A new report in The New York Times claims some private musings from Tucker Carlson about the societal drift into violence and the divide shaping modern America were the key to his being fired by Fox News last month.
The Times report said that a text from Carlson on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after the Capitol incursion, “set off a panic at the highest levels of Fox” as it was facing a trial against Dominion Voting Systems.
The report said the text was unknown to Fox’s board of directors and even some senior executives until April 16, basing this claim on “two people with knowledge of Fox’s internal deliberations.”
It said the board planned to have outside legal counsel investigate Carlson and what the report called his “messages,” referring to other internal messages that were revealed as part of the discovery portion of Dominion’s defamation lawsuit.
Carlson’s message goes like this, according to the Times:
“A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living s*** out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight.
“Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it.”
At that point, Carlson said, his thought process kicked in, according to the Times.
“Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him,” the text continued.
“I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?” Carlson wrote, according to the report.
The Times said the text was redacted in court filings but its full contents “were disclosed in interviews with several people close to the defamation lawsuit against Fox.”
“The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a message that is protected by a court order,” the report said. “In public filings, it remains hidden behind a block of black text.”
Fox settled the Dominion lawsuit on April 18. Carlson was fired on April 24. Fox has not divulged the reasons for his dismissal.
If there had been sentiment percolating through Fox to oust him during that period, Carlson appeared publicly unaware of it. On April 21, he signed off as normal, and he was reported prepping for his show on the morning he was fired.
The Times’ report drew a heated response on Twitter.
Fox News leaking to the left-wing New York Times to smear Tucker Carlson isn't just an attack on Tucker, it's an attack on all of his fans and conservatives everywhere!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 3, 2023
This is a beautiful, honest, self-critical & deeply compassionate anecdote from a man we would all be blessed to consider a friend or family member. The libs know that. They’re triggered because Tucker is humble & his moral integrity makes them feel deeply inadequate & ashamed. pic.twitter.com/QCHB2xS23P
— Aimee Terese (@aimeeterese) May 3, 2023
Wow. I literally cannot believe that Tucker Carlson…
*squints*
… saw the humanity in an Antifa guy getting beat up. pic.twitter.com/Lj3DS86ggw
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 3, 2023
The only thing shocking about this text message is that it's way more thoughtful and interesting than the average text message https://t.co/D6No6LT9iI
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) May 3, 2023
The Times said the message “played a role in the company’s decision to settle with Dominion for $787.5 million, the highest known payout in a defamation case.” It did not elaborate.
Neither Fox nor Carlson responded to the Times’ requests to discuss its report.
FRANKLY I DONT GET IT…this cant be what fox fired tucker for…..THIS WAS SUPPOSE TO BE ABOUT THE VOTING MACHINE COMPANY DEFAMATION THING…where tucker spoke up saying he thought that the machines were switching the votes…..how did it become this thought thing or this text where tucker thinks deep inside himself discovering how he really felt about becoming like those on the left…wanting to destroy this guy….im sure tucker felt this way because of all the bashing he has seen the right take. but like himself there is no way i would want a group of guys beating on one guy….even to the point of him fearing his life…it would make us no better than the left….so ….with this said…was that voting machine company did what get ahold of the text and was going to use it against tucker if fox didnt fire him…making fox news look bad because their commentators arent allowed to think these things through…tucker came to the right decision but that isnt taken into consideration…..we arent allowed to figure things out in this left leaning communist media owning world…FREE SPEECH….if anyone thought something was illegal during that election i would hope they would speak out…esp if it was the machines….and i still dont know that that part of it didnt happen…tucker had nothing to do with my thoughts and neither did pres trump…i can …think for myself….
LOL, FK ANTIFA all they do it run in groups because they are so weak. They destroy and hurt REAL people. However, they always get their asses kicked unless it’s a mob. They need an education, he got one.
The morons at Fox apparently missed the point COMPLETELY of Tucker’s text.
First, he was being truthful and speaking from his heart -unlike almost everyone in the media.
And secondly, he was able to STOP himself from continuing those evil thoughts -again, unlike many people.
DO NOT BELIEVE IT AT ALL. SORRY. THAT IS NOT TUCKER. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT THEY DO TO WHITE PEOPLE AND DEMOCRATS THINK IT IS ALRIGHT, WE AMERICAN PEOPLE JUST DONT ACT LIKE THAT.
I WILL NOT TURN MY BACK ON CARLSON. SORRY. CAUSE I KNOW HOW FOX NEWS WORKS THEY LIE AND DO ANYTHING POSSIBLE TO COVER THEIR TRACKS EVEN LIE AND MAKE UP STUFF
It’s not about Dominion, its not about this text, it’s not about the potential sale of Fox. It’s about the fact that several months ago in January 2023, Tucker exposed the CIA’s role in the assassination of JFK. Tucker has been a marked man ever since. In the exact same way, Nixon challenged the Deep State (told CIA Director Helms he knew who shot JFK – the CIA). The Deep State railroaded Nixon. That’s right, 4 out of the 5 “plumbers” from the Watergate break-in were CIA operatives. And “Deep Throat” informant was FBI Deputy Director Mark Felt. Nixon’s replacement was Gerald Ford, a member of the Warren Commission (which exonerated the CIA in JFK’s murder). Two years after Nixon won the biggest landslide victory in the history of American politics, he was gone. Resigned. Agnew had previously resigned (tax fraud). At the time, the Dem majority leader bragged that they forced Nixon to select Ford to replace Agnew. Bottom line: the Deep State learned from the JFK imbroglio that assassination was too messy. Nixon, the most popular president ever, was forced to resign by a scandal that was a complete setup. Enter Trump. The Deep State could not control him, so they attacked him every way they could. Tucker’s voice had to be eliminated to increase Biden’s chances of winning a second term. In the same way Valerie Jarrett canceled Rosanne Barr, I would not be surprised to hear that Murdoch was under intense pressure from the WH to cancel Tucker. DRAIN THE SWAMP!!! Career politicians are destroying America.