Former Daily Caller blogger Mickey Kaus on Sunday lamented that Fox News dominates conservative media as the only television network on the right.
Kaus quit his job at The Daily Caller last week after, he said, the site’s editor-in-chief, Tucker Carlson, pulled Kaus’ column criticizing Fox News. Carlson allegedly said, “We can’t trash Fox on the site. I work there,” according to Kaus.
During an appearance on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” host Brian Stelter asked Kaus if it’s possible for someone like Carlson to run a website and work at Fox News.
“If he wants, he can run a website saying Roger Ailes is the most handsome man in the world, but at some point it stops being journalism,” Kaus responded.
Kaus added that Fox isn’t a “no-go zone” at The Daily Caller.
“They write about Fox all the time, they just can’t write nasty things about Fox. So it’s a little deceptive for their readers. Do their readers know that there’s this hard-and-fast rule that they can’t say anything nasty about Fox? I don’t think so. I don’t even think their reporters really know it,” he said.
Kaus explained that conservative writers are “scared” of Fox News because it presents a path to success.
“Fox is basically the only means or the main means, the dominant means of upward mobility for a whole bunch of pundits and writers and wannabe pundits. Even if you don’t have a show on Fox like Tucker does, you want to have a show on Fox. If you’re an author, if Fox promotes your book, your book’s going to be a success,” he said.
The column allegedly pulled by Carlson criticized Fox News’ for not opposing immigration reform enough. Kaus told Stelter that by not discussing immigration, Fox stifles the conservative point of view.
“Fox has a monopoly, and there’s a huge opening for a competitor to Fox on the right that’s righter than Fox. Because Fox does wuss out on a bunch of issues — immigration is the most obvious one,” Kaus said.
Watch the CNN clip:
