Tucker Carlson is gone from Fox News. But will his polarizing influence linger?
Controversial cable news host was known for divisive rhetoric, conspiracy theories
Tucker Carlson was a big deal at Fox News Channel, and his abrupt departure from the network on Monday came as a surprise to fans and detractors alike.
The Rupert Murdoch-owned cable news network did not divulge why it had "agreed to part ways" with one of its most successful stars, and didn't even allow him a proper sendoff — his show on Friday night was his last. As of publication, Carlson had yet to issue any sort of statement of his own.
Only the network's top brass, Carlson and, presumably, his lawyer know why he's no longer at the helm of Tucker Carlson Tonight, which averaged more than three million viewers a night.
Whatever the reason, one thing is for certain for Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America: Carlson used his platform to indulge conspiracy theories, spread lies and misinformation and fuel attacks on diversity and multiculturalism.
"Tucker Carlson was a vicious demagogue," Gertz told CBC News from Washington, D.C. "The body politic will be better off for his absence."
But Gertz and other media observers believe Carlson's influence can be felt beyond Fox News.
A 'contrarian' and 'instigator'
Carlson hosted Tucker Carlson Tonight for the past six and a half years. He also had a daytime sit-down interview show and a documentary series on Fox's streaming service, Fox Nation.
His departure leaves a significant gap in the network's programming. It happened just days after Fox News reached a $787.5-million US settlement in a defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems and as the network faces a discrimination lawsuit by one of Carlson's former producers.
Gertz said Carlson filled a void in right-wing media left behind when bombastic broadcaster Rush Limbaugh passed away in 2021. Namely, someone whose lead other right-wing personalities — and even politicians — would follow.
"Often, you would see after he made a big statement on something like Ukraine policy, you would see others on the right decide, 'OK, we're going to follow Tucker Carlson's lead and spread the same message.'"
In 2022, Media Matters for America labelled him "Misinformer of the Year." It was for a range of reasons, including his promotion of a white supremacist conspiracy theory known as "the Great Replacement"; his demonization of LGBTQ activists and proponents of gender-affirming care; climate change denial; anti-vaccine rhetoric; and unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Carlson "basically says, whatever the mainstream people are saying, whatever the news outlets are saying, I'm going to say the opposite of that," Gertz explained.
Nicole Blanchett, an associate professor of journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University, sees Carlson as a "contrarian" and an "instigator" whose influence helped amplify misinformation.
While it's difficult to quantify just how big his influence is, she pointed to a Reuters Institute study that found Carlson was the best-known media personality in the U.S. last year. The study also noted that the most-recognized journalists in the U.S. were known for their "strong opinions" rather than their impartiality.
Carlson's fame and dominance in cable news ratings gave his misinformation and incendiary rhetoric even more legitimacy, Blanchett said.
Coming after Canada
Carlson's popularity and influence are not bound by borders.
He can be credited with being one of the "major figures in enhancing political polarization in the United States, as well as in North America," said Ahmed al-Rawi, an associate professor in the the school of communication at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.
While he has a following in Canada, this country also became one of his preferred targets in recent years, and the focus of an unaired documentary for his Tucker Carlson Originals series on Fox Nation.
O Canada! was set to premiere on May 1, but it's unclear if the streaming service will still move ahead with the release.
According to a trailer posted on Carlson's website earlier this month, the documentary examines whether the U.S. should "liberate" its northern neighbour from "tyranny" under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The preview highlighted interviews with people accused of violating COVID-19 public health measures, protesters who took part in the Freedom Convoy occupation of Parliament Hill in 2022, contributors to the right-wing media outlet Rebel News and Maxime Bernier, leader of the People's Party of Canada.
Blanchett doesn't think Carlson really cares about what's happening in Canada or Canadian politics, but that he'll jump on anything that backs up his "overarching narrative of having to be on guard" against what he views as threats to democracy and liberty.
"That's the sort of way his show operate[d]," said Gertz, explaining that Carlson often praised countries that have autocratic leaders, such as Hungary and Russia.
A lasting influence
Gertz doesn't believe we've seen the last of Carlson, but says the end of his relationship with Fox News may diminish his ability to amplify divisive rhetoric and misinformation.
He points to former Fox News stars Megyn Kelly, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, who all have media platforms but have struggled to maintain the same prominence since leaving the network.
But Al-Rawi thinks Carlson's influence will last far longer than his time at Fox News. His departure may fuel conspiracies about freedom of speech and suggestions that the outcome of the Dominion lawsuit and subsequent settlement may have resulted in the host being silenced.
"Leaving Fox News might make him even more popular, showing [Carlson's supporters] that, 'Oh, Fox News has been censored,'" he said.
Al-Rawi would like to think that Fox News has learned a lesson about how far it should let an anchor go in promoting inflammatory rhetoric, but he's not entirely hopeful about that.
"There are so many extreme figures that are very much interested in taking Carlson's seat and using his platform," he said. "I don't believe that [Fox] will have a problem identifying similar figures. But I don't think they will find someone like Tucker Carlson."
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