New text message records have revealed how Fox News’ Tucker Carlson’s really felt about former President Donald Trump as his supporters wreaked havoc on January 6, 2022.
According to Mediaite, the conservative primetime host even described Trump as “a demonic force” after his mob of angry supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building in hopes of overturning the election he lost.
Details about Carlson’s remarks were revealed in a recent legal filing by Dominion Voting Systems, the technology company seeking $1.6 billion in damages as part of a defamation lawsuit against Fox News.
The documents also shed light on Carlson’s reaction to the Fox News network calling an election victory in Arizona for President Joe Biden. Per the news outlet, “the Arizona call seemed to cause consternation among the network’s biggest stars.”
“Fox Hosts Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity immediately understood the threat to them personally,” the court document reads. “Carlson wrote his producer Alex Pfeiffer on November 5: ‘We worked really hard to build what we have. Those f–kers are destroying our credibility. It enrages me.”
It continues, “He added that he had spoken with Laura and [S]ean a minute ago and they are highly upset,’ Carlson noted: ‘At this point, we’re getting hurt no matter what.’ Pfeiffer responded: It’s a hard needle to thread, but I really think many on our side are being reckless demagogues right now. Tucker replied: Of course they are. We’re not going to follow them.’ And he added: What [Trump]’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong.”
Fast forwarding to the day of the Capitol riots, the filing also highlighted a text conversation between Carlson and one of his executive producers were he lambasted Trump:
After January 6, trying to thread the needle between the truth and pressure from his viewers and sponsors became even more difficult. Late on January 6, Carlson texted with Pfeiffer that Trump is ‘a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us.’ On January 26, Carlson invited his leading sponsor Mike Lindell on his show, where Lindell spouted these same conspiracies on air after previewing them for Carlson’s staff during a pre-interview.
However, Carlson went on to downplay what transpired when he spoke to his audience on his show. The latest revelations come as Fox News continues to push back the Dominion lawsuit arguing that it is worthless.
“There will be a lot of noise and confusion generated by Dominion and their opportunistic private equity owners,” Fox News said in a statement. “But the core of this case remains about freedom of the press and freedom of speech, which are fundamental rights afforded by the Constitution and protected by New York Times v. Sullivan.”