Infamous Viktor Orbán interview also contributed to the dismissal of the US reporter

Fox News did not tolerate that Tucker Carlson intentionally harmed the reputation of the network when he moved his show to Budapest in 2021 and interviewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán without permission.

Fox News was not happy that Tucker Carlson moved his show to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, for several days in 2021, according to a newly published book. The American TV host interviewed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

In his book, Brian Stelter, a reporter and media correspondent for the New York Times and CNN, writes that his bosses were allegedly already displeased with Tucker, and his anti-Trump antics, years before his dismissal in April this year. According to the FOX executive, who is cited anonymously in the book, Carlson “knowingly caused damage” to the network.

The book also touches on the broadcast in Budapest, when Carlson did a programme with Viktor Orbán. The book described the incident as a “watered-down national advertisement for Viktor Orbán’s increasingly autocratic and patriarchal country”.

According to the publication, Carlson praised the Hungarian prime minister for his “anti-immigrant, nationalist stance” in the interview. This unauthorised interview may have been the last straw for FOX executives, hvg.hu writes.