Tucker Carlson Wanted to 'Start Threatening' Fox News Staff Over Donald Trump Coverage in Leaked Text Messages
May 13 2023, Published 1:30 p.m. ET
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson wanted to threaten lower-level employees he felt were "hurting the Fox brand" by running critical stories about Donald Trump in recently leaked texts, RadarOnline.com has learned.
In a text chain between Carlson and his producer Justin Wells, the two shared their concerns over the network's "unfavorable" coverage of the former President following the 2020 Presidential Election.
The recently booted Fox News host repeatedly suggested that the election could have been stolen up until the day he was fired on April 21. He was reportedly upset with the network's other programs suggesting that the nationwide contest wasn't rigged and the network's commentary on Trump becoming "less-than-flattering" in general.
In the alleged text exchange obtained by the Daily Beast, Wells brought up how Fox was covering Trump giving the annual presidential turkey pardon on Thanksgiving.
"Trump has kept a low profile, ducking reporters and sticking to Twitter tirades about the election, but is scheduled to host the event on Tuesday," Wells wrote to Carlson. "Literally 4-5 separate swipes at Trump for doing the Turkey pardon ... It's actually unbelievable. We're trying to piss people off for no reason."
"We're not going to succeed if this continues," Carlson replied. "The brand will be too damaged. We should jump on a couple of examples just to send a clear message. Let's start with this one. Can we find out who did this?"
In the leaked text, Carlson told his producer, "I'm happy to start threatening people individually. It's too much. And again, it will hurt us badly if we let it continue."
In February, Carlson also wanted Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich fired after she tweeted a fact-check of Lou Dobbs' claims about the election being rigged.
"Please get her fired. Seriously," he texted Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham just days after Trump's loss in 2020. "What the f***? I'm actually shocked."
"It needs to stop immediately, like tonight," he continued. "It's measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke."
Carlson has a history of being outspoken about the staff during his tenure at Fox News. As RadarOnline recently reported, leaked footage showed the news host declaring that "if you've got pronouns," you "shouldn't" work at the conservative news network.
He also criticized the unnamed staffer who released the leaks and claimed that the late former Fox News CEO, Roger Ailes, "would never put up with this s***."
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Earlier this week, Carlson announced that he would bring his show to Twitter in a video announcement with the caption, "We're back."
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