While guest hosting for Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News Channel on Tuesday night, analyst Tucker Carlson said Michael Vick “should have been executed” for his dogfighting crimes and could face a swift promotion as a result.

“We actually don’t wish to distance ourselves from Tucker Carlson’s bigoted and eccentric comments at this time,” said a Fox spokesperson. “However, we think it is very unfortunate that Mr. Carlson did not refer to Vick with a racial slur while calling for his death. This young man still has some growing to do.”

Fox News is expected to name Carlson the president of Fox’s new television network Fox News Carlton, a 24-hour network that claims to be Christian-based but mostly just passes judgment on people all day.