Texas Governor Greg Abbott Attacks Dominion After Fox News Fires Tucker Carlson

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hinted that Dominion Voting Systems may be to blame for Tucker Carlson‘s firing from Fox News, and that they shouldn’t think of doing business in Texas unless they answer questions about “silencing a prominent conservative journalist.” Both Fox and Dominion have claimed the accusation is unfounded.

“If the public reporting is accurate that Dominion Voting Systems demanded that Tucker Carlson be fired as part of a litigation settlement, then I am happy that Dominion does not operate in Texas, and I don’t think that they should do so in the future,” Abbott tweeted. “We may disagree with other’s positions, but we should never try to improperly silence views contrary to our own. If Dominion wants to do business with Texas in the future, they should first answer questions about what role, if any, they played in silencing a prominent conservative journalist. The answers to those questions, and other factors, should guide whether we want them to operate here.”

In April, Fox News settled with Dominion for $787.5 million. Dominion had filed a $1.6 billion suit accusing Fox of airing baseless claims that Dominion was involved in 2020 election fraud, as perpetuated by Donald Trump. Carlson was fired just days after the settlement, although there were no stipulations that hosts apologize on air or be ousted from Fox News.  Some reports said that Dominion executives took credit for Carlson’s firing, although a company attorney denied this.

“Dominion did not insist on them firing Tucker Carlson as part of the settlement,”  the attorney told Axios.

Dominion has said it had a threefold goal regarding Fox: to expose the truth, to hold Fox accountable, and to be compensated for damages.

Fox said only, “We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems. We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”