The Fox News producer responsible for last Tuesday’s chyron that described President Biden as a “wannabe dictator” was fired last Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Alex McCaskill, a longtime producer for former host Tucker Carlson, confirmed in an Instagram post that he was out of a job.
Last Tuesday, as Fox was broadcasting Donald Trump’s remarks on his indictment from his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, a split screen appeared showing President Biden speaking earlier that day at the White House.
The chyron below the split screen read, “Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested.”
In a statement last Wednesday, Fox said that the chyron was removed “immediately” and it was addressing the matter. However, Fox did not explain how the chyron was allowed to appear in the first place, the Associated Press reported.
Former Fox host Tucker Carlson addressed the so-called controversy in a “Tucker on Twitter” video posted last Thursday without naming McCaskill, saying that “the women” who are running Fox News “panicked.” Carlson described his longtime producer as “one of the most capable” people at Fox News.
Carlson said the producer offered to resign from the network with two weeks’ notice but was instructed to clear out his desk immediately.
In his Instagram post, McCaskill included a photo of himself standing outside of Fox’s Manhattan headquarters holding a box of his belongings. In the post, McCaskill announced that it was his “last day at Fox.” He said that he had spent 10 years working at the network, which he described as “the best place I’ve ever worked” due to the “great people I met.”
According to the Associated Press, McCaskill was among those named in the lawsuit brought by Abby Grossberg, a former Fox producer who worked briefly on “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
