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Tucker Carlson’s Surprise Exit Stuns People in Donald Trump’s Orbit

Monday’s announcement that Fox News was parting ways with top-rated primetime host Tucker Carlson surprised those who were in Donald J. Trump’s orbit. The former president himself was stunned by the news, according to people directly familiar with him, and Carlson’s best friend, his eldest son Donald Trump Jr., described the network’s decision as “shocking.”

“I think it changes things forever,” said Donald Trump Jr. Said Of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” Carlson added that he was “a real thought leader in conservatism” and a “once-in-a-generation type of talent.”

The casual news observer could be forgiven for thinking that Mr Trump and his family were no longer involved with Mr Carlson. Dominion voting system.

In early 2021, when Mr. Trump was desperate to overturn the 2020 election, Mr. Carlson texted a close friend that he hated the president “passionately.” He also called Trump a “devil force.”

Trump was injured when the documents were released in March and called Carlson to discuss the documents, the people said. However, the two men quickly fixed it. Since then, they have spoken regularly, exchanged text messages and appeared to be more intimate than before, according to two people close to Trump who were familiar with their relationship. , private exchanges.

In an interview with Newsmax’s Greg Kelly recorded shortly after Mr. Carlson’s resignation became public, Mr. Trump expressed his support for the former anchorman. “I was surprised. I was surprised,” Trump said. “I think Tucker has been great. He’s been great to me, especially here he’s been for a year or so.”

Carlson did not respond to a request for comment.

Last year, some of Trump’s advisers worried that Carlson appeared poised to endorse the presidential nominee of Trump’s arch-rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Carlson gave DeSantis plenty of airtime and praised his policies. But as Mr. Trump and Ms. Carlson have spoken more frequently over the past six weeks, the Trump campaign has grown more confident that Ms. Carlson will not side with Ms. DeSantis. Fox News.

The Trump campaign liked their potential even more when it learned that Mr. Carlson was fed up with Mr. DeSantis’ decision in late March to call Russian President Vladimir V. Putin a “war criminal.”

Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance, a close ally of Trump and Carlson, said the removal of the Fox News host was a shock.

“Tucker is a giant and the strongest voice against ridiculous wars and an economy that puts plutocrats over workers,” Vance said in a text message. “This is a huge loss to a conservative movement that wants to be worthy of voters. I guess.”

“The best decision I ever made was to leave Fox. @Tucker CarlsonYou are free and uncensored! Kari Lake, a Republican who lost the gubernatorial race in Arizona last year, wrote: TweetLake will quit her job as an anchor for her local Fox channel in 2021.

Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert struck a bright tone on Monday Tweet: “Where Tucker Carlson Goes, America Follows!”

Republican Joe Kent, who ran for the Washington State Senate, murmured“Waiting for Tucker News Network to launch, people are demanding it!”

One of Trump’s aides said he was happy Carlson could not provide rocket fuel to other candidates on the Fox airwaves. But for some candidates in the Republican primary, losing Mr. Carlson could mean the minefield they had to navigate has disappeared from their now-prominent platform.

For example, Mr. DeSantis’ statement to Mr. Carlson a few weeks ago, which described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial issue,” sparked alarm bells and sparked criticism among Washington Republicans and some donors. A wave happened. This marks the beginning of a period of concern about Mr. DeSantis’ possible candidacy by some who saw him as the best option to deter Trump.

A Trump adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in Trump’s world, the pro-Trump host on Fox News felt he had some sort of target after the Dominion lawsuit.

Roger J. Stone, Jr., Trump’s longest-serving adviser and Carlson’s longtime friend, said in an interview that Fox News “only has one of the most influential conservative commentators in the country. Time to kill the network’s breadwinners at the same time they laid them off.”

He predicted that Mr. Carlson would take his “large audience” with him wherever he went next.

Alice McFadden contributed to the report.

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