Tucker Carlsons New Twitter Show, Seen By Millions, Starts With Conspiracy Theories

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released the first episode of his new show on Twitter, a 10-minute screed Tuesday in which he attacked Ukraines president as rat-like and shared conspiracy theories with his millions of followers.

As of today, we have come to Twitter, which we hope will be the shortwave radio under the blankets, Carlson said at the end of what he called Episode 1. Were told there are no gatekeepers here. If that turns out to be false, well leave, but in the meantime, we are grateful to be here.

The episode felt like a familiar iteration of Carlsons opening monologues on his eponymous show at Fox News, albeit in a home studio and without any guests. He immediately shared unfounded theories that Ukraine was responsible for the destruction of a critical dam in southern Ukraine this week, called President Volodymyr Zelenskyy our shifty dead-eyed Ukrainian friend in a tracksuit and demeaned the media. He also questioned why there hadnt been more coverage of a recent whistleblower report about UFOs .

By midnight, the video had been seen more than 35 million times, according to public Twitter metrics.

Ep. 1 pic.twitter.com/O7CdPjF830

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Ep. 1 pic.twitter.com/O7CdPjF830
Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 6, 2023

Fox News ousted Carlson in April in a startling move, parting ways with the prime-time host after settling a defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million. Company executives discovered damaging texts the host sent to one of his producers as evidence was gathered in that case, a revelation that reportedly contributed to his removal.

Carlson first said last month that he planned to host a new show on Twitter , declaring Elon Musks social media site the last platform in the world that allows free speech.

The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can, he said at the time. But there are always limits. And you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it. Thats not a guess its guaranteed.

Musk shared Carlsons post later Tuesday to his 142 million followers, adding: Would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform!

It remains unclear if Carlsons show will run afoul of his ongoing contract with Fox . His attorneys accused the network last month of breach of contract and fraud, alleging the companys actions freed him from a non-compete clause.

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