The subject was the 2024 election, but that did not stop Fox News host Greg Gutfeld from slipping in a reference to the real topic of the day on Fox News.
During Monday’s edition of “The Five,” the hosts were kicking around the election as Gutfeld spoke.
“And then so in 2024 it will be Susan Rice versus Tucker Carlson,” he said, referring to Carlson, who got the ax that day from Fox, as well as Rice, who suddenly departed the Biden administration.
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The quip drew a brief pause until host Jeanine Pirro said “OK” and quickly kicked the show along to its next segment.
That was one of few mentions of Carlson on Fox News Monday, including one from Harris Faulkner that emerged as word got out that Fox and Carlson “had parted ways,” according to Mediaite.
During his show, Sean Hannity contrasted Carlson with former CNN host Don Lemon.
“We’re not talking about Tucker. I don’t really have any details on it. But he had a massive audience and has a huge following. This guy [Lemon] had nobody,” Hannity said.
On his radio show, Hannity said Carlson’s departure from Fox was” very, very hard. My phone has been blowing up all day about the news that Tucker Carlson and the Fox News Channel have parted ways. And the hard part for me is I don’t have a clue. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know anything about it. … I have no idea.”
Brian Kilmeade, hosting the replacement show that filled Carlson’s time slot, opened the show with a reference to Carlson.
“As you probably have heard, Fox News and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” he said. “I wish Tucker the best. I’m great friends with Tucker and always will be.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said Fox News will be the big loser in the breakup, according to Newsmax.
“I think this tells us a lot more about Fox than it does Tucker Carlson. This is the continuation of Fox’s devolution. This is not the first popular conservative talk show host that they’ve kicked to the curb. We had [Bill] O’Reilly, we had Glenn Beck, even Megyn Kelly. They’re shedding their conservative skin, is what they’re doing,” he said.
“We’ve watched this process over the last decade and it’s interesting, when we look at our constituency, which we describe as really the core of the evangelical community,” he said.
“They’re informed about what’s going on. Tucker was the only reason they were going to Fox. Fox is going to lose a huge demographic for their audience by booting Tucker,” he said.
Perkins said Fox is following a sad pattern.
“I think Fox is going to be the big loser here,” he said. “I think Fox is going to end up in line with MSNBC — just another has-been network.”
“Fox is kind of like what we used to see in Republican picks for the Supreme Court prior to the last administration. They start out as if they were conservative, and they end up becoming just another swamp creature, and I think that’s what’s happened with Fox,” he said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
