Democrat RFK Jr. Says Tucker Carlson Is 'Breathtakingly Courageous' in Wake of Fox News Departure

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

RFK Jr., who just last week launched his 2024 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, suggested that Carlson's Fox News exit came because of the host's recent monologue about pharmaceutical companies

Mike Pont/Getty for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights; Jason Koerner/Getty Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left), Tucker Carlson
Mike Pont/Getty for Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights; Jason Koerner/Getty Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (left), Tucker Carlson

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is weighing in on the bombshell announcement that Tucker Carlson has left Fox News, claiming on Twitter that the exit came because of the right wing personality's "breathtakingly courageous" monologue about pharmaceutical companies.

Kennedy, who just last week launched his 2024 campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, claimed that Carlson had been "fired" by Fox News, despite the network saying in a statement the two parties had "agreed to part ways."

Related:Tucker Carlson Departs Fox News, Effective Immediately

"Fox fires @tuckercarlson five days after he crosses the red line by acknowledging that the TV networks pushed a deadly and ineffective vaccine to please their Pharma advertisers," the 69-year-old nephew of late President John F. Kennedy and son of late U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy wrote on Twitter. "Carlson's breathtakingly courageous April 19 monologue broke TV's two biggest rules: Tucker told the truth about how greedy Pharma advertisers controlled TV news content and he lambasted obsequious newscasters for promoting jabs they knew to be lethal and worthless."

He continued: "For many years, Tucker has had the nation's biggest audience averaging 3.5 million — 10 times the size of CNN. Fox just demonstrated the terrifying power of Big Pharma."

Related:Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Files to Challenge President Joe Biden in 2024 Democratic Primary

The tweet referenced an episode in which Carlson highlighted Kennedy's presidential campaign and his previous comments about vaccines and criticism of former U.S. top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci's handling of the pandemic.

Kennedy has previously lobbied Congress to allow parents to opt out of state requirements for vaccinating their children, and a 2019 study found that his nonprofit, called Children's Health Defense, had paid for more than half of the ads on Facebook that promoted false claims about vaccines, according to The New York Times.

His statements have received much backlash, especially after an anti-vaccine speech he made in Washington, D.C. comparing U.S. vaccine policies to actions taken by Nazi Germany. As a result of his claims, members of his own family have spoken out against him.

Related:A Timeline of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Controversies

But Carlson has embraced Kennedy's fringe statements, even echoing them at times. In a January episode of his show, Carlson compared the vaccination effort during the COVID-19 pandemic to "what the imperial Japanese army and the Nazis did in their medical experiments," The Guardian reported at the time.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In a statement on Monday morning, Fox News said the network and Carlson "have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."

Carlson's last program was Friday. Beginning Monday evening, the network will air Fox News Tonight as an interim show helmed by rotating Fox News personalities until a new host is determined.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.