In a newly revealed text message, ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson made a racist comment and said he found himself briefly rooting for a mob of Trump supporters to kill a person.
The text was first reported by the New York Times.
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.
Carlson texted the producer,
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 shit 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.”
The text message alarmed Fox’s board of directors and played a role in Carlson’s abrupt firing last month.
Fox News declined to comment on the text and has not publicly commented on Carlson’s departure other than to say,
We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.”
Tucker Carlson did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Breaking News: A text message sent by Tucker Carlson that set off a panic at Fox showed him sharing his private, inflammatory views about violence and race. https://t.co/f58yTmsp2Y
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 3, 2023
(via CNN)
