Fox News is still holding tryouts for the 8 p.m. time slot left vacant when it fired Tucker Carlson last month. And the latest conservative media star to get a shot at what used to be the network’s most valuable primetime real estate is former Trump press secretary, and current Fox News host, Kayleigh McEnany.
McEnany will anchor the 8-9 p.m. hour for at least a week, starting Monday, May 8. It could go longer, as she’s slated to host the time slot for at least a week, TheWrap has confirmed.
Shortly after the news became public, McEnany tweeted, “I am honored to share that I will be hosting Fox News Tonight on @FoxNews at 8pm ET all next week (5/8-5/12)! Set your DVR. Please join me next week as we dig into the state of politics, media, culture, and faith in America!”
McEnany is the third Fox News personality to fill in as a temporary replacement for Carlson, who was fired on April 24. First it was Brian Kilmeade, who stepped in the day Carlson got the axe. He lasted until April 28, a week largely defined by a 50% drop in viewership in the time slot.
This week, Fox contributor Lawrence Jones took over, and while ratings haven’t yet come out, presumably it was more of the same.
There may be some continuity between McEnany and Carlson, however. He was fired for numerous reasons but they all tie back to the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit. Dominion sued Fox for repeatedly broadcasting lies that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, particularly from some of its top rated hosts.
Since joining Fox News as a full time co-host of “Outnumbered” in March 2021, McEnany hasn’t personally repeated those false claims, but in 2020, when she was still working for Donald Trump, she did so repeatedly.
Whoever ends up as the permanent host of Fox News’ 8 p.m. time slot will have big shoes to fill. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” not only routinely saw ratings of more than 3 million viewers, it also had the dubious distinction, as the New York Times’ put it, of being “the most racist show in the history of cable news.”