The fallout over Tucker Carlson’s January 6th in-depth documentary on the Capitol Hill rioting claimed another two “never Trumpers” over the weekend with the apparent resignation of Fox contributors, Jonah Goldberg and Stephen Hayes. The two joined Trump turncoat, Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who along with a handful of elected RINO’s, voted to impeach the former president without any evidence that Trump instigated the January 6th riot.
Although Goldberg and Hayes claim to be conservative pundits, Fox seldom sought them out for any in-depth analysis concerning the leading issues of the day. Which leads me to believe their resignation was perhaps due to the fact their contracts were up for renewal.
Moreover, Carlson’s suggestion that the FBI may have contributed directly to the riot seems a lot more plausible after witnessing how the White House, the Justice Department and the FBI, targeted parents, labeling them domestic terrorists.
The duo had apparently discussed quitting Fox in late October after Carlson’s documentary titled Patriot Purge hit the airwaves as part of the networks paid subscription service on Fox Nation.
Jonah Goldberg sent a text to Stephen Hayes wondering if he should quit the network.
“I’m tempted just to quit Fox over this.”
“I’m game,” Hayes replied. “Totally outrageous. It will lead to violence. Not sure how we can stay.”
The “never Trumpers” had carved out an easy niche with Fox News Anchor Bret Baier, appearing almost exclusively on his news show. Usually within a panel format, offering their opinions on a given subject, and although both claimed to be principled conservatives, their commentaries seldom took a decisive stand, leaving many viewers simply baffled.
Never Trumpers Jonah Goldberg, Stephen Hayes Quit Fox News in Protest of Tucker Carlson’s January 6 Documentary
— Maat (@Maat93489673) November 22, 2021
During Trump's admin I came to realize these two were swamp denizens and not even close to conservatives. Good bye to bad rubbish.https://t.co/ivu0I4YMmS
During an interview with the New York Times, the duo expressed their desire to stick with the network after the 2020 election, hoping to “right the ship” after former President Trump left the White House. They threw their support to the Biden team. However, Carlson’s three part documentary explored further the January 6th riots, and how crazed democrats have attempted to circumvent free speech by lumping together the nearly 250,000 Trump protesters, demonstrating peacefully, with the handful of rioters who foolishly breached the Capital.
Goldberg said the documentary was evidence that “people have made peace with this direction of things, and there is no plan, at least, that anyone made me aware of for a course correction.”
“Now, righting the ship is an academic question,” said Goldberg. “The ‘Patriot Purge’ thing meant: OK, we hit the iceberg now, and I can’t do the rationalizations anymore.”
Hayes editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Weekly Standard, worried that the documentary could lead people into believing “that there’s a domestic war on terror and it’s coming for half of the country.”
“That’s not true,” said Hayes. “The imagery of waterboarding and suggestions that half the country is going to be subject to this kind of treatment, that’s the same kind of treatment that the federal government used when it went after Al Qaeda.”
Goldberg also chimed in; “Whether it’s ‘Patriot Purge’ or anti-vax stuff, I don’t want it in my name, and I want to call it out and criticize it. I don’t want to feel like I am betraying a trust that I had by being a Fox News contributor. And I also don’t want to be accused of not really pulling the punches. And then this was just an untenable tension for me.”
Adding; “There are lots of people there that I respect and like and consider friends, and they’re making a decision based upon how to provide for their families and deal with their careers and all of that. And I’m not going to second-guess them,” he later added. “And there are also lots of people over there who think the Fox opinion side today is awesome.”
It’s worth nothing however, that both Goldberg’s and Hayes’ contracts expire at the end of the year, and Fox had no plans of resigning them.
"*" indicates required fields
