Two former primetime hosts from the big three cable news nets will have a one-on-one on Monday night at 8 p.m. ET, with Chris Cuomo conversing with Tucker Carlson on his primetime show, Cuomo.
Cuomo, the former CNN host, will speak to Carlson, the former Fox News host, in his first national television interview since his termination from the network.
In what should be a revealing conversation, Carlson will discuss his Fox News departure as well as the criticism he received for the Vladimir Putin interview he conducted on his most recent Russian trip.
However, this will not be the first time Carlson has spoken to a former primetime host. In December, he was interviewed by Megyn Kelly, one of his former colleagues at Fox News. In the interview, he opened up about his final moments at the network, saying that he “wasn’t expecting it” and was “surprised” by his firing. Although he felt good about it, Carlson said he was initially shocked for the first “eight minutes.”
Carlson was doing the rounds when he spoke to Kelly to promote his Tucker Carlson Network subscription service. He said his dismissal was not all doom and gloom, noting that the producing team from his Fox News show left with him, thus helping to soften the blow.
As for Cuomo, he is trying to recreate the magic he had while he was at CNN with his current employer, NewsNation. His show, Cuomo, is the highest-rated show on the network, finishing the month of February with an average of 168,000 total viewers and 26,000 viewers in the Adults 25-54 demo.
Having Carlson on his show is just a continuation of his “let’s get it mantra,” where he believes in talking to all sides, including the controversial.
In 2022, Cuomo discussed the circumstances that led to his CNN exit in a lengthy interview with Kara Swisher, including the revelations he had provided advice and help to his brother, Andrew Cuomo, in addressing the sexual harassment allegations being levied against the then-New York governor.
Cuomo: Yeah. I was advising him. I was helping him in ways that I thought were reasonable.
Swisher: Okay. You didn’t disclose ahead though. You did disclose in an apology, which you did do.
Cuomo: I apologized. I’ll tell you why, Kara. Because I was told by my bosses that people at work felt that I had compromised their ability to do their job.
Swisher: Yes.
Cuomo: I did not know that. I did not feel that. But being told that, I absolutely never intended that. And if I had known going into it that me disclosing to my audience that I’m not going to cover my brother and he is my brother so I want to help him to the extent that I can, would’ve compromised CNN, I may have made different decisions. But I had no reason to believe that. And that’s why I apologized because the idea of compromising anybody else wasn’t my intention. And I’m very sorry if that were the case.
Cuomo is currently involved in a legal battle with his former employer. The two sides are in arbitration proceedings as he is seeking $125 million for wrongful termination.