The Shady Side Of Tucker Carlson

The following article includes references to sexual abuse allegations, child abuse, homophobia, racism, antisemitism, mass violence, and hate crimes.

Before his mysterious and abrupt dismissal, Tucker Carlson unwittingly found himself at the top of the Fox News food chain. And while the now-right-leaning pundit might have seemed like a perfect fit for the conservative news organization, he didn't start out on that end of the political spectrum. In fact, he didn't seem to have television aspirations at all in the early days of his career as a print journalist, but somewhere along the way, he became a mainstay of the political chat circuit. You don't get there without making a few waves, and Carlson has left a substantial wake.

And yet, despite some revelations from his past, not to mention the controversies he's spun along the way, Carlson clung onto his primetime Fox News glory for quite a while. He outlasted other notable titans of the network, including the sketchy Bill O'Reilly, Eric Bolling, Trish Regan, and even the late CEO Roger Ailes, even if the network eventually decided to cut Carlson off in April 2023.

Clearly, Carlson's political views are well-known, but his backstory is a bit more opaque. This is the shady side of Tucker Carlson.

Though he's since done away with his signature accessory, Tucker Carlson used to be known for showing up to political tussles donning a curiously chosen piece of formalwear: bow ties. There's a good reason for that, as it turns out. He got used to dressing up while attending prep school. According to The New Yorker, Carlson's affinity for fancy neckwear started back at his Rhode Island prep school, St. George's, whose dress code meant that a young 10th grade Carlson had to wear a bow tie all the time in 1984.

Carlson continued wearing bow ties all the way through his broadcast career until 2006 when MSNBC — who previously promoted Carlson as "The Man. The Legend. The Bow Tie." — convinced him to put on a regular tie. The New Yorker claims producers felt the bow ties "encouraged the audience to view him as a character, or perhaps a caricature," so they got rid of the look in order to present Carlson as a serious news reporter.

Tucker Carlson is one of the few talking heads to have made the rounds all across the cable news spectrum, including stints at CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. He even spent some time at PBS. None of his shows were particularly successful. Case in point: "Crossfire" on CNN crumbled after guest Jon Stewart's memorable appearance — Stewart said Carlson's style of journalism was "hurting America." Carlson tried to say he quit "Crossfire" on his own accord, except then-president of CNN Jonathan Klein told The New York Times that there was "not a role here in the way Tucker wanted his career to go" and that he agreed "wholeheartedly with Jon Stewart's overall premise." Ouch.

From CNN, Carlson did a brief two-year stint at MSNBC, until his show there, "Tucker," also flopped. The cancellation of "Tucker" in 2008 led to Carlson rebooting his entire career, which he did by co-founding The Daily Caller, a privately funded right-leaning online media outlet. The Daily Caller caught the eye of then-Fox News chief Roger Ailes, who made Carlson a weekend contributor on "Fox & Friends," which Carlson parlayed into appearances on just about every other Fox News show until he finally returned to headlining with "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in 2016.  

One of Tucker Carlson's favorite talking points is his apparent disdain for the so-called "elites." Whether he's talking about political or media establishment figures, Carlson has always positioned himself as a cynical outsider, who gets a rise out of pointing out the hypocrisy of Washington. However, according to a profile by The Atlantic, Carlson was raised by a father who was a well-connected Republican player, and his stepmother was the "heiress to the Swanson frozen-food fortune." The New Yorker pointed out that while Carlson attended a prestigious boarding school, he performed so poorly there that his then-girlfriend, now wife — the headmaster's daughter — apparently had to pull strings to get him admitted to Trinity College, a school that, as of this writing, now has a yearly tuition of $64,430.

Incidentally, he did reportedly downgrade his $4 million dollar, six-bedroom, eight-bathroom house in the posh Kent neighborhood of Washington, D.C. in 2011 to a $2 million dollar, seven-bedroom, six-bathroom house about a mile away. That makes him very relatable, no?

