(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson is purportedly America’s favorite “public individual.”
This was one of the findings from a new poll of U.S. adults compiled by Gallup and the Knight Foundation.
GALLUP POLL: Tucker Carlson is the most followed or watched public figure in the United States for information. https://t.co/uqVD9MgEPa pic.twitter.com/sHOjZePVAJ
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) May 23, 2023
Carlson’s name came up the most—113 times—in a list of the top-20 most frequently typed-in names in the survey, which constituted the one personage whom respondents watched or followed the most.
Overall, nearly 3,000 respondents listed 900-plus different celebrity-type individuals to whom they turned for news and information, according to Gallup.
Part-time MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow finished in second place with 107 mentions, followed by Fox’s Sean Hannity and ex-Comedy Central host Trevor Noah, who were tied at 57 mentions.
The data also indicated that most consumers were drawn to public individuals based on their likeable personality, trustworthiness, entertainment value and that “they offer me a perspective I can’t find in traditional news outlets.”
“Most Americans follow at least one public individual to get news or commentary on political and social issues,” Gallup’s analysis concluded. “In an era of widespread institutional distrust, the power of individuals with wide-reaching platforms and loyal audiences is more potent than ever.”
The same polling data suggested that consumers were almost evenly split in their preference for obtaining political/social issue commentary and analysis as between public individuals and news organizations.
In connection with the distrust issue, however, nearly 60% of likely voters in a Rasmussen Reports poll agreed with former President Trump that the media is “the enemy of the people.”
Carlson, who recently revealed plans to take his popular newscast directly to Twitter, is in the process of rebuilding his Maine home studio after Fox reportedly stripped the place bare following his separation from the network.
On Wednesday, the Daily Mail published pictures of Carlson pitching in with the preliminary construction work at the New England location, where Carlson generally taped from in the summer while relocating to Florida for the winter.
EXCLUSIVE: Tucker Carlson is seen rebuilding his barn-turned-satellite studio https://t.co/aiuO0wYmMi pic.twitter.com/pcrKtb3asU
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) May 24, 2023
“Fox came in last week and got all their sh*t out of there,” one of Carlson’s associates on the scene told the British newspaper. “They took the set and everything, all the equipment, the chairs, the desk, the fake walls, everything.”
Carlson and Fox News are in the midst of some legal wrangling about the contractual exit agreement, thus forestalling Carlson’s ability to launch an independent venture sooner rather than later.
While allegedly woke Fox News abruptly cancelled the Tucker Carlson Tonight program on April 24, he is still on the corporate payroll.
