Following his abrupt departure from Fox News earlier this week, Tucker Carlson has now released a bizarre statement on social media.
Carlson, who was best known for being the host of Fox News Tonight, gained fame on the network for his far-right and often outrageous opinions on trending social and economic issues.
Ever since he secured the hosting gig in 2016, he has seemingly captured the hearts of a large group of people who tuned in week after week to watch the 53-year-old spew "hot takes" on everything from police brutality in the States all the way to the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, on Monday (April 24) it was announced that Fox News had suddenly cut ties with Carlson, despite him being the channel's most-watched primetime host.
In an official statement, Fox News said that Carlson and the network had "mutually agreed" to part ways.
"FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," the network said in a statement obtained by The Independent. "We thank him for his service as a host and prior to that as a contributor."
"Mr Carlson’s last programme was Friday April 21st," it continued. "Fox News Tonight will air live at 8:00 PM starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is named."
However, according to Carlson’s final appearance on his primetime show, he didn’t seem to be aware of his upcoming departure.
Closing out his show on Friday, the right-wing commentator cheerily told viewers that "we’ll be back on Monday."
"What a great way to the end the week," he said during his last-ever segment. "That’s it for us for the week, we’ll be back... We’ll be back on Monday – in the meantime have the best weekend with the ones you love. See you then!"
Now, just days after the announcement, Carlson has finally broken his silence with a slightly bizarre video posted to Twitter.
In the clip, which was simply captioned "good evening", the former Fox News star shared a cryptic message with his fans complaining about the ups and downs of American discourse instead of talking about his alleged firing.
"One of the first things you realize when you step away from the noise for a few days is how many genuinely nice people there are," he says into the camera.
"The other thing you notice when you take a little time off is how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are," he continues. "They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years we won’t even remember we heard them. Trust me, as somebody who participated."
He then goes on to state that "big topics, the ones that will define our future" get no discussion at all - topics like "war", "civil liberties" and "emerging science" as per Carlson's two-minute statement.
Since it was posted yesterday, it has been viewed over 11.1 million times and has received thousands of supportive comments from his loyal fanbase, which included other public figures.
The news comes after Fox News last week agreed to pay voting equipment company Dominion $787.5 million to settle a high-profile defamation lawsuit.
While the reason for Carlson leaving the network has yet to be confirmed, reports from the Guardian claim Carlson's exit is reportedly connected to a lawsuit filed by Abby Grossberg, his former senior booking producer, who claimed she faced sexism as well as a hostile working environment.
