Tucker Carlson breaks silence on Fox firing, targets US media and political system

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson made his first on-camera appearance Wednesday since his abrupt firing from the network this week, releasing a taped statement in which he criticized the state of political discourse on U.S. television.

In it, he says there has not been a "legitimate debate" about issues including war, civil liberties, natural resources or emerging science for a "long time."

"Both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it," he said.

Carlson, however, did not address his departure from Fox, which came less than a week after parent company Fox Corp settled a $787.5 million defamation lawsuit by Dominion.