“That’s not how white men fight.”
A text sent by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson to a producer hours after the Capitol attack fed into a chain of events that led to his firing, The New York Times reports.
In the message, which was reportedly seen by the Fox board the day before the company was due to offer its defense in Dominion’s defamation trial, Tucker described watching a video of three men “pounding” an Antifa kid on the street.
Tucker noted that the fight was at least three to one, and described strange conflicting emotions about what he saw.
In the most disquieting portion of the message, Carlson asserted coldly that “jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight.”
He then wrote that he “suddenly” found himself “rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him… I could taste it.”
At the end of the note, Carlson said that he regretted these feelings, saying he was turning into something he didn’t like, and he didn’t want to “gloat over” the suffering of the “Antifa creep.”
The message offered a more ominous insight into Carlson’s racial views even than the deeply sinister remarks he often made on his prime-time show.
Carlson’s messages panicked Fox leaders, NYT reports
According to the NYT, the message’s alarming content ignited panic among Fox’s most senior leadership. The text was included in the redacted court filings in Dominion’s suit, and Fox leadership feared that it could become public if Carlson testified.
The NYT reports that Fox executives enlisted an independent law firm to look into Carlson’s behavior, ultimately leading to his dismissal. Carlson had already racked up a disturbing array of marks against his name with other messages that came to light in the court filings.
One showed that Carlson tried to get White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, who’d fact-checked a Trump tweet claiming election fraud, fired.
“Please get her fired,” Carlson messaged Sean Hannity. “Seriously … what the f**k? I’m actually shocked … It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company.”
The court filings also showed that Calson called Donald Trump a “demonic force” and a “destroyer,” in addition to repeatedly making it clear that he didn’t believe Trump’s election lie.
In addition to all of this, video leaked by Media Matters for America on Tuesday featured Carlson describing a woman — an unnamed man’s girlfiend — as “yummy”, and calling his fan “post-menopausal” — comments previously reported by The New York times. The video also shows him engaging in grim pre-interview small talk with British journalist Piers Morgan.
Carlson says: “I think it’s totally cool … if we’re going to talk about sex, I’d love to hit some of the fine points of technique, but, you know, but it’s your show. It’s totally up to you.”
Fox has an “oppo-file” on Carlson, just in case
Neither Carlson nor his former employer has yet commented on his dismissal, which appeared to come about very suddenly. As late as the morning his firing was announced, Carlson’s interview with GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy was being promoted on the channel.
Rolling Stone reported last week that Fox News executives have kept a dossier or “oppo-file” about Carlson that they plan to deploy if he attacks the network publicly.
