Alex Thomas
On September 9, former Fox News host Eric Bolling lost his only son to a drug overdose only a few days after he was dismissed from the network where he was a familiar face for a decade. On Wednesday, Bolling tweeted out that he is now fighting against the opioid crisis.
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Bolling tweeted that he is a “warrior in the fight to save our kids from this killer.” The conservative star’s son, Eric Chase Bolling Jr. was 19 years old when he passed away in September and was a student at the University of Colorado. An autopsy report showed that Chase had a lethal cocktail of drugs in his system, including fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana and Xanax–fentanyl is a deadly drug sometimes found in heroin.
Eric Chase passed 100 days ago. Last night, a friend contacted me- his son died of an opioid overdose also. This is a national epidemic. I am a warrior in the fight to save our kids from this killer.
— 🇺🇸ERIC BOLLING🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) December 13, 2017
And the battle against opioids seems to be one that bridges party lines, as MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough tweeted his thoughts and prayers to Bolling and his wife Adrienne. The former Fox host thanked Scarborough for his “support through this very difficult time.”
Joe, Adrienne and I appreciate the support you’ve shown us throughout this very difficult time. Thank you. https://t.co/LW4CA4DxKh
— 🇺🇸ERIC BOLLING🇺🇸 (@ericbolling) December 13, 2017
In the past few months, Bolling’s Twitter feed has included almost as many messages about the opioid crisis as about his conservative values. He’s been swamped by fans and viewers who are fighting the same battle with their family and friends and Bolling often tweets back his support and encouragement.
Bolling was suspended from Fox in August amidst reports that he was sending off sexually inappropriate text messages to colleagues at Fox News and Fox Business. A story from HuffPost cited over a dozen sources inside the Fox network who claimed to have knowledge of the host’s behavior. After suspending him, the company investigated his behavior and he was later let go. Bolling insists that the charges against him are fraudulent and filed a lawsuit demanding $50 million in defamation charges.
Bolling’s downfall came only months after Fox was forced to part ways with their star, Bill O’Reilly, after O’Reilly’s alleged sexual scandals caused advertisers to flee the network.