For all of Tucker Carlson's lambasting of the problems he has with the mainstream media, he dove headfirst into the wave of rampant punditry surrounding the O.J. Simpson trial and never looked back. You might be thinking, "So what? The guy took an opportunity and ran with it." But hang on a second, because according to Mediaite, it was the O.J. Simpson trial that kick-started the 24-hour news cycle that still fuels the cable news industry today.

Pundits like Carlson breathlessly covered every aspect of the legal proceedings, from the infamous white Bronco chase to the moment Simpson tried on a glove in front of the courtroom, and mostly ignored the real tragedy of two people dying. And it's not like the anchor denies his dubious beginning on the coattails of America's most famous alleged murderer. In his own book (via the Columbia Journalism Review), Carlson himself said, "If O.J. Simpson hadn't murdered his wife, I probably wouldn't be working in television."

Bill O'Reilly's unceremonious exit from Fox News slid Tucker Carlson's show into a prime-time slot, and Carlson couldn't have been more gracious toward the former "Factor" host during the transition, saying, "He set a high bar, and I'm gonna do my best to meet it," according to the Los Angeles Times.

But the internet has a long memory, and footage of Carlson being pretty critical of Fox's former juggernaut quickly resurfaced. Mediate posted a video of Carlson promoting his 2003 book, in which he wrote, "O'Reilly's success is built on the perception that he really is who he claims to be. If he ever gets caught out of character, it's over." In explaining the apparent dig, Carlson called O'Reilly "talented," but also said "there is kind of a deep phoniness at the center of his shtick," which he then explained away by basically saying that it's not possible for O'Reilly to be a working class hero and a millionaire TV personality at the same time.

Carlson now seemingly regrets those remarks. Asked about the slam by a GQ reporter in 2017, Carlson said, "I've learned since that not every thought has to be expressed."

Tucker Carlson also has a rich history with another superstar pundit, albeit one on the other side of the aisle. Though his MSNBC show, "Tucker," didn't make him a star, it certainly worked out nicely for Rachel Maddow. Ever heard of her? Right, well according to The New Yorker, she was a "little-known radio host" at the time who Carlson frequently brought on as a guest since her inevitable left-leaning take on virtually any topic would no doubt run counter to his own, therefore creating the magic of political television.

"Tucker" would be Carlson's last hurrah with MSNBC, but Maddow found a home there, especially after the network's pivot towards more lefty programming. While Carlson toiled away at his smaller Fox News gigs, Maddow became the star player for the rival network. In fact, Carlson and Maddow even briefly went head-to-head in the ratings when they occupied the same time slot. "Tucker Carlson Tonight" would later air at 8 p.m. EST, and Maddow has long appeared at 9 p.m. EST, so technically viewers could still enjoy watching them both, although something tells us that's not a likely scenario. 

One of the biggest viral moments ever generated from Tucker Carlson's many shows is a heated exchange he had with writer Lauren Duca. Their cringe-worthy conversation went to another level when Carlson began mocking a piece Duca wrote for Teen Vogue. It was all downhill from there, with Carlson ending the segment by telling Duca to "stick to [writing about] the thigh high boots," and Duca saying, "You're a sexist..." before having her mic cut off. It was a remarkably tense altercation even for a political debate program.

Tucker later did a follow-up segment, acknowledging that he "lost control and snapped at her." He said, "I shouldn't have done it, but I did." He then referred to Duca as a "not very impressive 26-year-old blogger," called her writing "vapid," and accused her of "fantasizing about the deaths of her political enemies." In an interview with The Atlantic, Carlson expressed regret over how he handled the Duca interview, saying, "I don't ever want to get mad. ... I think it diminishes me and the show, and I don't want to be that way."

When Bill de Blasio's spokesperson, Amy Spitalnick, emailed The Daily Caller seeking a retraction for a story covering remarks the then-mayor of New York City had made, she probably wasn't expecting to be called a "LabiaFace" by the editor-in-chief's brother, but that's exactly what happened when Tucker Carlson's brother, Buckley Carlson, accidentally copied Spitalnick on a reply to Tucker's response to Spitalnick.

