Newsmax Leans On Megyn Kelly To Defend Carlson, Bash Fox News

More than two weeks after Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, Newsmax continued to defend him and shill on his behalf, with the ulterior motive of luring him to Newsmax (and maybe even give him control over the channel) once his contract issues with Fox News get cleared up. There was more fretting on May 8 and 9:

• Kimberly Guilfoyle to Newsmax: How Can Fox News Be So Out of Touch?
• Megyn Kelly: Fox, Tucker at ‘Impasse’ — Won’t Let Star Go

Then it was time to gush over an announcement from Carlson, as demonstrated in a May 9 article by Luca Cacciatore:

Tucker Carlson announced Tuesday that he is making his next move through Twitter as his lawyers accused Fox News of fraud and breach of contract in a separate letter.

Carlson first revealed in a nearly three-minute video that he would be taking his talk show and other future projects to the social media platform after lambasting mainstream media’s stranglehold over the public square.

This was followed by a article the following day touting that Carlson’s video “generated more than 106 million views in less than 24 hours, as well as another article noting that Elon Musk has said there is no deal between Twitter and Carlson. One more article noted that Musk invited Don Lemon — who was fired from CNN the same day that Carlson was fired– to “resuscitate his career with a show on Twitter.”

A May 11 article by Solange Reyner complained that Carlson was accurately labeled:

CNN on Tuesday labeled former Fox News host Tucker Carlson a “right-wing extremist” in a Twitter post related to his new platform.

“Right-wing extremist Tucker Carlson will relaunch his program on Twitter, a platform he praised as the only remaining large free-speech platform in the world after Fox News fired him late last month,” CNN wrote.

CNN also called Carlson a “right-wing extremist” in its story about his announcement. 

Reyner didn’t dispute the accuracy of the label. This was followed by even more Tucker-defending over the next several days:

• Megyn Kelly: Fox Breached Tucker’s Contract First
• Giuliani to Newsmax: Fox’s Handling of Tucker ‘Despicable’
• Why Megyn Says Irena Briganti Behind Tucker Smears
• Variety: Sources Say Tucker Carlson Told Firing Had Dominion Tie
• Chadwick Moore to Newsmax: Carlson’s Ouster Tied to Fox-Dominion Settlement
• Tucker Carlson Rebuilds Studio Fox Dismantled

Newsmax also continued to be enamored by Kelly’s attacks on her former employer (which make her sound a tad disgruntled) and aggressive defense of Carlson. A May 20 article hyped a Kelly interview in which right-wing radio host Dan Bongino declaring that Fox News made “”an enormous catastrophic mistake” by firing Carlson with Kelly adding, “They’ve gotten too big for their own britches. … They’re on the way down. They’re not on the way up anymore in terms of audience share and popularity, and they no longer have a monopoly.” Kelly appeared on Newsmax to cheer him and bash Fox News some more, as summarized in a May 24 article — a full month after Carlson was fired:

Journalist and commentator Megyn Kelly told Newsmax that her old network Fox News is “terrified” of its viewer loss in the aftermath of booting Tucker Carlson off the air.

Joining “Eric Bolling The Balance” on Tuesday, Kelly said there was no end in sight to Fox News’ audience hemorrhaging as more and more Americans tune into alternative networks like Newsmax every day.

“They’re terrified. They don’t know what to do,” Kelly stated. “There was a day when they didn’t view digital as a threat, as a competitor. That day is gone. Fox won’t let any single personality come on my show … because they understand that we’re a threat.”

“Fox is not the monopoly it used to be,” she continued. “I don’t have to tell you that, given the ratings surge that you’re enjoying at the moment, and well deserved. So, they can’t let him go because he’s a threat to them.”

Given all this promotion of Kelly, though, she may be more likely to end up with a Newsmax show than Carlson.