Tucker Carlson Pokes Fun at Himself for Being 'Unemployed' During First Public Event Since Fox News Exit

Tucker Carlson has made his first official public appearance since being axed from Fox News.

The outing came at the Oxford Performing Arts Center on Thursday, May 4, as before his scandal, he was asked to speak at a fundraising event for Rainbow Omega, a faith-based nonprofit that helps adults with disabilities.

Despite his current situation, the TV star, 53, opened up his speech in Oxford, Ala., by poking fun at himself.

"I’m probably the first unemployed person you ever invited to speak," he quipped to the audience, which was reportedly a full house, selling out all 1,200 seats at the venue. "It’s funny. I rarely give speeches because I’m working and when I accepted this speech six months ago I didn’t realize how much free time I would have. One never knows, does one."

Carlson refrained from further commenting on his boot from Fox, instead taking a jab at the state of U.S. politics.

"American politics is supposed to be designed to improve people's lives, but what is the point of it actually? I've been doing this for 32 years and I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about what the point of American politics is," he confessed. "We spend billions of dollars to get the attention of 350 million people so somebody can have power? That's not a worthy goal."

"The point of the entire exercise is to help people and primarily to help them help themselves," Carlson said. "If you treated your children like the federal government treats our population, they would all be in rehab."

As OK! reported, the network announced on Monday, April 24, that "FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor."

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Carlson was known for spreading conspiracy theories, and behind-the-scenes, he allegedly landed himself in hot water by creating a toxic work environment and spewing inappropriate remarks.

Since his exit, text messages and audio clips have leaked that paint him in an even worse light, as many of his words were racially charged.

The Anniston Star, Ala. reported on Carlson's speech.