This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Tucker Carlson is viewed much more favorably than Fox News, the cable network that just let him go, among middle-aged and older voters, Republicans and conservatives, according to a new survey by Rasmussen Reports, a favorite polling firm on the right.
The poll of 945 "likely voters" found that Carlson was viewed "very favorably" by 36% of those polled; 23% had a "somewhat favorable" view of the former Fox star, for a total of 59% holding a favorable view of Tucker.
Compare that to Fox News: 24% have a "very favorable" view of the network, 28% are "somewhat favorable," for a total of 52% favorable.
The survey was conducted by Rasmussen on April 25-27. Carlson's last show on Fox was Friday, April 21, and news of his ouster broke on Monday, April 24. The poll reports a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.
Rasmussen tweeted Friday: "Is this what blowback looks like? @FoxNews [vs.] @TuckerCarlson:
In a tweeted video, Mark Mitchell, Rasmussen's head pollster, said the most important finding in the poll is that older "likely voters" – a key Fox demographic – have a much higher view of Carlson than they do of Fox News.
The survey found that Tucker is viewed more favorably than Fox News among viewers 65 years old and older, and has a big lead among voters aged 40-64 as well (almost double-digits in total favorable).
"If you want to know what I think is the worst signal for Fox anywhere in the [survey's] crosstabs, it's probably this," Mitchell said, speculating that one of the reasons for this is that "older voters might be more likely to be angry about the Tucker fallout."
Tucker's "very favorable" poll rating among older voters of 44% is 17 percentage points higher than Fox's.
In another surprise, the poll revealed that Fox News is rated almost as favorably by Democrats as by Republicans. In the tweet below, "MMFA" is the Twitter handle for Media Matter For America, the leftist media watchdog group that has long targeted Fox News for alleged trafficking in "misinformation."
The poll finds that 49% of Democrats have a "favorable" view of Fox: 28% very favorable and 21% somewhat favorable. That led Rasmussen to tweet: "Another myth bites the dust," with the myth being ostensible that Fox is merely a right-wing echo chamber hated and distrusted by anyone who is not a Republican.
The poll undermined other key left-wing narratives against Fox News, which has long been the bogeyman of Democrats and their base of "progressive" voters.
Here are some other key finds of the Rasmussen poll:
Mitchell said Carlson's favorability ratings among Republicans (total 71% favorable vs. 21% non-favorable) are "getting close to Trump's favorability among Republicans."
He cautioned that favorability ratings "don't necessarily equate to hours watched."
