Tucker Carlson Allies Take Major Swing at Fox News as Network Prepares For Potential War With Fired Host

AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

The Daily Signal published a report on Monday, citing a former producer for Tucker Carlson Tonight, revealing Fox News’s internal policy regarding gender identity in the workplace. The article appears to be the latest salvo in Tucker Carlson and his camp’s ongoing attacks on his former employer, which many observers view as posturing ahead of a legal fight from Carlson to get out of his remaining contract.

Earlier this month, Carlson’s legal team released a brutal letter accusing Fox of “fraud and breach of contract” by firing him in late April, last week Carlson’s lawyer accused a Fox board member of “illegally leaking information” about Carlson, and on Monday Carlson retweeted a clip of close ally Chadwick Moore claiming Fox fired Carlson because of the Dominion Voting Systems settlement.

Fox News has issued repeated denials of those claims and has called any suggestion that he was fired due to the Dominion settlement “categorically false.”

The Daily Signal article, which accuses Fox of hypocrisy on the trans issue, cited “current and former Fox employees who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the company.” The text first quotes the unnamed former Carlson producer commenting on Fox’s inclusive policy, saying, “They want you to think it’s this place that supports traditionally conservative values, but in reality, they’re pushing this nonsense behind the scenes.”

The Daily Signal, which is published by the right-wing think-tank The Heritage Foundation, detailed sections of the company’s handbook from January 2021. Mary Margaret Olohan writes in her article that “Under the category ‘Gender Transition,’ Fox’s employee handbook promises that the company is dedicated to ‘expanding and strengthening’ efforts to ‘sustain a more inclusive work environment.’”

The handbook also allows employees to use the bathrooms which reflect their gender identity and outlines a dress code and use of pronouns that are inclusive of gender identity preferences. Olohan also notes that Fox’s regulations are in line with New York City and California legal requirements, two areas where a “large number of its employees work.”

Fox News responded to the report in a statement to Mediaite, saying the company “is compliant with all Human Rights laws mandated by the cities and states in which we operate, including New York and California.”

Regardless, the article was quickly picked up by right-wing media pundits who used it to tear into Fox News. The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh, who is accused by critics of pushing transphobic rhetoric, wrote, “Tucker fought behind the scenes against my blacklisting, and even managed to have me on a few times over the past year. But now that he’s gone, there’s no stopping Fox’s march leftward. And now there is zero daylight between Fox and MSNBC on the trans issue.”

Walsh even went so far as to conclude, “Fox needs to get the full Bud Light treatment. They are actively working to suppress conservative voices while promoting leftism in its most radical form. Enough is enough.”

Bud Light has been the target of right-wing fury since trans influencer Dylan Mulvany posted a sponsored ad from the company on social media in early April. Olohan’s report also noted that “A source who still works at Fox News told The Daily Signal that after Carlson’s show was canceled in April, producers for the new 8 p.m. “Fox News Tonight” program were told not to bash Mulvaney. That directive came from high-level executives, the source said.”

Media reporter Brian Stelter put this latest iteration of the Carlson-Fox News battle into context. “If the @DailySignal’s story about Fox’s policies supporting trans employees picks up enough steam across the rest of the right-wing media, it could drive a wedge between Fox and its base. That’s what @MattWalshBlog and others are explicitly trying to do,” Stelter wrote.

Carlson’s Fox contract, which reportedly includes a non-compete agreement, expires in January of 2025 and the network has reportedly been working to “sideline” him with an offer to pay the flame-throwing host $20 million a year not to work, reported Axios’s Mike Allen.

Stelter concluded the Daily Signal story amounts to further evidence that “Carlson’s camp continues to exert pressure on Fox (sending a legal warning, alleging breach of contract, announcing a Twitter show, perhaps leaking unflattering info) while Carlson seeks an exit deal that would free him up to compete with Fox directly.” Carlson’s relentless onslaught against the network and his recent announcement he will be bringing a show to Twitter would appear to suggest a legal battle between Carlson and Fox is imminent.