Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Monday that it was “good to be fired,” saying he has changed since leaving the cable news network.
Carlson spoke about his departure from Fox News last year with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, who was fired from CNN in 2021. The two appeared to share similar experiences over leaving their respective cable networks, and Carlson noted it was “good to be fired.”
“And I just had reached this time in my life where I felt like there’s all these really important things going on, I want to be as honest as I can possibly be at all times. And that was a hindrance to me. And I also had this kind of supernatural sense that everything would be fine,” he said in a conversation that aired Monday on NewsNation’s “Cuomo.”
“It’s good to be — and I have been fired before a couple of times. So it’s good to be fired, because it brings you low, and you don’t become the overbearing asshole that every TV person is on some level — I mean, I already am that. … A little public humiliation is really important for a man. I would recommend it to all men,” he added later on.
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
Carlson was fired from Fox just days after it settled a blockbuster defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems. He also told Cuomo that he has changed a bit since leaving Fox, as he now works for himself.
“If you’re 31 and trying to make it in TV … you’re itching for confrontation to show your skills — ‘I can win!’ Now, it’s like, I’ve done that. I just — I’m not interested in that. It’s totally pointless and don’t elicit any interesting information,” he said.
“It’s all about me and my performance. And I know you know what I’m talking about, because you’ve lived the life, but there’s a lot of pressure on you to make a moment and now, I’m just like — I’ve had a lot of moments,” he told Cuomo.
Cuomo also praised Carlson for how he handled leaving Fox, saying he had “more resilience” than he did.
“You have more resilience about this than I did. I still feel like I’m on one knee and getting back up. And what motivated me to come back was: One, my wife told me I had to. Two, you know, she was like, you got to get up and you know, we got kids, you got to get up. You got to do something with your life that is helping people and making something of this place. Get up, do something with your life,” Cuomo said.