Tucker Carlson, an iconic Fox News presenter who hosted a much-watched evening show on America's favorite conservative channel, is stepping down with immediate effect, the channel announced Monday (April 24). The resounding departure comes amid turmoil for Fox News, which last week was forced to agree to pay electronic voting machine company Dominion nearly $800 million to avoid an embarrassing defamation lawsuit over its coverage of the 2020 presidential election (Satellifacts, April 19).
“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to separate,” it said in a statement, without giving a reason for this departure. At the head of Tucker Carlson Tonight since 2016, the host had become one of the most influential voices in conservative America. Five evenings a week and for an hour, he commented on the news in a very personal tone. Opposed to abortion, great defender of guns, the 53-year-old pro-Trump presenter has never hesitated to expose his opinions in a program which claimed to be, on its site, "the sworn enemy of lies ". After his recent resounding indictment in New York, it was with Tucker Carlson that Donald Trump reserved his first interview, on April 11.