Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson drew an audience of more than 18 million — and still counting — with his first video statement following his surprise departure from the network.
Carlson dropped the video, which ran just over two minutes in length, via Twitter on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. ET — at almost exactly the time his fans would normally have tuned in to watch “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
The popular host, who routinely drew an average audience of over 3 million in his primetime slot, had reached more than six times that — 18.7 million — by midday on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the video went live.
WATCH:
Good evening pic.twitter.com/SPrsYKWKCE
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) April 27, 2023
In the video, Carlson made no mention of his former employer. Instead, his positive message focused on observations made once he stepped away from the media bubble — namely that there are a lot of truly kind, generous, and hilarious people out there and that Americans still have an appetite for people who will tell them the truth.
And while Carlson’s Twitter account does not appear to be set up for subscribers — which would allow him to turn his Twitter feed into an income stream — the massive response to his video suggests that the market could be ready to follow him in that direction.
“America loves Tucker Carlson,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweeted in response.
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America loves Tucker Carlson. https://t.co/7g3KUxSTpq
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) April 27, 2023
“This video has gotten over 15 million views in 14 hours. @TuckerCarlson’s star is only going to shine brighter and stronger than ever. We love you, Tucker!” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) added.
“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,” Donald Trump Jr. observed. “Also note who has his back & who doesn’t!!! A silenced Tucker is a uniparty/warmonger/deep-state/globalists dream come true.”
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
According to Twitter’s internal analytics, “the main Twitter video view metric is triggered when a user watches a video for at least 2 seconds and sees at least 50% of the video player in-view.”
At the time of publication, the tweet itself had been viewed over 62 million times. The included video had been viewed 18.7 million times. For comparison, 18.7 million people also watched the 2023 Academy Awards during the live broadcast.