Should Fox News hire Casey DeSantis to replace Tucker Carlson?

by philg

As my only exposure to this channel is when walking through FBOs, I’m not an expert on Fox News or the recently departed Tucker Carlson. However, I’m wondering if Fox would be smart to try to replace him with Casey DeSantis, who has experience as a TV newscaster. Here is the kinder/gentler DeSantis in 2021 (source):

Readers who do watch Fox News: will you miss Tucker Carlson and whom should Fox hire as a replacement?

Also, what does Tucker Carlson do for a second act? Wikipedia says that he is 53, so he won’t be ready to run for U.S. president until at least 2045. Could Mr. Carlson succeed in a run for Congress in a district where Fox News viewership is high? Presumably he can never achieve a comparable level of fame/following as what he had on Fox, so why bother trying to reboot as a TV personality?

Also, readers who watch CNN (again, not me, except when passing through some commercial airports): will you miss Don Lemon? The BBC says that he hatefully suggested that men were better at soccer than women, contrary to ChatGPT’s findings. He also dissed my favorite Republican candidate, Nikki Haley, for being “not in her prime” at 51 years old (“prime” for a Democrat is 86, the age that Joe Biden will be when he passes the baton to President Harris in January 2029).

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18 thoughts on “Should Fox News hire Casey DeSantis to replace Tucker Carlson?”

  1. I won’t miss Tucker because I don’t know who he is . But I will miss Don Lemon who was fired from CNN after 17 years of a good job. Probably because if misogynous comments. I don’t like DeSantis because of his despicable treatment of immigrants like Abbot. However, I am sorry his wife is fighting cancer. Many American women have suffered it. I think that hormones in lactic products can be a reason.

    • You should take a time to find some clip of Tucker Carson on YouTube and watch it.

      He was the only TV host who wasn’t total propagandist/BS artist. The most popular, too, as he comes through as genuine.

    • Was an immigrant named Abbot mistreated by DeSantis, or are you saying that Governors DeSantis and Abbot are both mistreating immigrants?

    • I am still confused as to how Ron DeSantis can be accused of mistreating the Vineyard 50. They were flown to a luxurious resort island at one of the best times of year. They should now be fully established in the Maskachusetts welfare system and receiving taxpayer-funded housing, health care, food, and smartphone. How would they have been better off staying in welfare-stingy Texas? (see Table 4 in https://www.cato.org/white-paper/work-versus-welfare-trade-2013 )

  2. I will miss Tucker greatly. He will not run for office instead he will create a podcast of some type and make millions of dollars. He is irreplaceable.

  3. For some background, this is an opinion from Europe. I have only watched about fifty 10 min excerpts from Carlson’s show posted on YouTube on selected topics. If these are specially selected by FoxNews, there will be a sample bias.

    Tucker Carlson never struck me as extreme right. I think some of his critics do not get his satirical, hyperbolic style that often borders on comedy.

    I’ve found him reasonable on topics like wokeness and immigration. More importantly, he touches subjects that other cable news hosts avoid: He gave very fair coverage on COVID-19, lockdowns and the trucker protests. He is against involvement in the Ukraine war.

    In short, he is very much anti-establishment and I suspect that is the real reason they want him out. He interviewed Trump and Robert F. Kennedy. On the grounds of free speech, he defended some entirely unimportant Black socialist organization that was targeted by the DOJ (Black lives don’t matter?!).

    What people do not seem to get is that what he says is not meant to be turned directly into policy or laws. It is unfiltered discussion that also exists on YouTube/Rumble, but not on cable.

    Likely, any replacement will not dare to touch any of these matters. The fact that Lemon was also canceled seems to point to the fact that both sides want to narrow the Overton window.

    • Regarding the Overton window…

      https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/25/pentagon-officials-cheer-tucker-carlson-ouster-00093819

      From maternity flight suits to diversity policies to Ukraine aid, the military was a favorite punching bag for Tucker Carlson. Now that he’s off the air, some Pentagon officials are quietly cheering his departure.

      “We’re a better country without him bagging on our military every night in front of hundreds of thousands of people,” said one senior DoD official, who like others interviewed for this story was granted anonymity to discuss a politically sensitive topic.

      ——————–

      Everyone must support the troops!

    • Referenced from that Politico article, an official Pentagon press release that mentions the need to hire more experts on diversity and inclusion (“a lot of work to do”):

      “Press Secretary Smites Host That Dissed Diversity in U.S. Military”

      https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2534159/press-secretary-smites-host-that-dissed-diversity-in-us-military/

      “To be sure, we still have a lot of work to do to make our military more inclusive, more respectful of everyone, especially women,” Kirby said.

      (priceless for the photo of our young slender apparently female (less vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2) war-fighters in their masks)

  4. I think Tucker has a lot more influence doing what he does than being one of 100 senators or 1 of 454 house member – so I doubt that is the route he will take. Unless he is bored he will probably find another platform and continue doing what he is doing.

  5. Tucker makes way too much money to go into politics. Even “10% for the big guy” doesn’t compare to what brings in.

    On the other hand, I don’t know how large his extended family is. Grampa Joe has taught us that the entire clan can rake it in while influence peddling.

    I would expect a move to new media (podcast, etc) and Tucker starts generating cash like Joe Rogan.

  7. If Carlson and Lemon are fired because some don’t like what they said on air, then every politician should be fired too.

  10. I too think that Tucker Carlson is way too important to become just another politician. Although I disagree with some of his points of view I think that without him publicly speaking US freedom of speech takes a hit. He is one of those who, paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin, could keep freedom of speech. He freely discussed sensitive topics that nobody else cared to bring up without hate-mongering , he fitted well with his unique presentation in mosaic of news commentary.
    His audience on paid cable was only about 3.5 million, most of his popularity is from freely distributed content. I think it may youtube distribution could become an issue without backing up of establishment media, but overall I expect his direct popularity rise, not fall, now that he is free and ready to charge.

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