Alyssa Farah Griffin prods Tucker Carlson: ‘How the mighty have fallen’
Alyssa Farah Griffin, a co-host of ABC’s “The View,” took a shot at pundit Tucker Carlson over his abrupt firing from Fox News earlier this year.
Noting that Carlson has the “unique privilege” among cable news hosts as the only one to be fired by the big three cable outlets — CNN, MSNBC and Fox — Griffin said his is a case of “how fame and power can corrupt.”
“I’ve seen it happen to too many people. I’ve known him for a decade, and he used to be the future George Will. He wanted to elevate the discourse, he wanted the Republican Party to be the party of ideas,” Griffin said. “How the mighty have fallen.”
Her comment came during a discussion on Wednesday’s “View” about a forthcoming book on Fox by journalist Brian Stelter.
In excerpts published this week, Stelter reported it was Lachlan Murdoch, the incoming chairman of Fox and News Corp. and eldest son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who made the decision to pull Carlson, the network’s top-rated host, off the air — a move that shocked media and political observers.
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Stelter quoted a number of former and current sources at Fox who said Carlson viewed himself as untouchable at the cable news giant and boasted about his close relationship with the Murdochs.
Fox pulled Carlson off the air in April, only days after it agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems $787 million to settle claims of defamation stemming from its coverage of the 2020 election out of court.
Carlson, who is still under contract with Fox, has since launched a short video program on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, hosting discussions and interviews with various candidates for public office, public figures and conservative media personalities.
“There’s always this question kind of like with [former Fox host] Bill O’Reilly, they don’t need Fox News, they’ll be just as powerful after,” Griffin said. “No, no, no. You need the institution. You are all replaceable.”
— Updated at 12:21 p.m.
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