Greg Gutfeld Levels Stephen Colbert For Mocking Fox News After Christmas Tree Arson

Amanda PrestigiacomoDecember 9, 2021

Fox News host Greg Gutfeld on Wednesday night hit back at “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert for mocking Fox News after a suspect allegedly set fire to a Christmas tree outside the New York City headquarters of Fox News and News Corp.

“Flaming Christmas Tree just got its own show on FoxNews!” Colbert jeered.

Flaming Christmas Tree just got its own show on FoxNews!

— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) December 9, 2021

Gutfeld replied, “and it’s already beating you in the ratings.”

and its already beating you in the ratings. https://t.co/jF9q0gMouB

— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) December 9, 2021

Ouch.

The post has already been liked 45,000 times. Colbert’s post, published about an hour earlier, has received at fraction of the likes, at about 13,000.

Notably, “Gutfeld!” — a rebrand of the “The Greg Gutfeld Show” — is yet to be a year old, and still building. The success of the show has shocked elites in the media, begrudgingly earning Gutfeld “the king of late night” title. Fox’s “Gutfeld!” routinely beats out late night shows hosted by left-leaning Jimmy Kimmel on ABC and Jimmy Fallon on NBC and stomped Colbert’s ratings for the first time in August.

Fox News, Gutfeld’s network, has been handily outpacing their competitors in ratings. Last week, Forbes outlined Fox New’s ratings bloodbath for November:

The Fox News Channel prevailed in the November cable news ratings, easily beating back the competition from CNN and MSNBC. According to ratings data compiled by Nielsen, Fox News delivered an average prime time audience of 2.578 million viewers in November, followed by MSNBC (1.091 million total viewers) and CNN (654,000 viewers).

In the key demo of adults 25-54—the demographic most valued by advertisers—Fox finished first with an average audience of 420,000 viewers. CNN was second (148,000 viewers) and MSNBC (140,000 viewers).

Fox News reported on the arson attack and the suspect on Thursday:

The fire, which happened early Wednesday morning, sent dangerous flames and thick smoke into the air outside the building at Sixth Avenue and West 48th Street, just hours before workers, holiday shoppers and tourists would be flooding sidewalks and pedestrian plazas in the area.

No injuries were reported in connection with the incident.

Investigators said the 50-foot artificial tree was set ablaze using a burning piece of cardboard, the New York Post reported. The fire’s damage was estimated to cost about $500,000.

The suspect, 49-year-old suspect Craig Tamanaha, was reportedly arrested Wednesday and then freed on no bail. He maintains his innocence. Fox reported:

Tamanaha, a vagrant with a long criminal record, would have to be accused of a more serious charge of third-degree felony arson in order to be forced to pay bail for his release, criminal defense lawyer Mark Bederow told [the New York Post]. He said the more serious arson offense occurs only when there is perceived intent to harm a person or an allegation of a hate crime.

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