Tucker Carlson did not get approval from Fox to tape his Hungary shows and interview with Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which reportedly contributed to his firing.
In 2021, the former news anchor filmed a week’s worth of shows in Budapest, Hungary praising the policies of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban and defending the country’s conservative culture.
This is according to former CNN host Brian Stelter, whose forthcoming book on Fox, Network of Lies, reportedly contains the following information.
Carlson, alleges Stelter, “deliberately usurped the authority of his Fox News bosses and further contributed to his eventual exit.”
Among the factors contributing to Carlson’s firing in April of 2023 was a defamation lawsuit Fox had to settle with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million, which was trigged by Carlson (along with several other Fox hosts) casting doubt on the legitimacy of the voting systems used in the 2020 presidential election.
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Stelter continues:
A tug-of-war was underway between people of good faith and all parties who wanted to protect American democracy, and those on the other side of the rope who tugged in an authoritarian direction. Carlson’s unapproved trip to Hungary in 2021 was surely in the latter category. Carlson whipped his show up into an infomercial for Viktor Orbán’s increasingly autocratic, patriarchal nation.
(RELATED: Hungary Bans Minors from Attending LGBT Event)
Tucker’s firing from Fox has only served to pursue his defense and admiration of Hungary further. In August 2023, Carlson traveled to the country and gave two speeches about Western culture, during which he chose to criticize America’s official ambassador to the country, appointed by President Joe Biden, who ridiculed Hungary for its LGBT policies.
“The whole point of diplomacy,” Tucker said at the time, “is not to hector other nations for its own sake, to show up in someone else’s country and scream at them because they’re different from you, because they have a different history or language or religion or culture. That is the opposite of diplomacy.” Tucker slammed Ambassador Pressman as a “grave embarrassment,” calling his comments “an outrage to me as someone who pays his salary.”
Tucker also did another interview with Orban at that time, in which Orban called for Trump’s reelection in order to prevent WWIII.
In May 2022, Orban returned Tucker’s spotlights of him with a compliment: “My friend Tucker Carlson is the only one who puts himself out there,” he said.
“His show is the most popular. What does it mean? It means programs like his should be broadcasted day and night. Or as you say 24/7.”
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