Seth MacFarlane made the case that Fox News is the black sheep of the Fox family on Saturday — at least from his perspective. Fox News host Tucker Carlson used his show on Friday night to go to bat for his television home, sending this message to his viewers according to The Hill:
“If you’re looking to understand what’s actually happening in this country, always assume the opposite of whatever they’re telling you on the big news stations,” Carlson said, despite Fox News sitting on top of the cable news ratings for 197 consecutive months.
The last bit there is almost too similar to the Monday Night Wars between WWE and WCW. All we need is Tucker giving away the results of the next Rachel Maddow tease-fest, and we’ll be deep in it.
Carlson’s words didn’t sit well with many, leading CNN’s resident media student Brian Stelter to call them “sad,” while others said they were “damaging the democracy.”
Isn't this sad? Tonight @TuckerCarlson told his viewers not to believe ANYTHING they learn from his rivals: "If you're looking to understand what's actually happening in this country, always assume the opposite of whatever they're telling you on the big news stations."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 15, 2018
But it is Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane that gives the take that tosses some shade at the entire company:
In other words, don’t think critically, don’t consult multiple news sources, and in general, don’t use your brain. Just blindly obey Fox News. This is fringe shit, and it’s business like this that makes me embarrassed to work for this company.
https://twitter.com/SethMacFarlane/status/1008078997429710848
According to Deadline, there might be an indication that this could come into play once MacFarlane’s deal with Fox is up in 2019. They don’t see him leaving immediately, but he does represent another big chunk of the network’s creative arm and could end up sailing away like Ryan Murphy and other creators. Fox and Fox News will still be together as “New Fox,” so who knows.