Donald Trump sat for his first television interview since Fox News fired Tucker Carlson on Monday. His departure came less than a week after the network agreed to pay $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit that centered in part on claims made on his show.
Separately, a former producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight is suing Fox, alleging sexual harassment.
Newsmax’s Greg Kelly interviewed Trump after the news broke and asked the former president for his reaction.
“So, Tucker Carlson was sitting here two weeks ago interviewing you,” Kelly said, referring to the softball interview Carlson conducted with Trump at Mar-a-Lago. “He’s gone. What do you make of that?”
Trump responded:
Well I’m shocked. I’m surprised. He’s a very good person and a very good man, and very talented as you know. And he had very high ratings. So, we’re just learning about it almost as we speak. You and I just said, “Wow, that was something, that’s a big one.” I don’t know if it was voluntary, or was it, somebody fired? But I think Tucker’s been terrific. He’s been – especially over the last year or so – he’s been terrific to me.
“There’s a lot of turmoil over there, Fox,” Kelly said. “I mean, [$787 million] they just paid. Why would they get rid of a guy who’s performing–why would somebody do that to their business? Because they’re losing money right now. Their stock has gone down.”
“Well I was surprised that they made a settlement on that case,” Trump responded. “But the Tucker situation again, you don’t know if it’s a firing. Maybe he left because he wasn’t being given his free rein. He wants free rein, maybe. But I was surprised by it.”
Sources told Mediaite Carlson was fired.
In its lawsuit against Fox, Dominion included a slew of private communications between Fox News employees. One of those was a text about Trump from Carlson to a Fox News staffer.
“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” Carlson wrote in a text on Jan. 4, 2021. “I truly can’t wait.” He added, “I hate him passionately.”
Watch above via Fox News.
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