Newly Revealed Inflammatory Text Message Sheds Light On Tucker Carlson Exit

Ted Johnson
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Tucker Carlson’s abrupt exit from Fox News last week came after the revelation of a text message in which the host shared his views on a video in which a group of Donald Trump supporters attack an individual that Carlson calls an “Antifa kid.”

“It was three against one, at least,” Carlson wrote. “Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight.”

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The New York Times reported that the text message, still redacted in the trove of documents produced in the Dominion-Fox defamation litigation, set off concern about Fox board members, who planned for an investigation by an outside law firm.

The text message quickly spread across social media and other outlets, who have for the past week been speculating as to what ultimately led the network to cut loose its top personality.

Carlson’s message was sent to one of his producers in the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. In it, according to the Times, he wrote, “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. 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, 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?”

According to the Times, the Fox board grew concerned that Carlson would be asked about the text on the stand at the Dominion-Fox trial. But just after a jury was selected, Fox agreed to settle the Dominion litigation for $787.5 million, a record sum.

The network has limited comment on Carlson’s departure to an initial statement. in which it said that they had agreed to “part ways” with the host. Carlson also has not directly addressed the circumstances of his departure, other than a video he released last week in which he said, “Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren’t many places left, but there are some, and that’s enough. As long as you can hear the words, there is hope.”

According to a source, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott decided to part ways with Carlson. Executive chairman Rupert Murdoch was aware and had input on the decision. The involvement of the Fox Corp. board adds some context as to the timing, coming less than a week after the network averted a high profile trial via the giant Dominion settlement.

Following his exit, though, there have been a stream of other revelations from his tenure. Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog group, has published a series of outtakes from Carlson’s show, including one in which he said that Fox Nation, the network’s subscription streaming service, “sucks,” and another in which he described a woman as “yummy.”

In a video Media Matters posted on Wednesday, Carlson is shown complaining about sitting eight hours for a deposition with Dominion’s lawyers. He said that Dominion’s attorney “triggered the s—” out of me, calling him a “slimy little mother——.” Carlson claimed that the attorney, in questions about where he lives, was trying to suggest that he was a tax cheat. The Times reported that Carlson was asked about the January 7 text message at the deposition.

In an interview with CNN, Abby Grossberg, a former Tucker Carlson Tonight producer who is suing the network, described a “bro fest” atmosphere among the staff on his show. She also said that Carlson, certain of his influence over the Republican party, wanted to “broker” who would be the next House speaker live on air. Kevin McCarthy, though, declined an appearance in which he would have been featured with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who opposed his speaker bid.

“Fortunately, for McCarthy’s sake, he said no,” Grossberg said. “But he did call Tucker the next day from his office with Representative Thomas Massie and had agreed to some of Tucker’s terms, according to a text that Tucker had sent me. And he said that was a win.”

Grossberg sued Fox News, Carlson and other network personalities, claiming that Fox attorneys coerced her in her deposition testimony in the Dominion case. She also claimed that she was retaliated against after she complained about unlawful harassment based on her gender and Jewish religion. The network has said that her litigation is “riddled with false allegations.”

Left unanswered is why the Carlson text triggered board action, given the past furor over his comments on the “great replacement theory” and immigrants, as well as his efforts to minimize the events of January 6. In 2021, Lachlan Murdoch rejected calls by the Anti Defamation League to oust Carlson and seemed to accept the host’s argument that he was merely making a “voting rights question.”

When McCarthy granted Carlson and his producers access to security footage from that date earlier this year, the then-Fox host produced a segment in early March that characterized the rioters as “sightseers.” The triggered widespread criticism among lawmakers on Capitol Hill, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), as well as the chief of Capitol Police, Thomas Manger.

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