That sounds a bit confusing, but according to BuzzFeed News, this is what happened: Spitalnick emailed the writer of the story, Peter Fricke, and another staffer, Christopher Bedford, who refused her repeated requests for a retraction. Bedford eventually told her that she was "annoying" him with "whiny emails," at which point Spitalnick went over his head to Tucker, his boss. Tucker lectured Spitalnick on her "tone" and scolded her about not being "polite" in her emails. At some point, Buckley got looped in and fired off a reply to Tucker's email, inadvertently including Spitalnick. His vitriolic description of Spitalnick, including grotesque references to sex acts, was crude to say the least, and the aforementioned insult is basically his only remark that we're willing to repeat here.

Perhaps the craziest aspect of the whole incident is that when Tucker was reached for comment regarding his brother's screw-up, his only reply was, "I just talked to my brother about his response, and he assures me he meant it in the nicest way."

Over his years of stoking the fires of partisan politics, Tucker Carlson has been accused of making many inaccurate and hypocritical statements. Media Matters put together a lengthy list in 2004 that included his inconsistent position on the Iraq War and his insensitive statements regarding the death of Al Gore's sister, but perhaps the most glaring example of Carlson's apparent hypocrisy was his coverage of two senators, Republican David Vitter and Democrat Robert Menendez, and their respective prostitution scandals.

According to New York Magazine, Carlson responded to the public vilification of Vitter — who was exposed in the "D.C. Madam" scandal in 2007 — by saying "that's none of our business." Fast forward six years: The Daily Caller, led by Carlson, engaged in a four-month long campaign to nail down accusations against Menendez regarding sex workers he'd allegedly slept with in the Dominican Republic. According to Slate, the whole thing turned out to be a thinly veiled smear campaign by Cuban intelligence that other news agencies had dismissed due to poor sourcing. 

So, the question is: Why was David Vitter's sex scandal — which was actually real — nobody's business, while the obviously fake one about Menendez was?  

Though he's been a lukewarm supporter of gay marriage, Tucker Carlson also has a long history of troubling remarks surrounding LGBTQ+ issues. In an interview with Elle (via Wonkette), Carlson espoused his fondness for "female bisexuality," which he defined as "this apparent increased willingness of girls to bring along a friend." He also added, "That's a pretty good thing." Wow. Then there was the time he wrote a piece for the American Spectator (via Media Matters) in which he "predicted that the Episcopal Church's increasing embrace of gays and lesbians would soon cause 'the whole enterprise [to come] tumbling down.'" 

Not to mention, by the time Fox News fired him in April 2023, Pink News noted that, through his "Tucker Carlson Tonight" platform, "Tucker Carlson was at the forefront of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and attacks on trans rights."

But perhaps one of his most apparent moments of homophobia was when he gleefully recounted the story of how he assaulted a man who supposedly "bothered him" in a restroom. In the clip, Carlson could be seen telling the story of how he returned to the bathroom with a buddy to confront the allegedly gay man, at which point Carlson claimed he "grabbed him and ... hit him against the stall with his head." This story was somehow supposed to relate to the "foot-tapping" scandal involving Senator Larry Craig, in which he was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex in a public bathroom, a problem Carlson claimed was rampant in the queer community. But... yeah.

Former Trump campaign advisor Roger Stone (above right), posted the above since-deleted photo to Instagram in May 2018. Also in the photo are Tucker Carlson, as well as two members of an alt-right group called Proud Boys. According to The Wrap, the photo was taken backstage at Fox News ahead of Stone's appearance on another Fox show. The pic proved potentially problematic for Carlson due to the Proud Boys' designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. The Proud Boys have rejected being associated with the so-called alt-right, which is a fringe conservative movement with ties to white nationalism, but the SPLC has maintained that the group's actions indicate otherwise. Members of the group, for example, infamously participated in the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which the SPLC noted "brought together Klansmen, antisemites, Southern racists, and militias." 

