Two Fox News contributors resigned after Tucker Carlson’s new special Patriot Purge premiered on the network, according to The New York Times.
Ben Smith, formerly of Buzzfeed, now writing for The New York Times, reported that Jonah Goldberg, a former National Review writer, and Stephen Hayes, a former Weekly Standard writer, have quit the network after the special appeared on Fox’s online subscription streaming service Fox Nation. Both have regularly appeared on the network since 2009.
According to Smith, days earlier the pair had a text exchange after viewing the trailer for the special where they discussed leaving Fox. The trailer for the special about the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol dropped on October 27. That evening Goldberg, sent a text to his business partner, Stephen Hayes, which said, "I’m tempted just to quit Fox over this."
Hayes replied, "I’m game. Totally outrageous. It will lead to violence. Not sure how we can stay."
The pair founded The Dispatch in 2019 as "...a place that thoughtful readers can come for conservative, fact-based news and commentary," which now boasts 30,000 paid subscribers.
Tucker Carlson Tonight is regularly the highest rated prime-time cable news show, outstripping the competition on rival networks.
Smith interviewed Hayes, 51, and Goldberg, 52, over video. Goldberg said, "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."
According to Smith, Carlson said that Hayes’s and Goldberg’s resignations were "great news" during a telephone interview and added, "our viewers will be grateful."
Smith acknowledged that high profile resignations like these are rare due to the lucrative salary and perks that comes with these positions. Goldberg added, "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. And there are also lots of people over there who think the Fox opinion side today is awesome."
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