Conservative House Republican lawmakers came to the defense of Tucker Carlson on social media Monday as news broke about his abrupt departure from Fox News.
Carlson, whose last broadcast was Friday, became the network's most popular personality after replacing Bill O'Reilly in the prime-time lineup in 2016. He had the highest-rated show in cable news.
"Cable news is about to be taught a powerful lesson after Fox News caved to the woke mob and fired Tucker Carlson," U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, R-Ga., tweeted Monday. "Americans no longer blindly watch the news like they did decades ago, they only watch the ones who have courage to tell the truth. Americans are about to quit watching."
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said wherever Carlson goes next, Americans will follow.
"Thank you for being one of the greatest and most powerful voices in the conservative movement," Boebert tweeted. "Can't wait to see what's next!"
Carlson's departure comes days after conservative talk-radio host Dan Bongino announced he and Fox News were parting ways.
"I stand with @TuckerCarlson and @dbongino," Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., tweeted. "Both Tucker and Dan are important voices revealing the truth in America today. They are true trailblazers amid a period where American corporate media controls speech. They will continue to be influential wherever they head next."
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said he, like millions of other Americans, scheduled his day around Carlson's show, which was broadcast at 8 p.m. ET. He said Carlson's perspective was unique in media.
"That voice, that perspective may not align with what you think on every subject," Gaetz said in a video posted on his Twitter account. "But it was unique."
Conservative Republicans were not the only ones supporting Carlson. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who will be challenging President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, said Carlson's firing was done at the bidding of the pharmaceutical industry.
"Fox fires @TuckerCarlson five days after he crosses the red line by acknowledging that the TV networks pushed a deadly and ineffective vaccine to please their Pharma advertisers," Kennedy, son of the late senator and U.S. attorney general and nephew of former president John F. Kennedy, tweeted. "Carlson's breathtakingly courageous April 19 monologue broke TV's two biggest rules: Tucker told the truth about how greedy Pharma advertisers controlled TV news content and he lambasted obsequious newscasters for promoting jabs they knew to be lethal and worthless.
"For many years, Tucker has had the nation's biggest audience averaging 3.5 million — 10 times the size of CNN. Fox just demonstrated the terrifying power of Big Pharma."