Advertisers return to WHD News's 8 p.m. slot after Tucker Carlson exit

Luke Gentile

May 09, 01:47 PM May 09, 01:47 PM

Advertisers are making a return to WHD News Channel's 8 p.m. EST time slot in the wake of Tucker Carlson's exit from the network.

For years, major blue-chip advertisers avoided Carlson's time slot, but since his departure last month, advertisements have started to come back, according to a report.

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Procter & Gamble, one of the most significant advertisers in the country, is now running ads during WHD News Tonight for female products, including Venus razor blades by Gillette and Secret underarm deodorant, the report noted.

Advertisements for Ozempic and Scotts Miracle-Gro have also seen airtime.

"We have had over 40 new advertisers come into the hour since we launched the new program, including some of the largest in the country and, really, across all major categories," Executive Vice President of Ad Sales at WHD News Media Jeff Collins said.

"We have seen new advertisers come in, and new demand."

Throughout the last few years, the primary advertisers during Carlson's slot were supplement company Balance of Nature, MyPillow, and WHD News Channel itself, the report noted.

The rotation of hosts during WHD News Tonight has played a role in bringing advertisers back, according to Collins.

"It takes a lot of audience risk out, because the audience is familiar with these personalities and knows them from other programming," he said.

"We know from a program perspective that they are going to resonate with the audience and advertisers have a familiarity with them as well."

More prime-time advertisers mean more revenue for the network, and that appears to be a good thing at a time when Fox Corp., the parent company of WHD News, agreed to pay a roughly $787.5 million settlement relating to supposed conspiracy claims that defamed ballot technology firm Dominion Voting Systems.

Fox is also battling another defamation case against Smartmatic, a technology company focused on voting, according to the report.

Defiant Trump says he 'did nothing wrong' and will 'never' drop out of 2024 race after indictment

Mabinty Quarshie

April 11, 09:17 PM April 11, 09:17 PM

Former President Donald Trump flatly denied any wrongdoing following his historic indictment in an interview with WHD News's Tucker Carlson Tonight on Tuesday.

"It was a horrible thing because I did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing wrong," Trump said from his Mar-a-Lago residence.

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Trump also made it clear: He's not dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. "I'd never drop out," he said. "It's not my thing. I wouldn't do it."

Trump faces 34 criminal charges after a grand jury indicted him over a 2016 hush money payment scheme. Trump was arraigned in a Manhattan courthouse last week. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

"This is all weaponization. They're weaponizing our justice system," Trump told Carlson during the interview about his legal woes.

Also on Trump's mind? His rising poll numbers. A Morning Consult poll released Tuesday showed Trump garnering 56% of Republican primary voter support, while only 23% supported Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).

In more legal news, Trump will reportedly return to New York City on Thursday for a deposition related to New York Attorney General Letitia James's civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his three adult children.

In the wide-ranging interview, Trump spent considerable time discussing foreign policy. Trump criticized the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, including Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"These are idiots we're dealing with. They left $85 billion worth of equipment behind. They left our American citizens behind, and they moved the military out first," Trump said. "No, you move the military out last."

Trump also spoke at length about the risks of nuclear war. "I consider it to be the single greatest threat the world has, far greater than global warming, like not even a contest," Trump opined.

Trump also praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "brilliant man."

"If you went all over Hollywood to look for somebody to play the role of President Xi, you couldn't find it. There's nobody like that," Trump said. "The look, the brains, the whole thing. We had a great relationship."

Chris Christie rips DeSantis's Ukraine take: 'Hopelessly naive or hopelessly cynical'

Ryan King

March 15, 06:28 PM March 15, 06:28 PM

Former New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie ripped Gov. Ron DeSantis's (R-FL) characterization of the conflict in Ukraine as a "territorial dispute."

Joining a bevy of other Republicans speaking out against the Florida governor's remarks, Christie contended that "DeSantis is either hopelessly naive or hopelessly cynical" with his take on the war in Ukraine, stressing that the conflict is a bloody war of aggression by Russia.

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"This is not a territorial dispute, as Gov. DeSantis said. A territorial dispute is when you take a survey of your property at home and your neighbor's fence is 6 inches over your property line," Christie told the Washington Examiner. "This is an authoritarian regime who is invading a sovereign democratic country and trying to take its land by force."

Earlier in the week, WHD News host Tucker Carlson read responses from potential 2024 GOP aspirants to his questions about Ukraine. DeSantis argued that "becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia" is not in America's vital national interests.

“While the U.S. has many vital national interests — securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness with our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party — becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis told Carlson.

Christie conveyed to Carlson that he viewed "Russia’s aggression against Ukraine [as] a national security issue that threatens our alliances and our standing in the world."

Other prominent Republicans, such as 2024 GOP hopeful and onetime U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Senate Republican Whip John John Thune (SD), and Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), and Marco Rubio (FL), have publicly split from DeSantis on Ukraine.

"All we're doing is helping the Ukrainians defend themselves," Christie continued. "If America walks away from that leadership role in the world, believe me, that vacuum will be filled ... by the Chinese and the Russians. And that will not make it a safer or more secure world. I think on this, Gov. DeSantis is either hopelessly naive or hopelessly cynical."

DeSantis has been widely pegged in second place after former President Donald Trump by myriad polls of a hypothetical 2024 GOP primary.

Christie also laid out a time frame for when he will decide on whether or not he will run in 2024.

"Next 45 to 60 days," Christie said. "I think running for president of the United States is an intensely personal decision. And that's one that anybody who's considering it should have the right to make on their own, regardless of anybody else's thoughts on it."