When asked by The Wrap about the photo, Carlson offered the following sarcastic response: "I strongly support and endorse every personal belief of every person I take a picture with on the street, the subway or in the green room, and always have."

Tucker Carlson devoted little time on his show to the sexual harassment scandals that brought down fellow Fox News personalities Bill O'Reilly and Eric Bolling and former CEO Roger Ailes. However, in the cases of Matt Lauer, Harvey Weinstein, and former Senator Al Franken, Carlson was all over them. Carlson explained the apparent double standard to Business Insider by saying that he simply didn't "know what to add" in the instances dealing with his former colleagues. "It's been thoroughly covered — those aren't secret stories," he said. As opposed to the likes of Lauer, Weinstein, and Franken, who the media just ignored, right?

Perhaps some insight into Carlson's attitude toward sexual harassment can be found in statements he made in 2006 on his MSNBC show, "Tucker." Referencing congressional Democrats, Carlson mused, "This is a group that made up the concept of sexual harassment. You look great today. Boom, I'm charging you with a crime. Do you know what I mean?" In other words: Carlson doesn't seem to think much of sexual harassment allegations unless they're levied against a certain type of person (Hint: liberal).

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

In the tagline for "Tucker Carlson Tonight," the show described itself as "the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and group think." However, observations made by GQ writer Stephen Rodrick, who profiled the controversial pundit in 2017, don't exactly fit that mold.

Rodrick wrote that Carlson "relies on a few home-field advantages" to "get the best of his guest." Those include Carlson's preference for long-distance interviews, "which allows Carlson to react with bafflement or a triumphant smirk in real time." Also, Rodrick pointed out that Carlson's "mic always seems turned up to 11, whereas his opponent is forced to speak in a scaredy-cat whisper." The result was a consistently domineering image of a seemingly undefeated Carlson. But wait, the apaprent ruse went even deeper. While visiting the set, Rodrick observed further proof of Carlson's "duality" — what he described as "Dr. Jekyll the charmer, and Mr. Hyde the takedown artist" — as he watched the cable host "roast" a young democratic congressman on-air before cordially chatting with the man's wife during a commercial break. 

Sure, we all know that everything you see on TV should be taken with a healthy dose of cynicism, but if you're going to play that game, maybe don't declare yourself "the sworn enemy of lying."

Former First Lady Michelle Obama was the subject of what Media Matters described as Tucker Carlson's "racist remarks" during an April 2008 episode of radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge's show. In the uncomfortable audio transcribed by the outlet, the radio host, a co-host, and the Fox News star, discussed Michelle's potential impact on Barack Obama's then 2008 presidential campaign. 

"I think she can be a problem. She can be a liability," Bubba the Love Sponge said in clip, which was released by the liberal media watchdog group in March 2019. Carlson seemingly agreed with the statement, adding: "She's got an edge to her that's bad." The political pundit also accused Michelle of having a bad attitude, stating: "I'm not attacking her personally. I'm just saying, as a public figure, you just get the feeling she's got a major chip on her shoulder."

If those comments weren't bad enough, things took a particularly ugly turn when the shock jock's co-host said: "I'll tell you what, yesterday she got ghetto and started snapping her neck. I'm like, that's a real sister right there." The radio host argued that Michelle "should do less of that," while Carlson said the former first lady would be a "problem" for Barack. "She turns into a sister," Bubba the Love Sponge said, to which the conservative host replied, "turns into a sister." 

As of this writing, Carlson hasn't publicly apologized to Michelle.

Tucker Carlson has some, uh, interesting thoughts about women. Case in point: In unearthed audio of an October 2007 call-in the political pundit made to Bubba the Love Sponge's radio show, he referred to women as "primitive" beings. It's unclear what spurred the offensive remark, but what possible context could justify the following statement? "I mean, I love women, but they're extremely primitive, they're basic, they're not that hard to understand," Carlson said, in a clip obtained and transcribed by Media Matters. "And one of the things they hate more than anything is weakness in a man." Um, say what? 

