(NewsReady.com) – Tucker Carlson was once the highest-rated star on Fox News. The conservative network fired him in late April. Now the entertainment giant has found a replacement for the host — temporarily.
On Monday, May 1, 30-year-old Libertarian Lawrence Jones took over as Carlson’s temporary replacement. The Daily Mail reported he is the youngest black solo anchor of a cable news program ever. The new host undoubtedly has big shoes to fill.
Jones’ first show went well. He showed the Fox News audience that he wasn’t afraid to ask hard-hitting questions during an interview with Republican presidential candidate, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.
Jones grilled the former governor about his policy positions and how they do not align with voters. For instance, Hutchinson supports continuing to help Ukraine, but Jones said that isn’t what Republicans want to do. The host said they “supported it initially,” but they don’t anymore. The GOP candidate said he wasn’t willing to change his policy position to please the voters.
Hutchinson told Jones it’s important to have a debate and respect the First Amendment. Jones wasn’t hearing it, saying, “Respectfully, sir, that is spin.”
Jones will need to figure out a way to bring viewers back to the network in the wake of Carlson’s firing, because the audience is already moving to other stations. Viewership for “Eric Bolling The Balance” on Newsmax soared 261%. Carlson used to draw more than 3 million viewers each night; that number plummeted to just 1.3 million in the days after the firing.
Ric Grenell, the Newsmax vice president for International Development, said he would love Carlson on the network. He said he has made it clear to the former Fox News host that “[h]e would be fantastic at Newsmax,” and he “hopes [Carlson] considers it very seriously.”
Carlson has not made any public announcements about his future.
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