Carlson: Fox Caved on ‘Wannabe Dictator’ Chyron

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson laid into his old network Thursday, slamming executives for ousting a producer who approved an on-screen graphic, called a chyron, critical of President Joe Biden.

The comments on the latest episode of his new Twitter-based show come after Fox News ran a controversial chyron underneath two feeds: one of Biden and one of former President Donald Trump.

Fox’s chyron read: “Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested” in all capital letters, a nod to the recent indictment of Trump at the behest of Biden’s Department of Justice.

“Those words were up for less than 30 seconds, but the effect was immediate,” Carlson said. “Inside Fox, … they scolded the producer who put the banner on the screen. Less than 24 hours after that, he resigned.

“He had been at Fox for more than a decade,” the host continued. “He was considered one of the most capable people in the building. He offered to stay for the customary two weeks, but Fox told him to clear out his desk and leave immediately.”

Carlson said a subsequent retraction of the chyron was “not enough to save Fox News from the ensuing scandal” stoked by the mainstream media and establishment.

“For a time in the rest of the media, Fox’s assessment of Donald Trump’s arrest seemed to overshadow Trump’s arrest itself,” Carlson said, highlighting an article from The Washington Post.

He also referenced a tweet retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, former director of European affairs for the National Security Council, saying: “It is absolutely unacceptable for American Forces Network @AFNtelevision to carry programming that directly (spuriously) attacks the Commander-in-Chief of American Armed Forces @POTUS. What are you going to do about this @SecDef @DepSecDef @JakeSullivan46?”

“In other words, Joe Biden must ban all criticism of himself — because that’s what nondictators do,” Carlson said.

The critique of Fox comes as Carlson engages in a prolonged legal battle to remove himself from an exclusivity contract with his former network, according to Axios.

The New York Times reported earlier this week that Fox lawyers demanded Carlson stop posting his new show on Twitter, which he argues is exempt from noncompete disclosures because it is a social media platform.