Several U.S. military veterans have issued public comments defending former Fox News host Tucker Carlson after a report emerged that Pentagon officials had breathed a sigh of relief that he will no longer host his popular prime-time show.
Just a day after the cable channel announced in a news release that it had parted ways with Carlson, Politico published an article based on anonymous sources that claimed Pentagon officials were celebrating Carlson’s exit, citing his criticism of the U.S. military under President Joe Biden’s leadership.
“We’re a better country without him bagging on our military every night in front of hundreds of thousands of people,” one senior Pentagon official is reported to have said, while a second, according to Politico, said: “Good riddance.”
The publication reported that when it invited him to comment, Carlson responded to the report by text message, writing: “Ha! I’m sure.” The news outlet stated that Carlson declined to elaborate any further.
Veterans Respond
The report prompted many veterans to respond on social media, with one critic saying it is unfitting for Department of Defense (DOD) officials to publicly denounce media figures who question their policies.
“It’s highly inappropriate for a Pentagon official to be making comments about the sacking of a media figure who questioned them. This, no matter your views on Tucker himself,” former Navy SEAL Scott Taylor tweeted on April 26. “This should be denounced in a bipartisan way.”
Army Ranger veteran Sean Parnell also spoke up in Carlson’s defense, saying the outspoken 53-year-old cable news host never “bagged” on the military, but that he had instead attempted to hold U.S. Defense officials accountable for their carelessness on matters such as the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal.
“Tucker never bagged on our military. He demanded accountability of the senior leadership who gave us the disaster of Iraq & Afghanistan. Who to date, have not been held accountable for anything. Thousands of Americans dead. Wounded. Trillions wasted. And for what?” Parnell wrote in a post on Twitter.
On his 8 p.m. ET show, Carlson did occasionally criticize U.S. military leadership, expanding on the topic in an op-ed published in 2021 in which he questioned the role of women in combat. Keeping women out of direct combat had been U.S. military orthodoxy for over 200 years—until less than a decade ago.
Carlson also denounced the Biden administration for prioritizing wokeness and diversity within the military in the face of the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party, prompting a rare response from then-Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.
“What we absolutely won’t do is take personnel advice from a talk show host or the Chinese military,” Kirby said during a briefing with reporters in March 2021.
‘Maintain Neutrality’
The social media firestorm also caught the attention of Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq.
“Every ‘senior Pentagon official’ who commented on this story while hiding behind anonymity is a coward,” Vance tweeted on Tuesday. “Call me old-fashioned, but senior military officials should maintain neutrality about hot-button political topics. And they certainly shouldn’t run to one media outlet to gossip—anonymously—about another.”
Call me old fashioned, but senior military officials should maintain neutrality about hot button political topics. And they certainly shouldn’t run to one media outlet to gossip—anonymously—about another.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) April 26, 2023
While hosting one of the top-rated cable news programs for years, Carlson was also one of the only mainstream television hosts to openly criticize top federal agencies.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald credited Carlson with holding several views that conservatives are divided over. Greenwald, who had appeared regularly on Carlson’s show, wrote on Twitter that Carlson “was the cable host who most: Opposed US proxy war in Ukraine; Denounced CIA, FBI, and DHS for its systemic lies and corruption; Devoted himself to a pardon for Julian Assange; Objected to regime change efforts in Cuba; Criticized Trump Admin’s militarism.”
Carlson, who has yet to provide details about why he suddenly left Fox News, was a host for CNN, PBS, and MSNBC earlier in his career, before signing on as a Fox News contributor in 2009. He landed a co-hosting position in 2013, replacing Dave Briggs on “Fox & Friends Weekend.” In 2017, he quickly became Fox’s most popular personality after replacing Bill O’Reilly in the network’s prime-time lineup.
Carlson Breaks Silence
On Wednesday at his usual 8 p.m. ET time slot—two days after parting ways with Fox News—Carlson posted a two-minute video on Twitter, revealing his observations after taking a couple of days off.
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
Carlson argued in the clip that big topics that will define our future get “virtually no discussion at all”—topics like war, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, and natural resources.
“When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues?” Carlson asked, saying that both of America’s main political parties and their donors have colluded to “shut down any conversation” about them. He said the United States increasingly resembles a one-party state.
“That’s a depressing realization, but it’s not permanent … It won’t work. When honest people say what’s true—calmly and without embarrassment—they become powerful. At the same time, the liars who have been trying to silence them shrink, and they become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe—true things prevail,” Carlson said.
“Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren’t many places left but there are some, and that’s enough. As long as you can hear the words, there is hope. See you soon,” he added.
Melanie Sun contributed to this report.