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- A leaked text shows Tucker Carlson describing a video that showed a "group of Trump guys" jumping an "Antifa kid."
- In the text, obtained by The New York Times, he said, "It's not how white men fight."
- Carlson was abruptly ousted from Fox News last week.
A text message shows Tucker Carlson describing a video that showed a "group of Trump guys" jumping an "Antifa kid," lamenting that "It's not how white men fight."
The text, which was obtained by The New York Times from interviews with people who have knowledge of the suit, remains redacted from public court documents in Dominion's defamation lawsuit against Fox News that was settled last month for a record $787.5 million.
Carlson sent the text to one of his producers the day after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, according to the Times.
Though many messages between the former prime time show host and his colleagues were made public during the Dominion lawsuit, several texts between Carlson and other Fox executives sent on the day of the riot remain redacted from public filings.
The settlement, the largest public settlement ever in a defamation case, allowed Carlson and other Fox staff to avoid answering questions under oath about those texts on the stand.
However, Fox executives were made aware of the messages before the trial was set to begin last month and were concerned that it could come to light in the course of the proceedings, according to the Times.
The full message was published by the Times on Tuesday. In it, Carlson explained the video he had watched showed at least three guys against one. The race of the person who was being beaten is unclear.
"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," the text said, according to the Times.
"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," Carlson continued, according to the Times. "If I don't care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?"
Carlson, who has been repeatedly accused by critics of promoting white nationalist talking points — such as the racist "replacement theory" — and downplaying white nationalist violence on his show, was abruptly ousted from the network last week.
People familiar with Carlson's firing told The Los Angeles Times that Rupert Murdoch himself made the call to fire Carlson, in part due to the host's conspiracy theories about the 2021 riots at the Capitol, which he regularly amplified on his show.
An attorney representing Carlson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a breaking story. Check back for updates.
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