Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson on Friday criticized her former network and other conservative media outlets, saying they had devolved into “non-fact-based conspiracy theories” and “outright dangerous rhetoric” and that it is “a complete disservice to our country.”
During an interview with CNN anchor Jim Acosta, Carlson pointed to the Jan. 6 insurrection and recent pro-Russian comments made by Fox News host Tucker Carlson (no relation).
“I think it’s a complete disservice to our country,” she said. “I think it’s a big difference between having a conservative opinion and having one that supports conspiracy theories.”
Carlson was formerly a “Fox & Friends” co-host and the anchor of “The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson” on the network before departing Fox in 2016. She has alleged she was fired in retaliation for declining the sexual advances of former Fox News chairman Roger Ailes.
In the interview, Carlson said her former news network and other conservative media had devolved, from calling unwelcome news “fake” to questioning science during the pandemic.
“We’re seeing not only the fallout from fake news during the Trump era [to] what happened on Jan. 6,” she said. “But now it’s moving into other areas, not just news. Now it’s hitting science, the vaccines.”
Carlson then took a pointed jab at Tucker Carlson’s comments on the potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tucker Carlson questioned why the U.S. was siding with Ukraine and not Russia.
“Now it’s into Cold War politics. The idea that we are talking about whether or not we should support Ukraine or Russia — there wouldn’t be a Republican on the planet that five years ago would have said they supported Russia over Ukraine,” Gretchen Carlson said.
“Conservative television news is certainly not the conservative news that was out there even five years ago,” she continued.