After it was announced last week that Fox News had decided to "part ways" with top-rated host Tucker Carlson, there has been rampant speculation about where the now-former Fox host will turn up next.
It has now been revealed that Carlson will speak this week at a fundraiser event in Alabama for an organization that provides residential care and other services to developmentally disabled adults, the Daily Wire reported.
As it turns out, that appearance was actually scheduled several months ago but now has garnered substantially more attention than it otherwise would have in light of what occurred last week with Carlson and Fox News.
The organization that Carlson will help raise funds to support is known as Rainbow Omega, and it helps to provide services for adults with developmental disabilities who can no longer be adequately cared for by their own parents.
Its Mission statement is "To glorify God by ensuring that adults with developmental disabilities have a permanent and safe home where their abilities and potentials are respected and nurtured in a Christian environment."
Its Vision is to be "a non-institutional environment that instills both a family and a community atmosphere where residents experience quality standards of care while enabling them to grow spiritually and to have productive, joy-filled and independent lives."
The organization was first launched in 1991, opened its first group homes in 1995 with space available for 16 individuals, and since then has grown to be able to provide care and services for up to 88 developmentally disabled adults in need.
Tim Hodge, the CEO and executive director of Rainbow Omega, told AL.com of Tucker Carlson, "He’ll be here Thursday" to deliver an address at the organization's annual fundraiser event.
"We actually booked him back last fall," Hodge revealed. "The timing for last week’s announcement was unexpected by anybody."
"Anytime you have a featured speaker from the world of politics, with our country’s political divide, you can bet there’s a lot of interest," he added. "It was kind of an unusual situation. There has been renewed interest."
Indeed, AL.com noted that at least 500 tickets have been sold since the news of Carlson's break with Fox News was first announced. The event will be held Thursday evening at the Oxford Performing Arts Center, a venue that holds around 1,200 people, and while there had reportedly been some tickets still available when the report was published on Monday, it appears to have since been completely sold out.
"He’s honored what he said he would do," Hodge told AL.com of Carlson. "We’re looking forward to him being here and being part of our fundraiser."
As for the speculation about Carlson's future plans post-Fox News, he said, "If he announces what he plans to do next, we would have loved to have retroactively known that and promoted that," and added, "It’s an interesting sequence of events that led to where we are."
That seems unlikely to happen, however, for a variety of possible reasons but most likely because Carlson probably wouldn't want to overshadow the worthwhile cause and organization that he is supporting by making the event about himself instead of the work they do.
