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Tucker Carlson is back — sort of. 

Nearly a month after vowing a return to right-wing commentary through a show on Elon Musk's Twitter, the fired Fox News host made good on his promise Tuesday evening and posted a 10-minute monologue to the social media platform.

The commentary, which appeared next to a "Tucker on Twitter" logo at the corner of the screen, was in the same style as viewers have come to expect from Carlson, a conspiracy-peddling talk-show host who gave voice to some of the most extreme ideas in right-wing politics.

The NYT's Katie Robertson and Jeremy Peters summarized the first episode like this: "He expressed sympathy for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and mocked President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. He accused the mainstream media of lying. He wrapped up by declaring that U.F.O.s and extraterrestrial life are 'actually real.'"

"As of today, we've come to Twitter," Carlson said in the video. "We're told there are no gatekeepers here. If that turns out to be false, we'll leave."

The move by Carlson could inflame the behind-the-scenes negotiations with Fox News, given that Carlson remains under contract with the channel. Carlson has hired the powerhouse attorney Bryan Freedman to help him in such efforts, according to multiple reports.

Regardless, whether the Twitter show has the same influence and reach as Carlson's one-time Fox News time slot is far from certain. The prime time perch at Rupert Murdoch's right-wing network is uniquely powerful and unrivaled in the conservative media ecosystem. Carlson faces an uphill climb if he hopes to reclaim the power he once enjoyed through Twitter videos.

The first episode of "Tucker on Twitter" didn't help. The debut video looked like a meager shell of Carlson's former show. The production quality was bare bones, with the audio gently echoing in the background as Carlson used his spare hand to scroll through the teleprompter himself.

Supporters of Carlson, in addition to those who would like to believe Musk can use Twitter to destroy the mainstream press, asserted that Carlson's debut was a success, with more than 20 million views at the time of this publication. But what counts as a video view on Twitter is unclear. Musk himself said that "it simply counts if you saw the post on the X/Twitter app or via web browser, not how long you watched." In contrast, Nielsen, the gold standard of television ratings, provides data on the average number of concurrent viewers, not the cumulative number of views. The two sets of data are apples and oranges.

Nevertheless, Musk celebrated Carlson's embrace of his platform on Tuesday, retweeting the video to his 140 million followers: "Would be great to have shows from all parts of the political spectrum on this platform!"

———  BELOW THE FOLD  ———

Anxiety in the Air: Staffers at CNN are on edge about what might come next. Newly installed chief operating officer David Leavy arrived in New York on Tuesday for meetings with the network's executive leadership and talent as he continues to assess the situation at the company and quickly get up to speed. Semafor's Max Tani reported Tuesday that among Leavy's first moves "will be to shore up the network’s public relations operation," which I can confirm. But what moves are made outside of that, including the fate of chief executive Chris Licht, appear still up in the air, leading to a feeling of apprehension inside the global news network.

LIVid Over Merger: The National Press Club is joining the 9/11 families in voicing outrage over the shocking PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger. The organization's executive director, Bill McCarren, provided me a no-holds-barred statement in which he said they were "not surprised that Saudi Arabia released their plan to 'sportswash' their human rights record through LIV Golf was not working." McCarren added, "We have not forgotten the state-ordered gruesome murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. We must monitor carefully and Americans should be prepared to take our dollars elsewhere if there are any attempts to use this merger as a way to deny accountability for their actions against a free press."

Jubilance at The NYT: After more than 800 days without a contract, The NYT Guild on Tuesday moved to ratify a five-year agreement with the paper, ending a standoff that gave way to pronounced tension at times. The Guild said that more than 99% of its members ultimately supported the deal, describing the measures as "life-changing" for those who comprise the union. "We hope they will ripple across the industry," The Guild said. "We stand in solidarity with other units across the country as they fight for their own fair contracts!"

Fox's Fiduciary Fail: The state of Oregon has opened an investigation into whether Fox Corporation's board breached its fiduciary duties by turning a blind eye to Fox News' airing of election lies in the wake of the 2020 election. Those lies have cost the company and, thus, shareholders $787 million+ to date. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said that she, along with State Treasurer Tobias Read, believed Fox's board "breached its fiduciary duties by allowing Fox News to broadcast false claims that Dominion and Smartmatic rigged the 2020 presidential election." The state owns more than a quarter-million shares in Fox through the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. A spokesperson for Fox declined comment on Tuesday. CNN's Jordan Valinsky has more here. 

🔎 Zooming in: The action being taken Oregon isn't particularly surprising. Experts in corporate governance have long told me to expect derivative lawsuits as a result of the financial damage caused by Fox News' election lies. Expect even more moving forward.

Catching Their A.I.: The U.S. Senate "will host three bipartisan, senators-only briefings on artificial intelligence in the coming weeks — including one first-ever classified briefing on the matter," Nancy Vu reported Tuesday. Vu said that information on the dates, times, and speakers at the events was not yet known. But the sessions were announced in a "Dear Colleague" letter signed by Chuck Schumer. "As A.I. transforms the world, the Senate must keep abreast of the extraordinary potential, and risks, A.I. presents," the letter said. Vu has more here.

'The Flash' Flexes: The first reviews for "The Flash" started to roll in on Tuesday — and they're largely positive. The DC film is currently rocking a 72% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics consensus reading, "While it plays too much like a sizzle reel of DC's greatest hits to fully stand on its own two feet, 'The Flash' has enough heart and zip to maintain a confident stride." I checked in with CNN film critic Brian Lowry. Lowry, whose full review will publish later, told me, "For anyone weaned on the comics, run, don’t walk, to see it (and no, that’s not a term of my WBD employment)." The Wrap's Umberto Gonzalez has a round up here.

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email here. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.