New York
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson's first episode of his Twitter news show left a trail of divisive discourse on and off social media amid tumultuous geopolitical seas marred by war in Ukraine and the upcoming US election.
Carlson's news show came on Twitter weeks after he was taken off air by Fox News following a damaging defamation lawsuit over election fraud in US presidential polls.
In a nearly 10-minute video captioned "Ep.1", he said that Ukraine was to blame for the destruction of a massive dam in Russian-occupied territory that caused widespread flooding.
Tucker on Twitter with 'no gatekeepers'
Pointing to the free speech absolutist in the new Twitter owner Elon Musk, Carlson said that the micro-blogging platform would be the "short-wave radio under the blankets" with "no gatekeepers".
"If that turns out to be false, we will leave," he said.
The show is named "Tucker on Twitter" and Carlson said he would be "back with much more very soon."
Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeted after Carlson posted his video that it "would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform!"
Also read | Explained: How Tucker Carlson's years of controversies at Fox News ended in his ouster
Fox News Media fired Carlson less than a week after parent company Fox Corp settled the defamation lawsuit for $787.5 million.
Dominion Voting Systems alleged in its lawsuit that Carlson allowed election-fraud claims about its voting technology firm to air on his show while casting doubts on the plausibility of those claims in private messages that emerged in legal filings.
Also watch | Double Shock as Two Top TV Personalities Exit American Channels on Same Day
Fox News on Wednesday notified Tucker Carlson's legal team that the former prime-time host violated his contract with the network when he launched his own Twitter show on Tuesday, Axios reported, citing a copy of a letter obtained by the news website.
(With inputs from agencies)
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