Since Tucker Carlson’s firing from Fox News last week, there has been wild speculation over what could have prompted the network’s highest-rated anchor to get the boot. Now, the New York Times says it may know the answer, at least in part. The outlet released a text from Carlson that it said “set off a panic” in Fox News’ c-suites.
“The discovery of the message contributed to a chain of events that ultimately led to Mr. Carlson’s firing,” the Times wrote. “In the message, sent to one of his producers in the hours after violent Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Mr. Carlson described how he had recently watched a video of a group of men — Trump supporters, he said — violently attacking ‘an Antifa kid.’”
Here’s what the text message said:
“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 [daylights] 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 was reportedly found during the discovery phase of Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which was settled for $787.5 million. A week later, Carlson was shown the exits.
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21 Responses
Shame on Fox for not firing this person, who spreads genuinely antisemitic conspiracy theories and dangerous anti-scientific information on a nightly basis, earlier.
Well, this sounds exactly like the NYT – total gibberish. The text, which we are seeing completely out of context, makes no sense. The “Trump guys”, did they have signs on their backs saying “We Are Trump Guys”? The Antifa kid also had a sign? The reason not to hate the kid based on politics is because “somewhere someone loves this kid”?! So the text, to us readers, is meaningless nonsense.
As far as the firing of Carlson is concerned, only brilliant people like those at the NYT could connect this text to firing him. What he said in the text had nothing to do with the Election lawsuit, and it doesn’t show anything bad about Tucker Carlson himself. If anything, he was having a thoughtful “human” moment, and was sharing it with one of his producers.
Can someone explain this stupidity?
Ok, I admit I’m repulsed by anyone rooting for a mob attacking a kid, but Tucker did express remorse so for that he was fired?! That is insanity.
Nothing wrong here. He sounds like someone waxing philosophical and being intellectually honest.
Always distressing to see Jews defending an anti Semite
This is such a load of garbage, even if the text is real. Of course that’s not why he was “shown the exit”. OMG. People actually believe this nonsense?
I believe The NY Times like a hole in the head
This text seems to be in short, “I had an evil thought and I realized it was an evil thought and I shouldn’t feel that way.”. I despise Tucker Carlson, I think his opinions are terrible and he makes America a worse place. But, I don’t think that someone should be fired for basically privately doing teshuva in a text message.
That said, there are many many reasons to fire Tucker Carlson. And New York is an at-will employment state – Fox doesn’t even need to have a reason to fire him. The only one pointing to this text is the NYT from an anonymous source, so we have no idea if that is true.
Well, I saw another report on this story where they claimed the problem was that Carlson said “That’s not how white men fight.” So that incited the heads at Fox to “investigate” him.
I still don’t get it. Is that text, which was private, a racism problem? Racist enough to upset people at Fox who are making money and ratings in spades from this guy? Sorry, it makes no sense…
It is naive to assume he was fired for this one set of comments which is patently repulsive. He had a long history of similar vile comments (both on-air and in his private texts) which were consistently racist, misogynistic and increasingly anti-semitic. He also had multiple comments ridiculing the Murdochs, Fox News management and other Fox personalities. At some point, even his ratings could not overcome the dumpster fire he had become.
So far the commenters missed the main point. Maybe YWN has to underline the offensive line.
rt,
I call you out on it every time I read one of your mah-yafis, kapo posts but you don’t stop. At least you finally admit feeling some distress and hopefully self-loathing for doing so.
the lesson i learned: in general news commentators and even following news makes a person desensitized to human pain and feelings. עיין אוה”ח דברים יג, יח על הפסוק ונתן לך רחמים וריחמך… בנוגע לעיר הנידחת.
tucker carlson is a piece of shumtz
many things he says are true. many things he says are antisemitic.
either way he cannot be trusted by yidden.
עשו
NEW YORK TIMES….FAKE NEWS….
@rt:
You mean like YOU defending Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib?! Or YOU defending Ned Price & Jake Sullivan?!
Idiots…you win, you’re just too many, rt, katanhadorah, dan The Idiot, baby squirrel brain, way too many. Too taxing and frankly, a waste of time. You would not grow a brain, no matter how much I would try, you win…I’m taking a break.
To all those who claim that Tucker is antisemite I dare you to give me one concrete example of it. That’s right you can’t. Dan the and gadolhadorah I suggest you start thinking before you comment
Can any one send a link to an antisemític comment that he made. Just curious
– is an America-First Isolationist (which increasingly means “America only”); doesn’t care enough about the lives or livelihoods of others especially in the third world or Ukraine
– supports the rights of neo nazis and antisemites to propagate freely because of “freedom of speech”
– doesn’t want congress funding Israel or the Iron Dome
– is against states passing laws that penalize you for boycotting Israel
I’m sure he’s a pretty good and decent guy in his private life but the content he puts out can easily go the wrong direction and he has many antisemites that love him such as people who don’t care about morals and only care about America like its some kind of nationalist Avodah Zara religion and don’t care about anything else… ignorant white conservative Christian buffoons…
in other words, עשו