Carlson Will Stay on As Senior Campaign Correspondent
By Jon Ponder on 3/13/2008, 6:20am PT  

Among the most annoying affectations of Tucker Carlson, the conservative host of MSNBC's afternoon gabfest, "Tucker," is his habit of feigning confusion by crinkling his nose, scrunching his brow and saying "I'm confused," before launching into a discourse about something a Democrat has done --- about which he is not really the least bit confused.

I wonder if he crinkled his nose like that and said, "I'm confused," when MNBC told him his show was canceled:

"It was a good show. I'm proud of it," Tucker Carlson tells TVNewser about his now-canceled MSNBC daily program, which began in 2005.

Carlson says the show — with his conservative perspective — is not a fit for the MSNBC prime time 'brand'. "Which of (the programs) is not like the other? That was always the feeling I got, watching the lineup...

"You can only really be who you are. I couldn't pretend to be something else, not that anyone asked me to be somebody else. I was kind of out there, by myself."

Since word of the cancellation, he says, "They've been really nice to me...I like working for NBC. They want me to stay, and I'm going to stay, so I can't complain."

And:

"Sometimes when you fail," he adds, "you feel embarrassed. I really don't feel like we failed."

Carlson, who is a descendant of the founder of the Swansons frozen food empire and whose great-uncle was J. William Fulbright, will remain with MSNBC as senior campaign correspondent.

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