Elon Musk has been talking with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson about possibly working together, according to a new report from Axios. The news comes after Carlson was abruptly pulled off the air by Fox, despite hosting the most popular cable news show in the U.S.
“Axios has learned that Carlson and Elon Musk had a conversation about working together, but didn’t discuss specifics,” Axios reported on Sunday.
Musk was interviewed on Carlson’s show in mid-April, where the two seemed to genuinely like each other. Musk, who became CEO of Twitter after he bought the company in October 2022, defended going on Carlson’s show after receiving criticism over the host’s racist fearmongering.
Carlson was pulled off the air at Fox but is still under contract for at least another year. Representatives for Carlson are reportedly negotiating the host’s formal exit from the cable network, but there’s widespread speculation Fox will slow-walk the process in an effort to keep Carlson from signing an agreement with a rival network. Carlson reportedly earns $20 million a year from Fox News, which is a hefty sum for not doing any work.
Carlson posted a two-minute video on Twitter on April 26, two days after getting the ax, but it didn’t mention any specifics about the cable host’s plans for the future. The video has been viewed over 24 million times.
“Our current orthodoxies won’t last. They’re brain dead. Nobody actually believes them. Hardly anyone’s life is improved by them. This moment is too inherently ridiculous to continue. And so it won’t. The people in charge know this. That’s why they’re hysterical and aggressive. They’re afraid. They’ve given up persuasion. They’re resorting to force. But it won’t work,” Carlson continued.
“When honest people say what’s true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful. At the same time, the liars who’ve been trying to silence them shrink and they become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe. True things prevail. Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren’t many places left, but there are some, and that’s enough. As long as you can hear the words, there is hope. See you soon,” Carlson concluded.
