Fox News Producer Departs After On-Air Message Referring to President Biden as a ‘Wannabe Dictator’

Following an on-air headline that labeled President Joe Biden a “wannabe dictator” due to the indictment of former President Donald Trump, a longtime producer for Tucker Carlson has left Fox News after being held responsible for the incident.

Alex McCaskill, the producer in question, confirmed his departure through an Instagram post. Fox News declined to comment on the matter.

Despite Tucker Carlson’s termination on April 24, McCaskill had remained at Fox News. The exact reason for Carlson’s abrupt dismissal, which occurred less than a week after Fox settled a defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems for $787 million, has not been publicly disclosed.

The controversial message appeared in the final moments of Carlson’s previous time slot on Tuesday. It was displayed alongside separate onscreen boxes featuring Biden and Trump conversing. The text read: “Wannabe dictator speaks at the White House after having his political rival arrested.”

In a Twitter monologue posted on Thursday, Carlson mentioned that “the women who run the network panicked” upon seeing the post and reprimanded the responsible individual. Although he didn’t mention the producer by name, Carlson described him as “one of the most capable persons in the building.”

McCaskill offered to resign with a two-week notice but was instructed to clear his desk and leave immediately, according to his account.

Fox News issued a statement on Wednesday, acknowledging that the on-screen text had been removed and the matter had been “addressed” without providing further details.

A picture of McCaskill outside Fox’s Manhattan office holding a box was shared on Instagram and later posted on Twitter by Justin Baragona of The Daily Beast. The accompanying message read, “Today was my last day at Fox. It’s been a wild 10 years, and it was the best place I’ve ever worked because of the great people I met. But the time has come. I asked them to let me go, and they finally did. To all my friends there: I will miss you forever.”

Attempts to reach McCaskill for comment through a listed phone number were unsuccessful.

Many critics of President Biden have insinuated that politics played a role in the indictment of Trump by special prosecutor Jack Smith on charges of classified document hoarding and resisting government retrieval attempts. Biden has not publicly commented on the case.

McCaskill was previously named in a lawsuit filed by former Fox producer Abby Grossberg, who also worked on Carlson’s team. Grossberg’s lawsuit alleged that McCaskill consistently belittled female employees at Fox. According to the lawsuit, he criticized a room designated for breastfeeding employees, referring to it as a “waste of space” and suggested it be replaced with a room for men to tan their testicles.

Fox News has denied the allegations made in Grossberg’s lawsuit.

Contributors Beatrice Dupuy, a correspondent for Big Big News, and Rhonda Shafner, a researcher, contributed to this report from New York.

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More about Fox News producer, on-air message, President Biden, controversy

• Fox News producer out after onscreen message calling President Biden a ‘wannabe dictator’
• Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg’s lawsuit
• Fox News settles defamation case with Dominion Voting Systems
• Tucker Carlson’s termination and the aftermath
• President Biden’s response to the Trump indictment