Hosts and analysts on CNN spent Monday serving salvos back and forth following news that primetime Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson had parted ways with the network.
Democratic strategist Paul Begala, speaking Monday night with longtime CNN host Anderson Cooper, said Fox News should replace Carlson with an “undocumented Mexican immigrant” if the station wants to demonstrate any remorse related to the dismissal of their most highly viewed host.
WATCH:
CNN contributor on whether Fox News has changed after firing Tucker Carlson: “Fox has changed if they replace Tucker with an undocumented Mexican immigrant. That would actually truly be a great replacement.” pic.twitter.com/h7N7p6dtPj
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 25, 2023
“You know what I’d like to see? Here’s how we’ll know that Fox has changed. They won’t do it. Fox has changed if they replace Tucker with an undocumented Mexican immigrant. That would actually, truly be a great replacement,” Begala said.
In his remarks, Cooper questioned whether the decision to separate from Carlson represented a tacit admission by Fox News that it let staff stretch the truth beyond legal boundaries. The station recently reached a $787 million agreement with Dominion Voting Systems relating to claims made by Carlson and others at the network that the company’s vote-tabulation machines contributed to the loss of President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Carlson, who closed out his final show Monday expressing surprise at the decision, had been implicated for months in the Dominion lawsuit by text messages disparaging executives at Fox as well as President Trump. Both the host and attorneys for the station claimed those messages were taken out of context by Dominion as the company sought leverage to win a $1.6 billion judgement.
Just days before, Fox also failed to renew its contract with contributor Dan Bongino, another sign that the media empire is adjusting its content strategy in the wake of its settlement with Dominion. While analysts expect Fox to write off most of the massive payment through insurance and tax claims, the network is facing a separate lawsuit from a female former staff member for Carlson’s show. In her suit, Abby Grossberg claims Carlson fostered a production environment where sexist and antisemitic comments were made.
