Rich Graessle/AP
Tucker Carlson’s disdain for his own viewers, whom he supplies with lies and hateful discourse every weeknight as Fox News’ biggest star, apparently extends to one in particular: Donald Trump.
Despite playing a MAGA diehard on television, a message Carlson sent in the lead-up to January 6 reveals his private verdict: “I hate him passionately.”
Cold stuff. The revelation comes in the latest batch of private messages to emerge from Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against the network, which also featured Carlson expressing sharp relief at the prospect of a post-Trump future. “We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.” Other notable tidbits include former DC bureau chief Bill Sammon denouncing the “existential crisis” at Fox News as colleagues relentlessly backed Trump’s election lies.
But here’s what I personally found to be the most alarming message to emerge in the latest Dominion filing.
“I want to see massive fraud exposed,” Maria Bartiromo, one of the hosts Rupert Murdoch admitted had endorsed election lies, told Steve Bannon, explaining that she refused to acknowledge Joe Biden had won the election. She added, “I told my team we are not allowed to say pres elect at [all]. Not in scripts or in banners on air.” Bannon responded by praising Bartiromo as a “fighter.”
So why, in a heaping pile of damaging messages, is this the craziest? Well, at one point in her career, Bartiromo was an actual journalist. So while Carlson is getting exposed as a deceitful snake, one who continues to back the lies of a man he privately detests, that doesn’t exactly land as shocking. After all, his reputation as a serial liar has been cited by his own lawyers. But Bartiromo here is revealed as something even more disturbing. Once a CNBC megastar, she now appears to be a genuine, true believer in the cult of Donald Trump. That’s what is actually batshit to me.
