Who does Tucker Carlson think will be the GOP nominee in 2012?  Here’s a hint: he isn’t on Fox News’s payroll.

In part III of our MediaBeat interview Carlson gives his take on the GOP field as well as on where Americans get their news during election season. “I personally think most nightly news programs are terrible. There’s so little news in it.”

• Part I – Monday: “I never cheer when anybody gets fired, having been fired, publicly, at least once.”
• Part II – Tuesday: Live TV is like crack

You can also watch this video and all Media Beat interviews on our YouTube channel.

Chris Matthews does not hold back in his criticisms of most politicians — especially Republicans — but his recent screed about girth of Governor of New Jersey is not sitting well with his cable brethren across the street.

Matthews continued the Chris Christie fat jokes last week, both on his show and during a “The Q&A Cafe with Carol Joynt,” which was covered by FishbowlDC’s Betsy Rothstein.

Fox News’ Neil Cavuto stood up for Christie on his show Monday, saying Matthews’ comments are racist:

Judging our leaders not by the qualities that matter, but the nonsense like this that does not — where greatness is defined not by who you are but how you look. You know what that is? That is racism – with a scale.”

This afternoon, Megyn Kelly talked about it with Fox News analyst and former overweight Governor Mike Huckabee who added:

I’d rather be in Governor Christie’s shoes — an effective governor doing a good job, proving that solid, conservative governing principles really do work even in a state like New Jersey than I can a person whose talk show probably gets about as many viewers as Governor Christie will shake hands with on any given day in New Jersey.

For his part, for now, Matthews isn’t talking. Through an MSNBC spokesperson TVNewser got a “no comment.”

In September, Matthews’ colleague Ed Schultz was reprimanded by his bosses for calling Christie a “cold-hearted fat slob.”

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On his show last Friday, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz went off on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and now TVNewser hears Schultz has been reprimanded by MSNBC president Phil Griffin. Here’s what Schultz said:

“Here’s the bottom line. What we’re seeing out of this governor of New Jersey is just go to the money, cut whoever you have to cut. There is no ramification for any of this because he’s a cold-hearted fat slob anyway…”

Just last month, Schultz got a talking to from Griffin and from NBC News president Steve Capus for yelling in the newsroom, “I’m going to torch this [bleep]ing place.” Schultz was upset about not being included in promotional spots for upcoming primary election coverage.

During “Studio B” Tuesday afternoon, Fox News correspondent Shannon Bream had a live interview with New Jersey GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie. Anchor Shepard Smith thought the Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine should be interviewed too, and apologized when he wasn’t:

Smith’s 7pmET show, “FOX Report,” brought more balance by running a soundbite from Corzine which was given to New York Fox affiliate WNYW yesterday. Bream’s live report for “FOX Report” also included details of third party candidate Chris Daggett.