What's next for Tucker Carlson: Four options for the news anchor axed by Fox

So farewell then, Tucker Carlson, who has left Fox News in one of the most high-profile departures in recent TV history.

It was revealed the TV host and the network were parting ways on Monday (April 24), although an official reason has yet to be disclosed.

Carlson gave a typically bonkers follow-up message after leaving the network.

It came after Fox News said in an official statement that Carlson and the network had “mutually” agreed to separate but some news outlets have reported that Carlson was fired on Rupert Murdoch's orders for using vulgar language to describe a female executive.

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The announcement also took place six days after Fox News settled its defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5m over its embrace and promotion of lies that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

In the years since he began hosting his 8pm Fox News show Tucker Carlson Tonight, he’s built a reputation for his controversial takes on everything from ‘sexy’ M&Ms, to immigration, having said in 2018 that immigration had made the United States “poorer, dirtier and more divided”.

His exit has been the subject of much speculation – but what could he do next? These are some of the possibilities.

Take a job offer from OAN

Jason Koerner/Getty Images

It was a matter of hours before other networks were openly courting Carlson, and one of those was One America News.

The right-wing network released a message online, stating: “One America News founder and CEO Robert Herring would like to extend an invitation to Carlson to meet for negotiation to become a part of the OAN team.”

Herring also told Times of San Diego via email: “It would be great if we could get Tucker! I might give him around $25 million. And he would be well worth that!”

Or launch a new show on another right-wing network

There’ll be plenty of options for Carlson, with other right-wing networks also reportedly declaring their interest.

Notably, TMZ reported that NewsNation was seeking to convince Carlson to join them, as well as Don Lemon after he was fired by CNN.

Newsmax has also hired former Fox News hosts in the past, with Eric Bolling joining the network in 2021, and is the kind of channel that could look to convince Carlson to sign with them.

However, it’s a case of whether Carlson would be willing to join networks with less influence than Fox News, and also whether they’d be willing to match his previous salary. Forbes reports that Carlson was making between $15 million and $20 million a year hosting Tucker Carlson Tonight, so it may be the case that Carlson would have to accept a sizeable wage cut.

‘Go the full Joe Rogan’

Some commentators have been suggesting that Carlson could choose to launch his own independent project, and avoid signing up to a network altogether.

Former Fox News employee Jonah Goldberg, spoke to CNN and said that he believes Carlson could look to take a Joe Rogan approach and establish full creative control over a podcast or new TV project.

“I think there’s a very real possibility he goes full Joe Rogan [and] creates his own thing. Then he gets to do things on his own terms,” Goldberg said. “He will definitely want to get the last word or at least get his version of events [out there]… I think it’s absolutely true that we haven’t seen the last of Tucker Carlson.”

Launch a political career

Perhaps inevitably, there have been some calling for Carlson to launch a political career after his Fox News exit – with some calling for him to emulate Trump with a GOP campaign for president.

While Carlson has previously talked down the chances of this happening, there are some who think his latest career developments could change all that.

Commentator Rod Dreher wrote on Substack: “Nobody can question [Carlson’s] MAGA credentials, and his anti-establishment populism. But he’s also not dumb about MAGA, either,” Dreher wrote in a Substack post published shortly after the Fox News story broke.

“Could he take down Trump? I think he could. I think he understands Trump very well—his strengths and his weaknesses. And he’s very quick on his feet, Tucker is, in a way [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis is not. And he has charisma to burn.”

There’s at least one figure inside the Republican party who thinks the same. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy spoke on Monday in an interview with Politico in support of the idea.

“I think he’d be a good addition to the race,” Ramaswamy said. “I think someone should only do this if they feel called to do it, but I think it’d be good for the country if he got in, to be honest with you.”

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