Former President Donald Trump is reacting to Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News.
Trump sat down for an interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly and was asked about the shocking news of Carlson’s ouster on Monday.
“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,” the former president said.
He continued, “I just said, ‘Wow that’s something, that’s a big one.’ I don’t know if was voluntary.”
“But I think Tucker’s been terrific — especially over the last year or so he’s been terrific to me,” Trump added.
Watch the video below:
BREAKING: Donald Trump reacts to Tucker Carlson being fired from Fox News: “I'm shocked — I’m surprised. He’s a very good person and a very good man… Tucker’s been terrific, especially over the last year or so.”
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) April 25, 2023
pic.twitter.com/0BS0tvUOM7
In a statement on Monday, Fox News said, “FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21st.”
“Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named,” it continued.
It was not clear what led to the popular host’s departure.
However, it came roughly a week after Fox News agreed to pay a $787.5 million settlement in Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against the network.
Dominion’s discovery documents revealed Carlson had privately sent texts critical of Trump, including stating, “I hate him passionately.” He also cast doubt on claims the 2020 election was stolen.
Yet on his show, Carlson praised Trump and gave air time to claims about election fraud. The documents also show the host texted his producer messages criticizing the company’s executives.
During a March interview on WABC Radio, the former Fox News host said the texts “were all grabbed completely illegitimately, in my opinion, in this court case.”
“I’m enraged that my private texts were pulled,” he continued, adding, “I’m pretty straightforward… I love Trump. Like, as a person, I think Trump is funny and insightful.”
He also said Trump called him “all wounded about those texts.”
“That was a moment in time where I was absolutely infuriated,” Carlson added.