the age 25-54 demographic that is sought after by advertisers.
Last week, Fox News saw its lowest viewership â 124,000 â in the key demographic at 8 p.m. Wednesday since before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to CNN.
The network has not offered viewers an explanation for Carlsonâs firing, and the star also has not commented on his separation from the network.
In his only public comments since being let go â a video shared on Twitter â he criticized the cable news format while not mentioning any particular network and said issues of substance are not being discussed.
His video was seen by more than 21 million people â or roughly seven times that of the average audience he attracted while he was at Fox News.
Carlson also briefly spoke to a reporter from the U.K.âs Daily Mail the day after his ouster.
âI havenât eaten dinner with my wife on a weeknight in seven years,â he said on April 25.
The outlet described the former Fox News hostâs demeanor as âgleeful.â
Carlson has been the target of a campaign to bring him down this week as the far-left media âwatchdogâ group Media Matters has published videos of him from his time at Fox News that were not intended to become public.
It is not clear where the videos are coming from.
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly theorized on her radio show that they might be coming from someone inside the company who dislikes Carlson and wants to sabotage his future. A Fox News representative denied that.
Many of Carlsonâs fans have commented that seeing him speak off the cuff in the leaked videos has made him more likable and relatable.
Their response to the news of McEnany filling his shoes next week wasnât as well received. Comments on her Tweet were largely negative.
The reaction shows the uphill battle Fox News faces in winning back the audience who tuned in for Tucker Carlson every weeknight.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