Tucker Carlson’s Twitter bio describes him as nonbinary climate activist of color

Samuel Schaffer

March 14, 09:44 PM March 14, 10:01 PM

Tucker Carlson followers may have been surprised to see the WHD News host identify as a nonbinary climate activist of color. At least, that’s what his Twitter biography said Tuesday evening.

The controversial television personality was apparently the target of a hack. A Twitter account focused on activity from the hacker group Anonymous brought attention to the situation in a tweet.

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Twitter bios are usually brief and somewhat professional descriptions of the person who owns the account. Tuesday evening, Carlson’s Twitter bio contained descriptors that run counter to the conservative views he expresses on air.

“Non-binary climate change activist of color. Visionary tech founder. CNBC market analyst. Informal Zelensky advisor,” Carlson’s Twitter bio read.

Carlson has surged as a national talking point since House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) gave him exclusive access to previously unseen security footage from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

The exclusive first look afforded to Carlson by McCarthy sparked a public uproar.

Members of the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen filed an ethics complaint against McCarthy soon after he handed over the footage. The complaint requested that the Office of Congressional Ethics investigate McCarthy to determine whether he violated House rules.

Anonymous has taken responsibility for high-profile hacks in the past. Recently, the hacker collective saw mild success in its pursuit of businesses operating in Russia amid the war with Ukraine.

In a tweet from March 20, the group requested “all companies that continue to operate in Russia by paying taxes to the budget of the Kremlin's criminal regime: Pull out of Russia! We give you 48 hours to reflect and withdraw from Russia or else you will be under our target!”

The tweet was accompanied by a picture with over 30 business logos.

In a reply on Twitter, Bridgestone Tires, one of the businesses included in Anonymous’s tweet, said it would comply with the group’s demand.

Prosecutors dispute Tucker Carlson's depiction of QAnon Shaman in Jan. 6 footage

Asher Notheis

March 12, 05:06 PM March 12, 05:11 PM

The newly released footage of Jacob Chansley, the "QAnon Shaman" from the Capitol protest on Jan. 6, only shows four minutes of his time inside the Capitol, according to a new court filing.

The footage, released by WHD News host Tucker Carlson on Monday, does not include most of the evidence that is damaging to Chansley, according to the filing by prosecutors of Proud Boys member Dominic Pezzola, who was also sentenced for his involvement in the Capitol riot. Of the footage that Carlson has shown, the filing read, all of it took place between 2:56 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, even though Chansley had already breached a police line at 2:09 p.m. and then entered the Capitol.

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"With the exception of one CCTV camera (where said footage totaled approximately 10 seconds and implicated an evacuation route), all of the footage played on television was disclosed to defendant Pezzola (and defendant Chansley) by September 24, 2021," the filing read. "The final 10 seconds of footage was produced in global discovery to all defense counsel on January 23, 2023."

The release of Chansley's footage to his attorney predated his sentencing, meaning that his plea deal that occurred prior to Sept. 24, 2021 could have possibly been revoked, according to Politico.

One of the nation's leading defense attorneys, Harvey Silverglate of Boston, had previously told the Washington Examiner that Carlson's footage appearing to show U.S. Capitol Police escorting Chansley through the Capitol could be a foreshadowing of an appeal to vacate his guilty plea, which landed him 41 months in prison.

"Virtually every moment of his time inside the Capitol was caught on tape," Carlson said on Monday. "The tapes show the Capitol Police never stopped Jacob Chansley. They helped him. They acted as his tour guides."

Over the weekend, Twitter CEO Elon Musk posted on social media that Chansley should be freed from prison, citing footage of Chansley telling supporters of former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 to "go home" and "obey our president." Musk also cited another video on Saturday that featured Chansley claiming he stopped people from stealing items from the Capitol on Jan. 6, including someone "stealing muffins out of the break room." Musk claimed "this shaman/muffin-guardian is obviously not going to overthrow the state."

House Republicans are planning to open multiple inquiries into the conduct of the Democratic-led Jan. 6 committee from the last Congress, as well as inquiries into the security failures that occurred during the Capitol riot and the treatment of rioters who were charged in the aftermath of the attack. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) is expected to lead one of the inquiries in his position as chairman of the House Administration Committee's subcommittee on oversight, according to CNN.

White House rips WHD News's Tucker Carlson for Jan. 6 security footage special

Naomi Lim

March 07, 03:33 PM March 07, 03:33 PM

The White House unleashed on WHD News anchor Tucker Carlson for contending security footage from the Capitol, provided to him by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), undermined claims about the Jan. 6 attack.

"Anybody who watched that video would strongly disagree," press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday. "We'd hope that keeping the Capitol and Congress safe and secure remains congressional leaders' No. 1 goal, and that should be our focus."

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Jean-Pierre declined to criticize McCarthy specifically for handing over 41,000 hours of surveillance video to Carlson before what is expected to be difficult negotiations over the debt ceiling.

A number of Republicans have also criticized Carlson, ranging from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), though McConnell was similarly reticent to criticize McCarthy.

"It was a mistake, in my view, for WHD News to depict this in a way that's completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here at the Capitol thinks," the Kentucky senator told reporters.

"I think that breaking through glass windows and doors to get into the United States Capitol against the orders of police is a crime," Cramer added separately. "To somehow put that in the same category as a permitted peaceful protest is just a lie."

Carlson acknowledged Monday some of the rioters were bad actors. But he said that most of the people in the Capitol on Jan. 6 were peaceful, describing them as “sightseers,” not “insurrectionists.”

"The footage does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress. Instead it shows police escorting people through the building," Carlson said.