The Achingly Stupid Theory That Fox News Fired Tucker Carlson Because of His Christian Faith
To hear some tell it, Tucker Carlson’s exit from Fox News makes him a martyr in not just the figurative, but the literal sense of the word.
At Vanity Fair, Gabriel Sherman posited a dubious theory — presented as reporting — that has against all odds captured the imagination of some of Carlson’s biggest fans.
According to Sherman, a single source conveyed to him that “Fox Corp. chair Rupert Murdoch removed Carlson over remarks Carlson made during a speech at the Heritage Foundation’s 50th Anniversary gala on Friday night.”
He continued:
Carlson laced his speech with religious overtones that even Murdoch found too extreme, the source, who was briefed on Murdoch’s decision-making, said. Carlson told the Heritage audience that national politics has become a manichean battle between “good” and “evil.” Carlson said that people advocating for transgender rights and DEI programs want to destroy America and they could not be persuaded with facts. “We should say that and stop engaging in these totally fraudulent debates…I’ve tried. That doesn’t work,” he said. The answer, Carlson suggested, was prayer. “I have concluded it might be worth taking just 10 minutes out of your busy schedule to say a prayer for the future, and I hope you will,” he said.
Sherman went on to speculate that Carlson’s comments may have reminded Murdoch of his evangelical ex-fiancé, and irked him to the point that the patriarch decided to cut ties with his star prime time host right then and there.
In the days since Sherman’s report went to print, it has found purchase among those most disappointed by Carlson’s ouster.
Former Fox News host Glenn Beck claimed to have personal experience with the Murdoch family’s aversion to mentions of God on their network. “When I was at Fox News, I was told not to use the word ‘God’ on the air. They COUNTED how many times I disobeyed,” said Beck. “I don’t know if Tucker Carlson’s speech about God and prayer was the final straw, but I have a feeling it DEEPLY bothered Rupert Murdoch.”
Conservative columnist Rod Dreher urged his followers to “watch the second half of @TuckerCarlson speech at Heritage last week — the speech that made Rupert Murdoch fire him. It’s true. It’s inspirational. The fact that a man like him can’t say this without being fired BY FOX is a sign of the times.”
“According to VF, Tucker’s speech at Heritage that had ‘religious overtones’ ultimately prompted Fox’s decision. The world is fine with talk of faith when it is soft and toothless. It is the faith that recognizes acts as good and evil that offends them,” opined the Claremont Institute’s Megan Basham. “No other explanation seems plausible right now.”
This is the single stupidest theory for why Carlson got the boot — and it is mind-numbingly, achingly stupid.
Whatever Rupert Murdoch’s personal feelings toward Christianity may be, it defies all reason and evidence to suggest that Carlson’s milquetoast acknowledgment of the power of prayer at another organization’s event is what compelled his network to move on from him.
If Fox was enforcing a strict policy forbidding Carlson from mentioning his faith in all of his public appearances, it’s one they put in place for him only. Because on Fox News, God not only plays a role, but serves as one of its protagonists, as even a lazy search through Mediaite’s archives makes obvious.
In December, an Outnumbered panel blasted Joe Biden’s failure to mention Jesus in his Christmas address, with one personality lamenting that “America’s lost its sense of God.”
Laura Ingraham often wears a cross on-air and has accused the left of seeking to “attack and dethrone God.”
Jeanine Pirro has asserted that the U.S. was “founded on Judeo-Christian ethics.”
Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor whose faith was central to his 2008 presidential campaigns, ran from 2008 until 2015, when he quit to run again in 2016.
Ainsley Earhardt, a longtime cohost of Fox & Friends is tireless in her promotion of Christianity and hosts Ainsley’s Bible Study on the network’s streaming platform.
Just in the last week, Fox News Digital has published a number of articles emphasizing the importance of faith, including with headlines like “Dolly Parton credits faith for being a ‘guiding light’: ‘Through God, all things are possible,'” and “Jesus had a ‘plan, a mission and a mandate’ that continued after his resurrection, Texas faith leader says” and “I went back to church on Sunday. Here’s why we should all consider getting back to religion.”
Christianity is so intertwined with the Fox News brand that of the 10 books published by Fox News Books, seven of them are faith-based.
Even if you were unaware of all this, though. You’d have to conclude that a 92-year-old billionaire not only sat down to watch a speech delivered at a think tank on a Friday, but that it was that which compelled him to suddenly break with the most recognizable personality at his network.
That, and not the multiple lawsuits against Fox — one of which resulted in a $787.5 million settlement — in which Carlson featured. That, and not Carlson’s sharp elbows inside the organization. That, and not the texts reported on by the New York Times on Wednesday. That, and not his irresponsible handling of the 2020 election and January 6 Capitol riot. That, and not the high-stakes 2024 election in which Carlson could have again gone rogue. That, and not whiffs of unseemliness around both him and his show. That, and not the advertising exodus from the 8 p.m. hour he occupied. That, and not some combination of the above factors.
If you object to Carlson’s firing on the grounds that he represented a unique perspective or your perspective on television, that’s perfectly reasonable. But to contort yourself into believing a laughable theory belied by all available evidence is to make a mockery not just of yourself, but real martyrs of the faith.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
