OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
One Fox News personality has had a solid month as the network deals with the fallout from cutting ties with top-rated host Tucker Carlson. While the news hasn’t been great for Carlson or Fox News, it has been historic for popular co-host Greg Gutfeld.
Gutfeld continues to be the most dominant force in cable news as a co-host of both “The Five” and also his late-night show “Gutfeld!”
The popular host also just announced a new book, titled, “The King of Late Night,” which will be released July 25, and details how Gutfeld “destroyed the mainstream late-night landscape of heavyweights and became the host of the #1 late night show in all of television.”
On Friday night, “The Five” was the most-watched show on all of cable news with a whopping 2.5 million total views. In the same 5 PM ET timeslot, CNN’s “Situation Room” brought in a dismal 698,000 total viewers, and Newsmax’s “Frontline” had 282,000.
A separate report also notes how Gutfeld’s late-night show has brought in historic viewership for Fox News.
“The show replaced the news program Fox News @ Night in April 2021 and has made double-digit gains on Fox since, with a 44 percent boost in total viewers and a 25 percent gain in the key 25-54 age demographic. Since its debut, Gutfeld! has averaged 1.9 million total viewers and 332,000 in the key demo. That audience has only grown from the debut: its first episode brought in about 1.7 million viewers total and 318,000 demo viewers — a strong showing that topped all of the cable news at 11 p.m.,” Mediaite reported.
As of now, Gutfeld appears to be the undisputed top host at Fox News in terms of viewership.
“The Five” remains one of the most popular shows in all of cable news and his late-night comedy show “Gutfeld!” has been racking up historic numbers.
Gutfeld has also been going to bat for his former longtime colleague.
Racist @latimes assumes comment about rhythm is about black people. You people are pathetic. https://t.co/e84nGUgePz
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) May 6, 2023
Perhaps in a move to defy his superiors, Gutfeld also joked about Carlson running for president, slammed another colleague for attacking Carlson, and even defended Tucker after several videos leaked this week.
Gutfeld, a co-host of “The Five” and host of his late-night show “Gutfeld,” defended Carlson on Tuesday after several video clips were leaked and published by the leftist group Media Matters.
The outlet has shared several of the behind-the-scenes comments from Carlson, which show him joking and having conversations with either guests or staff members before the show began.
Gutfeld took to Twitter to defend Carlson by likening Media Matters to high school hall monitors trying to get him in trouble.
apparently everyone understands nonsense banter between segments except for hall monitor failures bitterly chronicling the lives of the far more successful https://t.co/HkwFTgIub6
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) May 2, 2023
Gutfeld defended Carlson twice last week, once on Twitter and another time during an episode of “The Five.”
Gutfeld took to Twitter to hit back at his colleague Geraldo Rivera, who had issued some seething comments about Carlson after his departure.
In response, Gutfeld hit back at Rivera for taking a shot at Carlson, which came across as Gutfeld was offering support to his former colleague.
You’re a class act Geraldo. A real man of the people. https://t.co/20LOwVzXwS
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) April 26, 2023
During a segment on “The Five,” Gutfeld joked that Carlson will run for president — and several of the hosts did not say a word.
Dana Perino took a sip of her drink, Jason Chaffetz laughed, and Jeanine Pirro immediately moved on and kicked the show over to a new segment on a different topic.
It seemed as if no one wanted to talk about Carlson or the explosive news, which could suggest that on-air hosts may have been told to not discuss the situation.
But Gutfeld was not afraid to mention Carlson and appeared defiant.
The conversation at the table began when they discussed President Joe Biden’s re-election prospects. Chaffetz predicted that even though Biden will likely announce re-election, he will ultimately not run. Biden did announce early on Tuesday morning that he is running for a second term.
“I think she actually might be a candidate,” Chaffetz said. “I don’t think Joe Biden – even though he may announce tomorrow – I don’t think by the time he gets to the end of the year he’s actually going to run.”
As the end of the segment neared, Gutfeld joked about Carlson by saying: “And then so in 2024, it’ll be Susan Rice versus Tucker Carlson.”
“Ok,” Pirro said before teasing the next segment and kicking the show to commercial.
WATCH:
Gutfeld Jokes Tucker Carlson Will Run for President After Getting Fired by Fox Newspic.twitter.com/CDcbMfpdZP
— Patriot Alerts (@alerts___) April 25, 2023
