BRIAN STELTER (HOST): I mentioned you're a former Fox News contributor. There was curiosity about why you left Fox. You had suggested that you weren't being booked as much anymore because you weren't towing the pro-Trump line. Is that what really happened?
ERICK ERICKSON: I think to some degree. It was getting increasingly more uncomfortable to be there. Look, I've got tremendous respect for the people at Fox. I was there for five years after being at CNN for three. They're good people, but it just was very obvious that if you were not a Trump conservative, just a conservative, it was harder and harder to get air time. And I honestly -- I've been on TV more in the last two months than in the last year at Fox.
STELTER: What does that tell us about Fox though? That they were putting conservative writers who weren't necessarily always pro-Trump out to pasture.
ERICKSON: Listen, I think this is a trend. It's not just me. There have been others as well. And it did get to a point with certain shows where I knew if a family conflict came up in the middle of the day and I wanted to get out of it, I could write something critical or tweet something critical about the president and the odds were that I was going to get canceled anyway. It wasn't all shows and that part was mostly on the business network. But I definitely think they understand the president has their eyes and ears, and they're using their influence on him.
STELTER: I feel like because that's the case, those producers and anchors have such a responsibility to give him accurate information and be balanced and have voices like yours on the air.
ERICKSON: Well, you would think. But this is President Trump. He's quite fickle, and you don't want to risk him going somewhere else.
STELTER: That's a sad statement.