In another phone conversation from May 2006, the television host discussed what he claimed to be the best way to upset a woman. "You debate politics with a woman and just go — just full blown out there, especially feminism. If you're talking to a feminist, and she's given you, 'Well, men really need to be more sensitive,' [say] 'No, actually, men don't need to be more sensitive. You just need to be quiet and kind of do what you're told,'" he said. 

Carlson's comments are especially upsetting when you consider he's the dad to three daughters. Yikes.

Tucker Carlson's commentary about underage children is arguably the most concerning. His remarks — which are disturbing, to give fair warning — address everything from the sexual assault of minors to the crimes of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs.

On the topic of underage marriage, Carlson said during an August 2009 episode of "The Bubba the Love Sponge Show" (via Media Matters) that it wasn't as serious as random sexual assault. "I just don't think it's the same thing exactly as pulling a child from a bus stop and sexually assaulting that child," he argued. "... The rapist, in this case, has made a lifelong commitment to live and take care of the person, so it is a little different." Carlson did, however, continually claim to be "against" underage marriage.

When discussing a case involving the repeated sexual assault of a 13-year-old boy by his 28-year-old teacher, Carlson, um, joked in part that predatory teachers like this were "doing a service to all 13-year-old girls by taking the pressure off." As for Warren Jeffs, Carlson said the former FLDS leader — who is in prison for two felony counts of sexual abuse against minor girls — "would be out on the street" if he made the laws. In addition to getting the facts about Jeffs' criminal case wrong, Carlson didn't apologize and said in statement that "anyone who disagrees with my views is welcome to come on [my show] and explain why," according to a March 2019 tweet.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

Despite 56,000 Americans dying of COVID-19 at the time of his show in late April 2020, Tucker Carlson downplayed the coronavirus pandemic. "This new evidence means the virus is far less deadly, a full order of magnitude less deadly, that authorities first told us it was," he said (via the Daily Beast). "At the same time, the same research suggests the virus is incredibly easy to spread between adults."

He also downplayed the role of social distancing and nationwide lockdowns in stopping the spread, citing the disputed claims of two California doctors who suggested that the mortality rate of coronavirus infections was too low to justify the continuation of extreme quarantine measures. "Six weeks later we are happy to say that curve has been flattened, but it's likely not because of the lockdowns," Carlson insisted, adding, "The virus just isn't nearly as deadly as we thought it was, all of us, including on this show. Everybody thought it was, but it turned out not to be."

At the time of this writing, the World Health Organization reports that the United States has had more than 103 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 with over 1,121,819 deaths. Maybe Carlson should have left pandemic takes to the experts.

In May 2020, "CNN Newsroom" host Brooke Baldwin interviewed California barbershop owner Juan Desmarais, who planned to reopen his three locations despite the state's stay-at-home order. Desmarais argued that his and his employees' livelihoods were "at stake." He also claimed he refused "to live in fear" of a virus that statistically wouldn't kill him. Baldwin, who is one of the many celebs who contracted coronavirus, pushed back. Desmarais replied, "You're a healthy young lady and you recovered from it. I'm a healthy young man and I'm gonna recover from it. I have no mitigating risks."

The interview was rather contentious, but Desmarais was then invited on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" to discuss his reopening plans and his experience with Brooke Baldwin. "He was lectured by someone with a guaranteed income. Some airhead," Carlson said before introducing Desmarais, later telling Desmarais that he'd been "really struck by the pompous lecture that you received from one of their anchors yesterday. Someone who will not be out of work when you are out of work."

"I think she does have a secure job, her hair looked amazing, and I think she's not in the same boat as I am," Desmarais answered, adding that his three barbershops were "completely booked" and said he was fine to be "the scapegoat for the city."

During the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio had some harsh words for a crowd of Hasidic residents in Brooklyn, who gathered for the funeral of a rabbi who died of COVID-19 complications in April 2020. "My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed," de Blasio tweeted. "I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period."

