Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told Newsmax that Tucker Carlson should be cautious about making a run for political office.
Huckabee's comments came Tuesday during an interview on "Wake Up America" and followed the announcement Monday that Fox News and Carlson had parted ways. Anchor Don Lemon also was ousted by CNN on Monday.
"I don't know what happened [with Carlson]," Huckabee said. "Everyone is speculating at this point. Tucker hasn't released a statement and Fox's statement was so obscure, it really left a whole lot more questions than it provided answers.
"Yesterday was a pretty crazy day. I certainly understand the Don Lemon firing. That should have happened years ago. He was rude. He was really in some ways even at the point of a racist. He certainly was a misogynist, arrogant ... and his ratings were deplorable.
"Tucker had sky-high ratings. … It's very unusual in a television setting that a person who is bringing in that type of revenue, with those sort of ratings, to be shown the door."
Huckabee added: "I think it was pretty evident that it was not an amicable parting, because the fact that it happened on Monday morning and the announcement was, 'Hey, his last show was last week, which means he didn't get to say goodbye.' There wasn't a finale. There wasn't a tearful farewell.
"It was just wake up Monday morning and send for your things. It probably wasn't the sweetest of partings."
Asked if Carlson could end up in politics, Huckabee said: "He might. I think he's a pretty smart guy and so maybe he's too smart to do that. Some of us who have done it would say, Tucker, you're too smart to do this.
"But, in all seriousness, he very well may. He certainly has the name ID. He has an enormous following. But I will also say this: Getting into politics is a whole different animal, and I think he would be wise to be very careful and ask himself if he wants to put himself and his family through a ringer that is unlike anything he's been in in the media circus."
On Fox's revenue loss with the departure of Carlson, Huckabee said: "What makes it really problematic for Fox in the coming weeks and months it is how they replace him. And there will be some people who will leave the viewership.
"I think one of the reasons in which it hurts them financially immediately is in the Fox Nation platform — their digital platform.
"Tucker had a huge presence there and was responsible for bringing a lot of subscribers. The question is how many of them say, OK, Tucker's not here, neither am I. Adios. That would be a revenue loss, in addition to whatever revenue loss may happened from his nightly television show."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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