“And now, will anybody be able to police what Carlson says or is this the point? It’s just a free for all?”
NBC News employees bemoaned the news that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson will be launching a new show on Twitter this week, warning that censors will be unable to “police what Carlson says.”
“Okay, well Twitter was already under fire for misinformation, disinformation, all-out lies, antisemitism, racism, before Elon Musk took over,” one NBC host stated in a buzzword-laden response to the news. “And now its gotten kind of crazy, right?”
“And now, will anybody be able to police what Carlson says or is this the point? It’s just a free for all?” he added, while Brian Stelter, a former CNN host who was fired last year, nodded in agreement.
“I think this is the point, it is a free for all, this is what Elon Musk wants to provide,” Stelter said.
The “free for all” referenced appears to be Musk’s decision to bring Twitter’s policies back in line with the constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
Carlson’s video message announcing his decision to launch a new, independent version of his show on Twitter was seen by more people than President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
An estimated 27.3 million people watched Biden’s State of the union address in February 2023, a figure that NBC noted was “down nearly 28% from the 38.2 million people who saw Biden’s address in 2022.”
By contrast, Carlson’s post on Twitter announcing his new digital show was viewed some 88.3 million times.
Carlson’s first Twitter post following his firing from Fox was viewed over 82 million times, with the video acquiring over 24 million views through the Twitter video player.
In the three minute video posted on Tuesday, Carlson made his strongest remarks yet about leaving Fox News, saying that all cable news “is a lie” and viewers “are being manipulated” before noting that “you will be fired” for reaching the limits of what networks consider acceptable free speech.
