Tucker Carlson called President Donald Trump a “total piece of s***” in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, newly released documents reveal.
The detail is included in documents filed by voting machine maker Smartmatic as part of its lawsuit against Fox News, Carlson’s former employer, from whom the company is seeking $2.7 billion in damages over the company’s reporting in the explosive fallout from Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.
Fox previously settled a similar lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million in April 2023, with Carlson leaving the right-wing network several months later after being one of its most popular primetime anchors.
In response to the release of the documents Sunday, which include messages sent by other prominent corporate figures such as Rupert Murdoch, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo, Fox said in a statement: “The evidence shows that Smartmatic’s business and reputation suffered long before claims from President Trump’s lawyers surfaced on Fox News and that Smartmatic grossly inflated its damage claims to grab headlines and chill free speech.
“Now, in the wake 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 freedom of the press.”
Among the new batch of filings is an exchange involving Carlson, first reported by The Guardiandated November 9, 2020, in which an unidentified individual tells him that in their opinion, Trump should concede defeat and abandon his false claims that the election was stolen in a vast, nationwide conspiracy orchestrated by Democrats.
“Oh, I’m fully aware of it,” Carlson allegedly responded, referring to the Republican president as a “total piece of s***” and adding, “We obviously can’t control him. We have to do the responsible thing no matter how he behaves.”
In another conversation, Hannity reportedly complained about Carlson for criticizing Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, who famously called himself “The Kraken,” for her claims that the vote was hacked.
“His problem,” Hannity reportedly wrote, comparing his colleague to disgraced former star anchor Bill O’Reilly, known for his independent nature. “Classic Oreilly move. Maybe too smart by half. Trump people have been bullied.”
According to mediaiteThe documents also show that ex-Trump strategist Steve Bannon urged Bartiromo to run for Senate in her native New York, and that the late Fox host Lou Dobbs complained that Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is now out of favor with Trump and resigning from Congress, had been “blackballed” by the network.
Dominion’s previous lawsuit against Fox produced some similar insider data, including the finding that Carlson called Trump a “demonic force” in national politics.
“He is the undisputed world champion at that,” Carlson texted his Fox producers, according to documents filed in the case. “He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong,” he added, calling the then-outgoing president “a demonic force, a destroyer.”
Still, Carlson spoke at several Trump rallies at the end of his triumphant 2024 presidential election campaign and was recently defended by the president over the uproar that followed his interview with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
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