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Tucker Carlson on his show Tuesday celebrated the ousting of hawkish national security adviser John Bolton.
- Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday celebrated the firing of White House national security adviser John Bolton.
- Carlson said Tuesday that Bolton's ouster was great news "for the large number of young people who would have been killed in pointless wars if Bolton had stayed on the job."
- Bolton was fired by US President Donald Trump Tuesday, saying he "disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions."
- Carlson had played a key role in persuading President Trump to fire John Bolton, Politico reported.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson celebrated the firing of hawkish White House national security adviser John Bolton on his show Tuesday night, having reportedly urged the president to remove him.
Carlson hailed the firing as "great news for America."
"Especially for the large number of young people who would have been killed in pointless wars if Bolton had stayed on the job," he said.
"They may not be celebrating tonight, but they should be."
Carlson has long acted as an informal adviser to President Trump and Politico reported Tuesday, citing administration officials, that he played a key role in persuading Trump to oust Bolton.
The Associated Press also reported that Carlson played a role in Bolton's ouster.
Read more: Bolton's 2-sentence resignation letter was shorter than Trump's tweets firing him
During his show, Carlson went on to attack the hawkish former adviser, who served in the administrations of Republican presidents Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush and George W Bush, calling him "a man of the left."
"If you're wondering why so many progressives are mourning Bolton's firing tonight, it's because Bolton himself fundamentally was a man of the left," said Carlson.
"There was not a human problem John Bolton wasn't totally convinced could be solved with the brute force of government. That's an assumption of the left, not the right.
"Don't let the mustache fool you. John Bolton was one of the most progressive people in the Trump administration."
He went on to accuse Bolton of promoting "Obama loyalists" within the National Security Council.
The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images
National Security Advisor John Bolton attends a briefing at the White House, on August 2, 2018 in Washington, DC. The administration's top security officials briefed the media on election interference.
Read more: John Bolton's abrupt firing shows how chaotic Trump's White House is
The president on Tuesday tweeted that he had asked for Bolton's resignation, saying: "I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration."
An America First nationalist opposed to US entanglements in foreign conflicts, Carlson's view have chimed with those of the president, who campaigned on a pledge to end America's wars overseas.
Bolton in contrast is a hawk who has long advocated preemptive military action against the US' foes including Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.
On Tuesday's show, Carlson played clips of himself clashing with Bolton over issues including the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Bolton had reportedly urged Trump to take military action against Iran and Carlson reportedly played a key role in persuading the president against a planned missile strike against the Iranian regime in June.