Tucker Carlson's two-minute video posted on Twitter containing his first comments since he was fired by Fox News on Monday had gained more than 60 million views as of Thursday afternoon.
Carlson's video was posted at 8:01 p.m. Wednesday and had racked up 60.5 million views by 3:30 p.m. EDT Thursday. It did not address the abrupt departure from Fox of the host with the highest-rated cable news show or what he plans to do next. Fox has yet to comment on what led to Carlson's firing.
By comparison, President Joe Biden's video announcing his intention to run for reelection, posted on Twitter at 6 a.m. Tuesday, had 41.9 million views by the same time Thursday.
In his video, Carlson took what could be perceived as veiled swipes at his former employer.
"Our current orthodoxies won't last," he said. "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 have given up persuasion, they're resorting to force. But it won't work.
"When honest people say what's true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful. At the same time the liars, who are trying to silence them, shrink. They become weaker. That's the iron law of the universe. True things prevail.
"Where can you still find Americans who say 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."