Geraldo Rivera, once a prominent anchor for Fox News, recently claimed that he was inundated with messages of support following his criticism of his colleague Tucker Carlson for the latter’s remarks about the January 6 U.S. Capitol incident of 2021.
Rivera’s revelations came during a conversation with Mediaite’s editor in chief, Aidan McLaughlin, and senior reporter Diana Falzone.
Diana Falzone initiated the discussion by probing Rivera about the atmosphere on “The Five,” of which Rivera has been an outspoken critic. Falzone directly asked Rivera about the speculated friction between him and Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, especially after Gutfeld’s public reprimand of Rivera on Twitter.
“I have heard rumblings from Fox News insiders that the tension was between you and Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, who at one point actually berated you on Twitter for objecting to Tucker Carlson’s coverage of January 6th. What happened there?” Falzone inquired.
“Well, you know, I don’t want to focus in on any particular person, you can read the record, but I can tell you what happened vis a vis me and Tucker because that was the real substantive part of it,” Rivera responded.
Rivera’s public denouncement of Carlson’s commentary on the January 6 Capitol riot was not without consequences. The commentary, which many deemed as revisionist, led to a defamation lawsuit against Fox News. Rivera’s stance, which saw him label Carlson’s assertions as “bulls–t” in various interviews, resulted in his suspension from the network.
“I was shocked and outraged. I mean, I was nauseous over Tucker Carlson’s premise that 9/11, not 9/11, that January 6th was an inside job. So Tucker Carlson began floating the idea, and I didn’t know why. I assumed it was just evidence-based in his own mind. Floating the idea that January 6th was fake, that it was government agents that staged it, the agents provocateur who aggravated everything, that there was no you know, President Trump did not incite a legitimate riot,” Rivera said.
Rivera then delved into the aftermath of his public criticism. He claimed that he received calls from within Fox News, with colleagues expressing their shock and outrage at Carlson’s narrative. These insiders thanked Rivera for voicing what many of them felt but couldn’t articulate due to their positions within the network.
“I got calls from within Fox. Right on. You know, we’re shocked, we’re outraged by what Tucker is trying to do. Thank you for speaking out, you know from people that could not speak out,” Rivera said.
Rivera also touched upon his interactions with other Fox personalities, suggesting that he often took the brunt of the criticism to shield others. He believed that his established position in the industry made him less vulnerable to repercussions.
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