Fox’s Greg Gutfeld came to X owner Elon Musk’s defense on Friday on his late night show.
At the DealBook summit, Musk had a great message to advertisers who pulled out in the wake of a Media Matters report attacking X. He told the advertisers who had dropped out “@#$% you” and that he wasn’t going to be blackmailed by money. It’s hard to lay it out plainer than that, it was a battle cry in the war for free speech.
Greg Gutfeld came to Musk’s defense on his show on Friday night. He joked that trying to blackmail the world’s richest man with money was “like trying to extort Jerry Nadler with salad,” showing a picture of the rotund Nadler. “Or blackmailing sports fans by threatening to cancel PBS.”
Then he made a great point about the importance of Musk and X to this free speech battle.
“Fact is, Musk may be the last man standing between real freedom of speech and the suffocating block of the censorship industrial complex which is made up of government, media, and tech forces. He realizes that advertisers have no spine and can be easily cowed by special interest groups in cahoots with political allies.”
That’s when the dropped a bomb, “If you don’t believe me, I have two words for you: Tucker Carlson.”
The nervous laughter in response to that was something else – they knew the importance of what he said, but they were concerned about the shoe that might drop in the wake of it. Even Gutfeld’s own team was concerned. That was a brave moment that has gone viral and good for Gutfeld for going there. Gutfeld is an important cornerstone at Fox. Just like Tucker Carlson was before they canceled his show and he was booted to the curb. Many wondered if Fox might ax Gutfeld after that. We’ll have to see what the Fox reaction to that epic mic drop is but it says something about Gutfeld’s spine that he was wiling to do it anyway.
In any event, Musk approved of what Gutfeld had to say, calling it, “Correct.”
It’s a battle and the more willing to come out on behalf of free speech, the better, for the benefit of the country and our rights. It’s why it’s so important to preserve X and build up free media that isn’t beholden to the liberal narrative or the control of advertisers. And if Fox were to drop the hammer on Gutfeld, I’m sure he could find a haven elsewhere including on X, as Tucker Carlson has. Tucker Carlson seems to be reveling in his freedom, so ultimately, it may not have been the smartest move, if someone wanted to quiet him. The battle may free more to truly say what they mean, and that’s dangerous to the control of the liberal narrative.
