OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former top-rated Fox News host Tucker Carlson is reportedly gearing up for a battle against the network as he readies a pressure campaign to convince executives to release him from his contract so he can move on with his career.
According to Axios, Carlson is “preparing for war” against the network, which has him under a $20 million-per-year contract through January 2025, which means he cannot move on to a rival network or launch his own media operation in the meantime.
The outlet quoted an unnamed friend who said initially Carlson wanted to “get this done quiet and clean,” but has since changed his mind.
“We’re going from peacetime to Defcon 1,” the friend told the outlet. “His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom.”
Another source told Axios that Carlson “knows where a lot of bodies are buried and is ready to start drawing a map.”
In addition, his powerhouse Hollywood attorney, Bryan Freedman, told Axios: “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.”
The report also claimed that Carlson has had a “conversation” with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk about working together at some level, but Axios said the outlet did not have any details about what was discussed.
As reports continue to indicate that a number of Fox News rivals are making serious bids for Carlson, it’s still not clear why he was taken off the air by Fox in the first place, with some suggesting that his coverage of the January 6 events may have played a role.
However, more recent reports have added fuel to the fire, including The Independent’s claim that Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky prior to Carlson’s removal.
Also, since being taken off the air Carlson has been subjected to an insidious “leak campaign” attempting to portray him as insensitive and unstable. But the effort has largely failed and has mostly served to further humanize him.
In a recently resurfaced interview with former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard during her first podcast, Carlson hit upon another touchy subject, suggesting that many members of Congress are controlled by U.S. intelligence agencies they are charged with overseeing.
“There are members of Congress who are controlled by the Intel agencies,” Carlson began during the December 2022 interview. “I’m not speculating on this. You know, I lived there for 35 years. I know this.
Tucker Carlson: “There are members of Congress who are controlled by the Intel Agencies”pic.twitter.com/N3Nytp7QF3
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) May 6, 2023
“I had a very high-ranking, very high-ranking member of the House Intel Committee tell me at dinner, at a restaurant in Washington when he’d been drinking, ‘we’ve got to talk about this.’ And I said, ‘oh, I’ll text you.’ He goes, ‘I can’t text.’ And I said, ‘why is that?’ And he goes, ‘well, because NSA reads my text.’ And I said, ‘NSA reads, wait, you’re the head guy on the intelligence committee. You are their boss. You’re providing oversight in our constitution, constitutional system.’ He’s like, ‘yeah, but you know, they’re still spying at me,’” he added.
“First thing,” he continued. “Second thing, Michael McCaul. Who is, you know, the leader of, I would say, the neocons in the House, kind of low key neocons, but, but neocons,” he noted further. “I got into an argument with him once last year on the phone. He told somebody that I was a Russian agent or something. I was outraged.”
“So I called him on the phone and I, you know, I used bad language,” Tucker added. “I was really mad. And he said, ‘whoa, whoa, whoa. I just got that, you know, that’s what the Intel Briefers told me, that you were working for Russia.’ And I said, ‘that’s what the Intel Briefers told you. You believe your f***ing intel brief. Like, how old are you, son?’”
