Running Man: Joe Biden announced with a video release that he’s running for a second term as President, asking voters to let him “finish this job.” 

  This tees up what could be a re-match against Donald Trump. “When I ran for president four years ago, I said we are in a battle for the soul of America. And we still are,” Biden says. “That’s why I’m running for re-election.”

  A lot of people are concerned about his age. He would be 86 at the end of the second term.  Trump would be 83. 

Fox Fire: In earth shaking news for Fox News and the Republican right wing, Fox yesterday abruptly fired its most popular prime time host Tucker Carlson, announcing that his final show was last Friday.

  To borrow from SpaceX about their rocket explosion, this was a “rapid unscheduled disassembly.”

  There was no word from Carlson himself and it’s significant that he was not given the chance to sign off. Several outlets reported that Carlson was told only 10 minutes before the announcement. 

  The immediate suspicion is that Carlson was fired for airing false claims about the 2020 election, costing his company a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. And there’s the lawsuit brought by former Fox producer Abby Grossberg, who charges that there was a misogynistic and hostile atmosphere working around Carlson in which the “C word” was part of the lexicon.

  But the Wall Street Journal, which is part of the Fox empire, reports that Carlson’s dismissal was also about his disregard for corporate executives and the Murdoch family, which owns and runs the company.  That’s more credible for a company that doesn’t care what it broadcasts so long as they make money. Say what you will, just don’t say anything about the boss. 

  Not to say that they didn’t have plenty of reasons to fire Carlson for what he has said on air. He’s racist, anti-gay, and generally a purveyor of right wing hatred and misinformation.  He once said immigration made America “poor and dirtier.”

  A year ago The NY Times said of Carlson, “At a moment when white backlash is the jet fuel of a Republican Party striving to return to power in Washington, he has become the pre-eminent champion of Americans who feel most threatened by the rising power of Black and brown citizens.”

  Some reports also say Rupert Murdoch took a hand in the firing because Carlson has said the January 6^th insurrection was spawned by the government.

  The announcement was delivered in a brief statement by morning host Harris Faulkner saying “Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have mutually agreed to part ways,” and then thanking him for his service. In Fox tradition, they buried news of the Carlson firing on their website and said little more on the air throughout the day.  

  Carlson has been a kingmaker and breaker in Republican politics. His value to the network has been estimated at $600 million a year and his salary, $20 million. He was the first to land an interview with Donald Trump after the former president’s arrest and indictment in New York. After Carlson demanded a pardon for a right winger convicted of murder in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott jumped right on it. And House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave the January 6^th Capitol security videos exclusively to Carlson.

  Fox said Carlson’s 8pm weeknight slot will be hosted by a rotating cast until a permanent replacement is announced.

More Broadcast News: Only minutes after the Carlson announcement, CNN morning anchor Don Lemon revealed via Twitter that he’s also been fired. He said he was told by his agent.

  “I am stunned,” he wrote. “I would have thought that someone in management would have had the decency to tell me directly.” He said, “It is clear that there are some larger issues at play.”

  It seems that Lemon never recovered from comments he made on air about when a woman is in her “prime,” particularly in reference to Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. “Nikki Haley is not in her prime, sorry, when a woman is considered to be in her prime is her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s,” Lemon said.

  Lemon was sent to sensitivity training, but he’s also had conflicts with his morning co-hosts, particularly Kaitlan Collins.

  In fairness, CNN didn’t say much more about firing lemon than Fox did about firing Carlson.

  And over at NBCUniversal, it’s been revealed that chief executive Jeff Shell resigned as the result of a sexual harassment complaint filed by international correspondent Hadley Gamble, who produced messages from Shell. The CEO resigned admitting an “inappropriate relationship.” Some news outlets report that an affair went on for years and that the 41-year-old Gamble filed her complaint after she was told earlier this year that her contract was not being renewed. 

The Spin Rack: The rape and defamation case against Donald Trump brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll starts today in federal court in Manhattan. — North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum signed a law that bans abortion after only six weeks of pregnancy, even in cases of rape and incest, a time at which most women don’t even know they are pregnant. — Atlanta prosecutor Fani Willis says any indictments from her investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election will come between July 11th and September 1st. Donald Trump is a primary target. — Sales of Bud Light beer have dropped 17 percent since the company did a promotion gig with transgender blogger Dylan Mulvaney. — Green Bay’s 39-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who’s thrown the ball in the frozen north since 2005, has been traded to the New York Jets. 

Below the Fold:  The New York Post, which is part of the Fox media empire that fired Tucker Carlson, reports that actress “Brie Larson’s viral bra from ‘The Marvels’ is 25% off today.” As they say, they’re dedicated to reporting the news.