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Tucker Carlson will relaunch his show on Twitter after being abruptly taken off air by Fox News in April.
But who is Tucker Carlson – and why has he been called the “most powerful conservative in America”?
Tucker Carlson Tonight
Carlson took up the prime-time weekday evenings spot on Fox News in 2016 and quickly established himself as a key player in the network and an influential voice in Republican politics.
The show was the highest-rated cable news programme in the key 25 to 54 age demographic, with Fox News the most-watched US cable news network. Ratings have slumped since his departure.
He often embraced conspiracy theories and far-right issues. He repeatedly questioned the efficacy of COVID vaccines and compared mandates to “Nazi experiments”.
While he found success with viewers, his inflammatory comments caused some advertisers to distance themselves from the programme.
In 2018 he said immigrants would make the US “poorer and dirtier”, prompting an advertiser boycott.
Talking about the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, he said: “This may be a lot of things, this moment we are living through. But it is definitely not about black lives, and remember that when they come for you. And at this rate, they will.”
Image:
Tucker Carlson Pic: Szilard Koszticsak/MTI/AP
His exit from Fox News
Carlson left Fox News in April, less than a week after parent company Fox Corp agreed to pay $787.5m (£631m) to Dominion Voting Systems to avert a defamation trial.
The network offered no explanation for the move.
Dominion, which makes voting machines, had sued over the channel’s coverage of false claims the machines rigged the 2020 election.
Carlson, 53, had been expected to testify in the Dominion trial.
In messages revealed as part of the lawsuit, Carlson acknowledged the claims about voter fraud were baseless. He also said he “passionately” hated former president Donald Trump – a departure from his rhetoric on the show.
In his…
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