Tucker Carlson texted a producer a racist message that said, 'It's not how white men fight.
In a newly disclosed text conversation, former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson made a racist remark and admitted to temporarily hoping for a mob of Trump supporters to murder someone.
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"A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington," Carlson told a producer. "A group of Trump supporters surrounded an Antifa member and began pounding the living s**t out of him." At the very least, it was three to one. Jumping a guy like that is definitely dishonourable. This is not the way white males fight. But all of a sudden, I found myself pulling for the crowd against the man, hoping they'd hit him harder and kill him. I desperately wanted them to hurt the child. "I could almost taste it."
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Carlson sent the text message to one of his producers in the hours after the violent January 6, 2021, insurrection on Capitol Hill. The message was redacted in court filings and was just one of several private conversations collected in the lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN. The text was first reported by the NYT
The text message alarmed Fox’s board of directors and played a role in Carlson’s abrupt firing last month, the Times reported.
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Fox News declined to comment on the claim to CNN. CNN's request for comment was not met with a response from Tucker Carlson.
The network revealed last week that it had broken ties with Carlson. According to a person familiar with the situation, Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott made the decision to break ways with Carlson.
The announcement comes only one week after Fox News reached a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion for the network's dissemination of electoral lies. Carlson and other Fox News primetime stars were named in the complaint for denigrating their network colleagues. Carlson's now-fired top booker, Abby Grossberg, filed a complaint in March that contained several charges of misogyny on his show.
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However, the text is still redacted. Carlson added at the end of his text that he does not support violence.
"Then an alarm went off somewhere deep in my brain: this isn't good for me." "I'm turning into someone I don't want to be," Carlson concluded. "The Antifa troll is a person." I shouldn't gloat over his pain, no matter how much I dislike what he says and does, and no matter how much I'm sure I'd hate him personally if I knew him.
It should irritate me. I should remember that someone loves this boy and would be devastated if he were dead. How am I better than he if I don't care about such things, if I limit people to their politics?"
According to Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, Carlson's racist statement was not surprising given his regular anti-immigrant remarks on his show.
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"What isn't news is that Tucker Carlson is a white nationalist," Greenblatt wrote on Twitter. "What is surprising is that this comes as a surprise to anyone."
Fox has not reacted officially on Carlson's leaving other than to say, "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and, prior to that, as a contributor."