Fox News isn't just going after Tucker Carlson, it's going after his defenders, too -- including the former president's son, at least to hear him tell it.

In a tweet Wednesday afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. said that his contacts at Fox News, where he used to be a regular guest, told him to "expect retaliation" over his support of Carlson, who was dismissed from his prime-time show last week by the network and has since been subject to a steady stream of leaks in the media clearly aimed at damaging his reputation.

The tweet came two days after Trump Jr. said on a podcast that he'd "been watching the censorship happening, even in conservative mainstream media."

"Have heard from a few of my friends at Fox News that the leftist executives running things there are pissed at me for calling them out over firing Tucker and to 'expect retaliation,'" he said.

"A lot of good people still work at Fox, but their RINO leadership is at war with conservatives!"

Have heard from a few of my friends at Fox News that the leftist executives running things there are pissed at me for calling them out over firing Tucker and to “expect retaliation."

A lot of good people still work at Fox, but their RINO leadership is at war with conservatives!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 3, 2023

It comes after a week where Trump Jr. has been tweeting and re-tweeting in support of Carlson -- and calling out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his father's most serious, if still-undeclared, rival for the GOP presidential nomination, for not speaking out about the firing.

A sampling:

15 million views on the video & 45 on the tweet. Legacy media will do everything in its power to make sure Tucker has no voice through 2024…

Just watch… also note who has his back & who doesn’t!!! A silenced Tucker is a uniparty/warmonger/deep-state/globalists dream come true https://t.co/btVeYsOKpx

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 27, 2023

It's been almost a week since Fox News fired Tucker Carlson & Ron DeSantis STILL hasn't found the courage to say a word about it. Wonder why?

We already know he flip-flopped on Ukraine because of his donors, so i guess it's unsurprising that he's afraid to cross Paul Ryan & Fox.

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 30, 2023

Exclusive — Disarray Consumes Fox News after Carlson, Bongino Ousters https://t.co/J68UXm0MvP

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 27, 2023

He's also accused the network of leaking to The New York Times to justify Carlson's firing, a charge the network denies:

Fox News leaking to the left-wing New York Times to smear Tucker Carlson isn't just an attack on Tucker, it's an attack on all of his fans and conservatives everywhere!

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 3, 2023

And, during his appearance on a podcast published Monday, Trump Jr. said the Fox News' policies had led not only to the dismissal of Tucker Carlson and contributor Dan Bongino, but also his own absence from the network.

“I’ve been watching the censorship happening, even in conservative mainstream media,” Trump Jr. said on the show "Steak for Breakfast", according to The Daily Beast. (The podcast can be heard here. Trump Jr.'s quoted comments start about the 4:50 mark.)

“You saw what Fox did to Tucker Carlson last week, and the week before that, it was Dan Bongino, and, you know, the people who would actually question some of that narrative like: Is it a brilliant plan to send $130 billion to Ukraine, one of the most corrupt nations in the world?”

He added that, “I used to be on Fox three, four, five, six, 10 times a week. I haven’t been on in nine months. Not a call, not an invite, not anything."

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“So I understand what it appears like they’re trying to do to the America First movement. You know, Tucker was another one of those voices."

Now, do the words "expect retaliation" extend to Trump Jr.'s father? It's worth noting that train runs both ways -- and it doesn't necessarily look like a coincidence that the former president has announced that the first town hall of his campaign is scheduled to take place on CNN, not Fox News or one of its conservative rivals, just one week after Carlson was dismissed.

That being said, the "retaliation" Fox News insiders are promising will rain down upon Trump Jr. sounds an awful lot like the Rolling Stone report that came out in the wake of Carlson's dismissal that Fox News had an "oppo file" of negative information about Carlson that it planned to use to keep Tucker quiet while the storm over his dismissal plays out.

Which naturally makes one wonder: How freedom-loving and conservative can a network be when it has to keep opposition research and employ threats of reprisal?

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.