Former President Donald Trump adviser Ric Grenell told Newsmax on Saturday that the backlash against Fox News for firing host Tucker Carlson this week is "enormous."
"I think that what we saw this week was really that Fox News thought that they were more popular than Tucker Carlson," Grenell said during "The Count" Saturday. "They made a power move. They got rid of him, and the backlash has been enormous."
The network announced it was parting ways with its highest-rated anchor on Monday.
"Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways," the network said in a statement. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. Mr. Carlson's last program was Friday April 21."
The Associated Press reported Thursday that ratings on the network were tanking in the wake of the firing, with a 56% decrease in the 8 p.m. time slot Wednesday compared to just the week before.
According to the AP, last week the show had 3.05 million viewers, which dropped to just 1.33 million this week.
Carlson tweeted a brief video Wednesday night that has had more than 67 million views.
"I think a lot of people respect Tucker Carlson. They like his work," Grenell said. "They like the fact that he does a lot of research. And what we saw this week is the public responded in enormous ways, and we saw them getting very frustrated with Fox News and the decision to cut Tucker."
Grenell said it appears a "huge" amount of Carlson's viewers are now turning to Newsmax as a conservative alternative.
"I love this news channel, Newsmax," he said. "I think we act like a startup, which means we're hungry. We are filled with the entrepreneurial spirit, and we always say yes to everything. So I think it's a great channel, and I think the public right now is seeing that Fox News made a big mistake."
Grenell said that Fox News enjoyed the high ratings because of Carlson, and not just because of the prime 8 p.m. time slot his show aired in.
"I think people would have seen that if they just looked at the ratings," he said. "It's not the 8 p.m. time slot on Fox News that was rating; it was Tucker Carlson that was rating. And so people need to look at the facts."
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