Tucker Carlson, the recently-axed Fox News host, sent a text to a producer which was the beginning of the end of his relationship with the network, according to a New York Times report.
The cruel and racist text was redacted from court filings submitted as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which resulted in the conservative network settling for $787.5 million dollars.
The text, which was sent on Jan. 7, 2021, hours after Trump supporters attacked the United States Capitol, described a scene Carlson found distressing, in which he said “Trump guys” beat up an “Antifa kid.” But the part that upset him was that “it was three against one,” and “it’s not how white men fight.”
The text in full:
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?
The text reportedly “alarmed” the Fox board, which learned about it the day before the company was set to defend their case in court. From there, Fox allegedly brought outside counsel in to look into Carlson’s conduct.
The text message added to company concerns about the host, which included misogynistic text messages about coworkers and execs.
Representatives for Fox News and for Carlson did not respond to requests for comment.
