Tucker Carlson announced on Twitter Tuesday afternoon that he will soon be relaunching a new version of his show and streaming it exclusively on Twitter, which he called the last big platform on earth that still allows free speech.
“Starting soon, we will be bringing a new version of the show we’ve been doing for the last six and a half years to Twitter,” he said in a video posted onto the platform.
Carlson’s announcement came the same day he accused Fox News “of fraud and breach of contract and made a host of document demands that could precede legal action,” according to Axios. Carlson is reportedly claiming that the noncompete provision in his contract is not valid, in which case, he would be free to launch his own competing show.
Carlson explained in his video why he thinks an unfiltered current affairs show is sorely needed.
“Facts [like the Hunter Biden laptop scandal] have been withheld on purpose along with proportion and perspective,” he said. “You are being manipulated.”
The former Fox News host explained that this works by reporting information that may be technically true, while withholding other key facts.
“If I tell you that a man has been unjustly arrested for armed robbery, that is not, strictly speaking, a lie,” he said. “He may have been framed. At this point, there hasn’t been a trial so no one can really say. But if I don’t mention the fact that the same man has been arrested for the same crime six times before, am I really informing you?” Carlson asked. “No, I’m not, I’m misleading you.”
That type of media manipulation, Tucker maintained, “is what the news media are doing in every story that matters every day of the week, every week of the year.”
Carlson said that after working in that “filthy” and utterly corrupting” system for thirty years, he “could tell you stories.”
Carlson has predicted in past interviews that he would eventually be fired for his coverage of verboten topics.
“You can’t have a free society if people can’t say what they think is true. Speech is the fundamental prerequisite for Democracy,” he declared.
“Amazingly, he added, as of tonight, there aren’t too many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world—the only one—is Twitter, where we are now,” Carlson added. “Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops. Twitter is not a partisan site. Everybody is allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing.”
Carlson maintained that most of the news organizations that post on Twitter, unfortunately, are “thinly disguised propaganda outlets,” and while the resulting conversations may feel like real debates, “the gatekeepers are still in charge.”
Carlson said he would be bringing more new things to Twitter that he will talk more about later.
“But for now, we’re just grateful to be here,” he said. “See you soon.”
We’re back. pic.twitter.com/sG5t9gr60O
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) May 9, 2023
In a letter to Fox officials Viet Dinh and Irena Briganti, according to Axios, Carlson’s lawyer said Fox employees, including “Rupert Murdoch himself,” broke promises to Carlson “intentionally and with reckless disregard for the truth.”
The lawyers accuse Fox executives — which two sources say are Dinh and Murdoch — of making “material representations,” or promises, to Carlson that were intentionally broken, constituting fraud.
Notably, the letter alleges Fox broke an agreement with Carlson not to leak his private communications to the media and not to use Carlson’s private messages “to take any adverse employment action against him.”
Multiple outlets have reported on Carlson’s redacted communications from pre-trial discovery documents and have suggested that they led to his ousting.
The letter also alleges Fox broke promises not to settle with Dominion Voting Systems “in a way which would indicate wrongdoing” on the part of Carlson and not to take any actions in a settlement that would harm Carlson’s reputation.Carlson was told by a member of the Fox board that he was taken off the air as part of the Dominion settlement, two sources briefed on a conversation told Axios.