CNN host Brian Stelter faced a wave of ridicule after dubbing his Fox counterpart, Tucker Carlson, "the new Donald Trump", asserting that the conservative commentator had assumed Trump's role in politics.
"Tucker Carlson is the new Donald Trump. Tucker has taken Trump's place as a right-wing leader, an outrage generator, a fire-starter...", Stelter tweeted on Sunday, prompting an immediate reaction from netizens.
Twitterati quickly suggested that CNN had "found the new boogeyman" as, after Trump dropped out of the everyday political agenda, mainstream media needed "a new villain".
Some suggested that Stetler was "jealous" of Carlson's ratings.
Others took the comparison drawn by Stelter more seriously, pondering whether CNN was implying that Carlson could run for president.
Carlson has appeared to draw the focus of the agenda recently, gaining attention due to remarks about Meghan Markle's comments during an the Oprah Winfrey interview, while also drawing condemnation from the Pentagon and the US military after mocking jumpsuit uniforms for pregnant women in the US army.
“China’s military becomes more masculine… our military, as Joe Biden says, needs to become more feminine", Carlson offered in his talk show, causing mixed reactions.