Tucker Carlson didn't take too kindly to what he called de Blasio's "hostile" rhetoric, and criticized the mayor for what he deemed as hypocrisy when it comes to the crowds de Blasio allowed to gather (via the Washington Examiner). He then criticized de Blasio's handling of the city's problem with homeless people taking refuge in the subway system, before introducing City Journal associate editor Seth Barron. "De Blasio is spiraling down. The city is in tremendous stress. ... [de Blasio's] only solution right now is to shut the subways down at night to force them off. That's an utter failure," Barron claimed, adding, "De Blasio's legacy is crumbling in front of him."

Barron continued blasting the mayor, alleging, "He thinks he's FDR giving fireside chats." Carlson more than agreed, claiming he's "sure [de Blasio] is smoking a ton of weed," and describing his ideas as "mediocre, dumb, and incompetent." Tell us how you really feel, Tucker.

In the wake of the 2019 anti-immigrant El Paso mass shooting (perpetrated by a gunman who warned of an alleged "Hispanic invasion") that left 23 people dead and more than two dozen injured, then-President Donald Trump gave a speech condemning "racism, bigotry, and white supremacy" (via The Washington Post).

Tucker Carlson dismissed Trump's idea that white supremacy was to blame, however, and suggested the term was a political ploy being used by Democrats. "It's actually not a real problem in America," Carlson alleged during an August 2019 segment of his show, adding, "This is a hoax, just like the Russia hoax. It's a conspiracy theory used to divide the country and keep a hold on power." Not only does Carlson believe that white supremacy isn't a real problem, but he also alleged that, in order to commit a hate crime, the person had to belong to an organization that spews white supremacist beliefs. "If you were to assemble a list, a hierarchy of concerns, of problems this country faces, where would white supremacy be on the list? Right up there with Russia, probably," he continued. "The combined membership of every white supremacist organization in this country would be able to fit inside a college football stadium."

A few months later, The New York Times ran a story citing FBI crime statistics that indicated right-wing hate crime violence reached a 16-year high in 2018. So, Carlson promptly went on the air to amend his statements, right? Guess again.

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If you or a loved one has experienced a hate crime, contact the VictimConnect Hotline by phone at 1-855-4-VICTIM or by chat for more information or assistance in locating services to help. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

On July 20, 2020, a complaint was filed in New York federal court that alleged several prominent Fox News hosts — including Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity — had engaged in sexual misconduct, Deadline reports. In the complaint, Carlson was accused of offering a full-time job to frequent "Tucker Carlson Tonight" guest, Cathy Areu, in exchange for sex in December 2018.

"Mr. Carlson, hardly making any effort to hide his intentions, began telling Ms. Areu that he would be alone in New York City that night, and specifically said that he would be staying alone in his hotel room without any wife or kids," the lawsuit claimed, stating that Areu "awkwardly sidestepped Mr. Carlson's advances and declined to spend the night at his hotel." The complaint also alleged that once Areu declined the offer, Carlson stopped booking her on his show: "According to Mr. Carlson's producer, it is Mr. Carlson himself who consistently rejects proposals to have Ms. Areu on his show, notwithstanding the fact that her segments were, or were among, his most popular."

Fox News responded to the allegations by calling them "false, patently frivolous and utterly devoid of any merit." Although the action was later dismissed by a district judge, on the grounds that Carlson's alleged offers were too vague to pin down in court, it still added to the general air of apparent sleaziness surrounding Fox News after revelations about CEO Roger Ailes and other allegations of sexual harassment surfaced.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Tucker Carlson's anti-immigrant rants went too far for some advertisers in 2018, who found one particular diatribe so distasteful that they pulled their sponsorship deals. The "Tucker Carlson Tonight" anchor signed off by claiming that political leaders were forcing Americans to accept migrants against their wishes. "We have a moral obligation to admit the world's poor, they tell us, even if it makes our country poorer and dirtier and more divided," Carlson insisted, per NBC News.

Fox News quickly began losing sponsors as outrage over his controversial statements spread. "As a company, we strongly disagree with Mr. Carlson's statements," announced the insurance company Pacific Life, who had paid for ads that aired right after the rant, on Twitter. "Our customer base and our workforce reflect the diversity of our great nation, something we take great pride in." Other companies like Indeed, Nautilus, and SmileDirectClub also pulled their advertising.

