E155: In conversation with Tucker Carlson, plus OpenAI chaos explained

**Jason Calacanis** (0:00)
This is Sacks' big day.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:01)
There he is.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:03)
Oh, there's Tucker. Oh, look at the smile on Sacks' face.

**David Sacks** (0:06)
This is the greatest day in the history of TheAll-In Podcast.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:09)
Look at how happy Sacks is.

**Tucker Carlson** (0:14)
By the way, I'm not ashamed of that.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:16)
Look at Sacks. No, come on, I'm honored.

**Elon Musk** (0:20)
Whoa, whoa.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:22)
It's getting, it got, it's heating up quickly.

**David Sacks** (0:24)
How threatened do you feel right now? This is the highest rated host in cable history. This is the world's true greatest moderator.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:31)
Exactly.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:31)
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. Absolutely.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:33)
Sacks, where is this in relation to your marriage and the birth of your children? Don't ask.

**David Sacks** (0:38)
It's right up there.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (0:39)
Up there. He's like, what children?

**Tucker Carlson** (0:40)
It is for me.

**Jason Calacanis** (0:46)
Rain Man, David Sacks.
All right, everybody. We've got an amazing guest for you today. Here on The All-In Podcast, Sacks. His dream has come true. Tucker Carlson is with us today. You know, Tucker, he was the number one TV host for much of the past decade, including last year. When? Shockingly, he was fired from Fox News on April 24th. Reason for the firing.
It's never been pinned down, but maybe we'll get into it today.
And we're gonna find out what is motivating a post-Fox News Tucker, who has obviously launched a show on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. He's done 42 episodes and counting. He's had everybody from Donald Trump, Andrew Tate, Dave Portnoy, and the newly elected president of Argentina on the program. So welcome to The All-In Podcast, Tucker Carlson.

**Tucker Carlson** (1:51)
Thank you for having me. It is a legit honor to be here.

**Jason Calacanis** (1:55)
Two-part question to kick us off here. First, have you figured out why you were fired from Fox? And let's get into that a bit.
And second, given that you were the number one host for much of the past decade, and I think probably in the top five, highest paid of all time, what's motivating you now? What's the mission here as an independent journalist? Take those two questions to whichever order you like.

**Tucker Carlson** (2:19)
I don't know why I was fired. I mean, it kind of is an Agatha Christie story. There are like so many suspects. You know what I mean?
But I don't know. I was never told I can only speculate. There were a lot of different things going on. I had a lot of opinions that were unpopular, you know, with people who might have influenced my show getting canceled, so I really don't know. I will say, you know, right after it happened, people said, well, how can they fire the top guy? Because that's what it is. I'm certainly not the first high-rated host to get fired. It's not only about ratings.
There are a lot of different factors. It's a big company you all have worked for and run big companies, and you know. There's a lot of complicated stuff going on, and it's never exactly clear why things happen the way they do, but I was not shocked by it. I mean, I was shocked by it in a short-term sense. I didn't expect to have my show canceled that morning, but I was not shocked at all when I thought about it for a minute. I'd expected that.
You know, you can't kind of give the finger to everybody and persist in a corporate job. So, you know, hard feelings. And in fact, I said that on the call when I received the news. It's not my company.
And I never felt like I had a right to be on the air. I was working at the pleasure of the family that runs the company who treated me very well, and they wanted me off. And so I was off.

**Chamath Palihapitiya** (3:41)
Did you ever have moments where somebody taps you on the shoulder and says, Advertiser XYZ is getting uncomfortable, or we're trying to land this new advertiser, and they want you to shape things in one way? Did you ever feel that pressure? Or is that just a thing that is kind of like a boogeyman that doesn't actually exist?

**Tucker Carlson** (3:59)
Oh, well, it not only exists, it defines news coverage, especially on Pharma. You know, because Pharma is the biggest advertiser in television, as I know you know. And so for sure, I mean, if, you know, Pfizer is sponsoring your show, you're not going to question the facts. I mean, it's kind of that simple.