The debut of Tucker Carlson’s new Twitter show Tuesday night quickly went viral, racking up views at an astronomical rate.
The video was watched by so many people that cable news’ former top-rated host is being crowned the man who broke the establishment media model forever.
Carlson announced he would take his show to the platform last month amid a reported legal battle between him and his former employer following his abrupt firing.
But just over 40 days after Fox News canceled “Tucker Carlson Tonight” without any explanation whatsoever, a new format was born -- one that offers the host none of the roadblocks of traditional television.
“Tucker on Twitter” premiered with a 10-minute monologue delivered in the host’s trademark style uploaded to the platform at 6 p.m. ET.
The clip featured the host sitting at a desk in what appeared to be his humble home studio in Maine.
Ep. 1 pic.twitter.com/O7CdPjF830
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 6, 2023
In the video, he discussed government and media corruption and American taxpayer dollars being spent in Ukraine. He also touched on new reports about UFOs.
By 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the video had racked up more than 71 million views, according to Twitter's metrics.
Carlson did not disclose when another episode might drop or otherwise comment on a schedule, guest appearances or whether future episodes will expand beyond Tuesday’s brief monologue.
But he offered a blunt take on the state of American journalism.
The former Fox News star complained that reporters no longer seek out stories that are relevant or significant. He concluded that is by design.
"A small group of people control access to all relevant information, and the rest of us don't know," Carlson told his tens of millions of potential regular viewers.
"We are allowed to yap all we want about racism, but go ahead and talk about something that really matters and see what happens," he said.
He said he hopes Twitter will prove to be the home for free speech that it has been billed as -- and declared he will not hesitate to leave the platform if he finds out otherwise.
"As of today, we've come to Twitter, which we hope will be the shortwave radio under the blanket," Carlson said. "We're told there are no gatekeepers here. If that turns out to be false, we'll leave.”
"But in the meantime, we're grateful to be here," he concluded. "We’ll be back with much more very soon.”
If expectations for his Twitter debut were high, they have arguably been exceeded:
Pretty hilarious to see Leftists throw shade on Tucker’s 1st video mocking him for not having flashy graphics
Newsflash - we didn’t watch Tucker for special effects
We watch him to hear powerful truth & his 1st video has that in spades
Hence why it has 68M+ views https://t.co/jsihdXd11F
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) June 7, 2023
Tucker Carlson got more views in 10 minutes on Twitter than CNN got in 24 hours. https://t.co/dzgtBJ79ZJ
— Andrew Wilkow (@WilkowMajority) June 7, 2023
60 Million Views. And counting.
The best thing about Tucker’s choice of Twitter, the preeminent site for political discourse, is that everyone has this view count squarely in their face.
The Left. Corporate Media. The Intelligence Community. The Biden Regime. Fox,
Everyone. https://t.co/83C5gdAkJ3
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) June 7, 2023
Would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform! https://t.co/hrzEH31Pk0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 6, 2023
So great to see you back Tucker. God bless you 🙏🏻
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 6, 2023
Come On Tucker Give us episode 2 already! I need it! I’m addicted
— Adam The Last Starfighter! 🇺🇸 🇮🇹 🇪🇸 (@AStarfighter) June 7, 2023
It is unknown whether Carlson and his attorney have resolved the host’s contract with Fox News or his Twitter broadcast put him at odds with his current contract.
He reportedly is under contract with the network until January 2025.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
