Donald Trump said he was stunned by the surprise exit of ally Tucker Carlson in his first reaction to the departure of Fox News’s prime-time host who had the dubious honour as a (Make America Great Again) MAGA propagandist.
“I was shocked,” Mr Trump said in an interview with Newsmax that aired late on Monday.
“I’m surprised. He’s a very good person a very good man and very talented and he had very high ratings,” he added.
Mr Trump praised him for his work over the last year and said he had been “terrific to me”.
Fox News sent shockwaves across America on Monday morning after a four-sentence press release announced it has “agreed to part ways” with Carlson.
Mr Trump cast doubt on Carlson’s sudden exit and hinted that the news anchor could have been fired or he resigned because he was not given a free reign.
“I don’t know if it was voluntary or was if somebody fired [him],” he said.
Trump’s spokesperson reacted on Twitter hinting at a conspiracy behind his ouster.
“Fox News is controlled opposition,” Liz Harrington wrote.
His departure from the right-wing network follows a chaotic week for Fox News in the aftermath of its $787m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, closing out more than two years of litigation only after hundreds of pages of court documents revealed embarrassing behind-the-scenes statements among Fox executives, producers, and its top stars.
Carlson recently interviewed Mr Trump on his programme, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and defended him during his most recent indictment from the Manhattan DA.
Mr Trump’s praise for Carlson also came as a bit of a surprise after the Dominion lawsuit exposed the former Fox host’s derogatory views about the former president even as he peddled unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
His private text messages to a colleague revealed that he said he “passionately” hated the ex-president and thought he was a “demonic force” and “a destroyer” even as he regularly defended Mr Trump on air throughout his presidency and its aftermath.
“We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” he had said in the private text messages.
“I hate him passionately, I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I can’t handle much more of this.”
Carlson, 57, who began hosting his nightly Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight in November 2016 in the 7pm slot became the star anchor of the most-watched show on cable news by 2020.
His rating continued to increase even though he was heavily criticised for amplifying racist, anti-immigrant, homophobic and transphobic themes.
The news left Carlson’s fans in the MAGA movement outraged. Several people blasted the network for his ouster.
"I think that’ll kill Fox," Glenn Beck, former Fox News host and longtime conservative commentator said.
MAGA Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert both praised Carlson and slammed Fox News.
"Wherever Tucker Carlson goes, America will follow!" Ms Boebert wrote. "Thank you for being one of the greatest and most powerful voices in the conservative movement."
Ms Greene said she would “stand with TuckerCarlson” and accused Fox of caving “to the woke mob”.
