In a day of heartbreaks, beloved Fox News political analyst and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Charles Krauthammer revealed Friday that he has just weeks to live.
Krauthammer, 68, has been off air for close to a year and we now learn from a letter to co-workers, friends and Fox News Channel viewers that he has been engaged in a silent battle with cancer, having a malignant tumor removed from his abdomen last August, Fox News reported. A battle that is now over.
Fox News analyst Charles Krauthammer reveals he has weeks to live in heartbreaking letter https://t.co/dzYQOewGoj
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 8, 2018
“I have been uncharacteristically silent these past ten months,” Krauthammer said in the letter. “I had thought that silence would soon be coming to an end, but I’m afraid I must tell you now that fate has decided on a different course for me.”
He was optimistic that he would prevail.
“However, recent tests have revealed that the cancer has returned,” Krauthammer wrote. “There was no sign of it as recently as a month ago, which means it is aggressive and spreading rapidly. My doctors tell me their best estimate is that I have only a few weeks left to live. This is the final verdict. My fight is over.”
Renowned for his brilliance and widely respected in political circles, Krauthammer graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1975. He suffered a diving accident in his first year that left him a quadriplegic.
“I leave this life with no regrets,” he said in closing. “It was a wonderful life – full and complete with the great loves and great endeavors that make it worth living. I am sad to leave, but I leave with the knowledge that I lived the life that I intended.”
The heartbreaking news comes on the same day it was reported that award-winning chef Anthony Bourdain, 61, died from an apparent suicide.
FOX News Sunday Anchor Chris Wallace joined Outnumbered and delivered a stirring tribute to his dear friend and colleague.
‘There are two lines in it when he talks about, the final verdict is in, my fight is over, and finally when he says, I leave this life with no regret, it is such quintessential Charles Krauthammer,’ Wallace said about Krauthammer’s letter.
“It is so graceful, it is so honest, it is so brave. There is so much to say about Charles Krauthammer. Just the origins of his story at Harvard medical school, 22 years old, jumped into a swimming pool a strong, strapping man and broke his neck, and as only Charles could tell the story, he knew that he had broken his neck because he was studying the central nervous system, in fact the text book was on the pool deck and as he lay there at the bottom of the pool before somebody rescued him, he realized exactly what had happened.”
Wallace went on to talk of Krauthammer’s inspirational spirit and strength in the face of devastating adversity, before delivering his friend a heartfelt, “I love you.”
Executive Chairman of FOX News and 21st Century FOX Rupert Murdoch released the following statement:
“Charles has been a profound source of personal and intellectual inspiration for all of us at Fox News. His always principled stand on the most important issues of our time has been a guiding star in an often turbulent world, a world that has too many superficial thinkers vulnerable to the ebb and flow of fashion, and a world that, unfortunately, has only one Charles Krauthammer. His words, his ideas, his dignity and his integrity will resonate within our society and within me for many, many years to come.” – Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman, FOX News and Executive Chairman, 21st Century FOX
Emotional reactions continue to pour in from colleagues and fans:
Too many stories about people taking their lives. Here is a man who fought for life in the face of catastrophic tragedies. With the world's news, you can get the impression life is not worth living. Charles Krauthammer proves that wrong. Join me in prayers for him & his family.
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) June 8, 2018
I knew this was coming, but that doesn't lessen the agony of this announcement. Charles Krauthammer is one of the most brilliant, decent, humane, impressive people I have ever had the honor to know, never mind call a friend. I am heartbroken over this. https://t.co/DRC8YoFwN0
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) June 8, 2018
Charles Krauthammer is a monumental thinker who will go down in history as a key force in the revivification of philosophical and practical conservatism. This is absolutely tragic. https://t.co/bptHVyroED
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 8, 2018
Charles Krauthammer dove the wrong way into a too-shallow pool during his first year at Harvard Medical school and became a lifetime paraplegic. Some people might have used that as an excuse to hang it up in self-pity, but he just kept excelling from there.
— Jeff B., who on earth is this guy?? (@EsotericCD) June 8, 2018
Charles Krauthammer says he is losing his battle with cancer and has a few weeks to live. He is brilliant, wickedly funny, a force of nature despite his disabilities. I am heartbroken
— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) June 8, 2018
And having met and spoken to Charles on a few occasions, just a gentle, brilliant and quietly hilarious human being…
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) June 8, 2018
Life is so short anyway. Don't cut it off when you have it. Even a painful life is one worth living. And often, the pain passes and the gift is there.
Charles Krauthammer had/has a challenging life and lives anyway, right up until the end. An inspiration for us all.
— Melissa Mackenzie (@MelissaTweets) June 8, 2018
Amen, to that.
More reaction to the sorrowful news:
My eyes are welling up with tears. The great, irreplaceable Dr. Krauthammer says goodbye: pic.twitter.com/LDlLOj7Ufh
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/KirstenPowers/status/1005119278113329152
Praying for you my friend @krauthammer God’s grace is on you. Fight on friend.
— 🇺🇸ERIC BOLLING🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) June 8, 2018
In an era when anybody with a keyboard can vent their opinion, it's hard to say any pundit is irreplaceable. But that's the word I keep thinking about when I process the sad @krauthammer news. He is literally irreplaceable.
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) June 8, 2018
My deepest sympathies to Mr. Krauthammer and his family, friends, colleagues, viewers and readers. https://t.co/oeXpDS4kk1
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 8, 2018
Between Bourdain and the Krauthammer news, it’s just too dark a day, and we’re just past noon.
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) June 8, 2018
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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