Tucker Carlson ‘told a colleague that he ‘passionately hated Trump,’ court documents claim

Tucker Carlson confessed to his producer that he “passionately hated Trump,” according to files unsealed by a judge Tuesday as part of the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit.

Dominion is suing Carlson’s network, Fox News, in a $1.6 billion case, alleging that the media company defamed the voting firm by questioning its technology and methods. Fox is fiercely contesting the allegations.

On Tuesday, Carlson’s private messages were among a trove of emails and other communications disclosed by the judge.

Carlson, one of the conservative network’s biggest stars, texted Alex Pfeiffer on Jan. 4, 2021, the lawsuit claims, to tell him he was looking forward to a post-Trump era.

We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I really can’t wait,’ he allegedly said, according to the lawsuit.

I hate him passionately. I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration,” she allegedly wrote, referring to the former Trump administration official.

In fact, I like Peter. But I can’t handle much more of this. Fox has denied Dominion’s claims and insists that many of the messages shared in the lawsuit have been taken out of context.

He allegedly wrote in another text message: ‘That’s the last four years. We’re all pretending we have a lot to show for it, because admitting what a mess it’s been is just too hard to swallow. But we go. There really isn’t an advantage for Trump.”

Carlson himself has complained on air about how news reporters seem to “hate Trump with an all-consuming mania.”

The text messages also showed significant discontent within Fox over the decision to correctly call Joe Biden Arizona.

Carlson complained, according to the lawsuit, that doing so hurt Fox’s stock price.

Pfeiffer allegedly wrote in a November 20, 2020 email to an unidentified person that there was “something funny” about the voter fraud claims.

“Dominion was used in Ohio and Florida,” he wrote.

Trump won them. Did they forget to rig that or was it all part of the plan?’

The exchanges allegedly show host Laura Ingraham complaining about Fox calling the states for Biden, saying, “My anger at the news channel is pronounced.”

Carlson agreed, reportedly responding, “It should be.”

He said he was equally angry with the network reports on the results and the presenters and hosts confirming Biden’s victory.

“We dedicated our lives to building an audience and they allowed Chris Wallace and Leland (expletive) Vittert to tear it apart. Too much,” Carlson said, according to the lawsuit.

On November 16, 2020, Ingraham texted Carlson and Sean Hannity again to complain about their employer.

“We are all officially working for an organization that hates us,” he wrote.

The exchange is part of a lengthy conversation between the three about how their news colleagues were hurting viewership ratings.

Another news anchor, Maria Bartiromo, reportedly texted former Trump adviser Steve Bannon on November 10, 2020 to say she was devastated by the results.

‘My God, I’m so depressed. I can’t with this,” he reportedly told Bannon, noting how upsetting it was to watch the “world move on.”

‘I want to see massive fraud exposed. Will he be able to turn this around?’ she added, referring to Trump.

‘I told my team that we can’t say shortlist at all. Neither in scripts nor in banners on the air. Until this goes through the courts.

Bannon replied: ‘You are our fighter. Enough of sadness! We need you.

Rupert Murdoch, the chain’s owner, privately worried that his stars had gone too far in their claims that the election was stolen.

In his email to CEO Suzanne Scott on January 21, 2021, the day after Biden’s inauguration, Murdoch said he was being criticized for the network’s insistence that the election was stolen, the lawsuit claims. .

‘They still throw mud at us!’ Murdoch wrote. ‘Maybe Sean and Laura went too far.’

He also asked Scott if it was “indisputable that high-profile voices at Fox fed the story that the election was stolen and that January 6 was a major opportunity to overturn the result.”

Shortly after the election, Murdoch had predicted that Trump would fade away and become irrelevant.

‘And losing tons of viewers, but still no lead!’ Murdoch wrote.

We just have to keep our nerves up and up our game! In another month, Trump will become irrelevant and we will have a lot to say about Biden, the Democrats and the so far pretty boring appointments.

After the riots on January 6, Murdoch said, according to the lawsuit, that he felt the Trump brand was significantly damaged.

‘Your business now ruined!’ he said, in an email to his son Lachlan, who runs the network, and to former House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Who’s going to have a party at one of your golf clubs or hotels? Let alone a tournament.

So you have more than legal problems, bad as they are.

‘The mark is now poison! Who wants fashion lines, jewelry, etc. from Ivanka?

Fox News has said that it was “proud of our coverage of the 2020 election, which is in the highest tradition of American journalism.”

They are contesting Dominion’s lawsuit, saying it is just to create publicity for their voting machines.

Dominion argues that the First Amendment does not allow the media to broadcast conspiracy theories that they know to be false.

“As the dominant media company among viewers dissatisfied with the election results, Fox gave these fictions a prominence they never otherwise would have achieved,” Dominion claims in its 441-page lawsuit.

“With Fox’s global platform, an audience in the hundreds of millions, and the inevitable widespread republishing and dissemination of falsehoods via social media, these lies deeply damaged Dominion’s once-thriving business.

Fox took a small flame and turned it into a wildfire.

Carlson and the other drivers have not responded to the posting of their messages.

Superior Court Judge Eric Davis is scheduled to preside over a trial beginning in mid-April.

The trial could stretch for five weeks.