Drudge: ‘Tons of stress on cable news’ driving medical leave for top hosts

Drudge Report founder Matt Drudge weighed in on cable news “stress” in a Friday morning tweet, citing recent medical leaves of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Fox News’s Tucker Carlson while stating that “another host appears heavily drugged.”

“Tons of stress on cablenews as competition heats,” Drudge wrote to his more than 500,000 followers on his personal account. “Maddow and Tucker have recently been out on medicals. Another host appears heavily drugged.”

Tons of stress on cablenews as competition heats. Maddow and Tucker have recently been out on medicals. Another host appears heavily drugged

— MATT DRUDGE (@DRUDGE) June 16, 2017

Drudge’s tweet referred to Carlson missing his Thursday program due to appendicitis and Maddow missing nearly two weeks of hosting her prime-time program due to an undisclosed illness.

{mosads}”Tucker is now being treated for appendicitis,” a Fox News spokesperson told Mediaite on Thursday night. “He is in good spirits and expects to be back on the air soon.”

It is not known who the other host that Drudge is referring to being as “heavily drugged” is.

The daily drama of the President Trump era continues to be ratings gold for all three of the major cable news networks, with combined viewing of Fox News, MSNBC and CNN up 33 percent through the first week of June compared with the same time in 2016, according to data from Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser.

Maddow and Carlson often finish as the most-watched programs in the 25- to 54-year-old demographic and total viewers, respectively.