Tucker Carlson called Trump a 'total piece of sh*t', newly released lawsuit documents reveal
WASHINGTON, DC: Newly surfaced text messages show that journalist Tucker Carlson called President Donald Trump a "total piece of sh*t."
The courtroom battle between Fox News and voting-tech company Smartmatic saw new developments on November 24 after a judge shot down Fox’s bid to hit the pause button. With the ruling came new material from tens of thousands of pages filed in Smartmatic’s $2.7 billion defamation suit over Fox’s 2020 election coverage.
Smartmatic claims Fox Corp helped destroy its reputation by allowing conspiracy theories to run wild on-air. Fox, however, denies that claim.
Regardless, the documents include internal texts and emails featuring the network’s heavyweights, including Sean Hannity, Rupert Murdoch, Maria Bartiromo, and Carlson. Fox pushed the latter out in April 2023, months after it shelled out a staggering $787.5 million to settle with Dominion Voting Systems.
Fox issued a statement addressing the Smartmatic lawsuit. “The evidence shows that Smartmatic’s business and reputation were badly suffering long before any claims by President Trump’s lawyers on FOX News and that Smartmatic grossly inflated its damage claims to generate headlines and chill free speech," they insisted.
"Now, in the aftermath of Smartmatic being criminally charged with bribery in the Philippines and the Government’s motion to include evidence of Smartmatic’s business dealings in Venezuela and Los Angeles County, we are eager and ready to continue defending our press freedoms," the network added.
Leaked texts show Tucker Carlson privately blasting Trump
But buried inside the data dump were several messages showing Carlson privately torching then-President Trump.
The Guardian’s Jeremy Barr dove into the pile and surfaced with some eyebrow-raising finds. According to Barr, an unnamed person messaged Carlson on November 9, 2020, days after the election, urging Trump to concede.
Barr wrote, “Carlson replied: ‘Oh, I’m fully aware,’ and referred to Trump as a ‘total piece of shit.’ But, he added, ‘We can’t control him obviously. Got to do the responsible thing regardless of how he behaves.’”
Texts previously revealed in Dominion’s lawsuit showed Carlson calling Trump a “demonic force.” On January 6, 2021, the day of the infamous US Capitol riot, Carlson messaged his producer Alex Pfeiffer, “[Trump] is a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us.”
The filings also show Carlson laying out his disgust for Trump in private. "I hate him passionately,” one message read. “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait," read another.
Sean Hannity clashes with Tucker Carlson as filings expose Fox News turmoil
Sean Hannity was apparently fuming at Carlson for going after MAGA lawyer Sidney Powell, specifically when Tucker used his November 19, 2020 show to demand evidence for her sweeping election fraud claims.
Barr wrote, “Sean Hannity criticized Tucker Carlson for using the 19 November 2020 edition of his show to call out Trump-associated attorney Sidney Powell for not being able to back up her claims of election fraud, likening it to something former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly would have done. ‘His problem,’ Hannity wrote. ‘Classic O’Reilly move. May be too clever by half. Trump people are pissed.’”
The filings also show former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon urging Maria Bartiromo to take a shot at the US Senate in 2020 from New York. Bartiromo didn’t run, but documents reportedly reveal she pulled in roughly $70 million in salary from Fox up to the time of her deposition.
Lou Dobbs also featured in the newly unsealed materials, griping that Fox had “black-balled” Georgia firebrand Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene from appearing on the network.
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