Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, told Newsmax on Tuesday that Fox News is shedding its "conservative skin" and will be the "big loser" in the decision to part ways with Tucker Carlson, its most popular host.
"I think this tells us a lot more about Fox than it does Tucker Carlson," Perkins said on Newsmax's "National Report." "This is the continuation of Fox's devolution. This is not the first popular conservative talk show host that they've kicked to the curb. We had [Bill] O'Reilly, we had Glenn Beck, even Megyn Kelly. They're shedding their conservative skin, is what they're doing.
"We've watched this process over the last decade and it's interesting, when we look at our constituency, which we describe as really the core of the evangelical community.
"They're informed about what's going on. Tucker was the only reason they were going to Fox. Fox is going to lose a huge demographic for their audience by booting Tucker."
Carlson hosted his last show Friday with no immediate explanation from Fox about why he was leaving. Sources close to Carlson's show said he was blindsided by the news and that some of his closest staff only learned of the move by reading Twitter, the Daily Mail reported.
Perkins said the "shake-up in media" is not driven by profit, but is instead an "ideological move."
"I think Fox is going to be the big loser here," he said. "I think Fox is going to end up in line with MSNBC — just another has-been network. What's sad about all of this is that we're seeing a real balkanization of communication and media in our country.
"Fox is kind of like what we used to see in Republican picks for the Supreme Court prior to the last administration. They start out as if they were conservative, and they end up becoming just another swamp creature, and I think that's what's happened with Fox.
"Fox is just becoming another news outlet. This creates a great opening for those who are conservative and are not afraid to say so and to stand up against the cancel culture.
"I don't know if it was a fact that Tucker was not attracting the advertisers because he was telling the truth or if it's just the ideological bent that Fox has gone toward, and I think it's probably the latter."
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