The network, however, defended their star with a statement blaming "far left activist groups with deeply political motives" for the backlash, insisting that they would not let Carlson be crushed by censorship. "It is a shame that left wing advocacy groups, under the guise of being supposed 'media watchdogs' weaponize social media against companies in an effort to stifle free speech," a Fox spokesperson told Rolling Stone, claiming that they were the victim of a targeted campaign. "We continue to stand by and work with our advertisers through these unfortunate and unnecessary distractions."

Perhaps it's not surprising that Tucker Carlson would butt heads with a Democrat politician over comments made on his Fox News show, but the anchor got personal with congresswoman Ilhan Omar in 2019 when he attacked her presence in the country as an immigrant.

Omar, who was born in Somalia, was a target of vicious hate around this time due to her opposition to then-President Donald Trump, who had tweeted a video of her speaking that was interspliced with 9/11 footage. On his show, Carlson claimed that the United States representative's career trajectory had displayed that the immigration system needed to be overhauled. He alleged that Omar's criticisms of the president showed "she has undisguised contempt for the United States and for its people," demanding that she express gratitude for America. Finally, Carlson compared her to a fire alarm and declared that she was "living proof that the way we practice immigration has become dangerous to this country."

The politician called out Carlson's controversial statements and insulted his intelligence in response, joking on Twitter that it was actually enjoyable for her to see "a racist fool like this weeping about my presence in Congress." Omar also stated that she was in fact motivated by her love for America, and that's why she got involved in politics, adding: "They will just have to get used to calling me Congresswoman!"

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Vladimir Putin was criticized by almost every Western news pundit — except one. Tucker Carlson decided to use his platform to defend the Russian president, claiming that Americans had no reason to dislike or distrust Putin.

"It may be worth asking yourself, since it is getting pretty serious, 'What is this really about? Why do I hate Putin so much?'" the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host asked his viewers after the outbreak of war, implicitly comparing Putin to American politicians. "'Has Putin ever called me a racist? Has he threatened to get me fired for disagreeing with him?'" After posing more hypothetical questions, Carlson alleged that Putin didn't really affect the average American in a negative way. When a clip of the segment made the rounds on Twitter, he was met with outrage and confusion by critics who questioned why he was shielding the Russian leader from condemnation.

Carlson also spread false conspiracy theories about Ukrainians making bioweapons via U.S. government funds. According to NPR, this narrative first gathered traction online after a QAnon-adjacent Twitter account posted a completely fabricated map supposedly showing the locations of Ukrainian labs, before the politician Marco Rubio brought the misinformation to a Senate hearing. By bringing these pro-Russian conspiracy theories to a wider audience, Carlson has apparently made himself quite popular with Putin's government. His comments have even been used by Russian state-run TV like the network RT, who put Russian subtitles over a segment where the Fox News anchor criticized Ukrainian politicians and President Joe Biden.

After years of controversial comments, Kanye West finally went too far in 2022. Conservatives like Tucker Carlson, however, initially came to the rapper's defense when he received backlash for stunts like releasing "White Lives Matter" shirts through his fashion brand Yeezy, with the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" host giving West a sympathetic interview in early October of that year. Carlson spoke to the artist about his pro-life beliefs, as West claimed that abortion was devastating for the Black community, and how he had been criticized for supporting Donald Trump ahead of the 2016 election. With Carlson's encouragement, West also condemned ex-wife Kim Kardashian's connection to the Clintons and further alleged that he'd felt manipulated by his former in-laws into supporting the political establishment. 

Prior to airing the controversial interview, Carlson declared on his show, "We've rarely heard a man speak so honestly and so movingly about what he believes." This comment didn't age very well, of course, as it wasn't long until West was losing sponsors and being banned from social media over his praise of Adolf Hitler and Holocaust denial while speaking to Alex Jones. It was later revealed that Fox News had edited out several bizarre and antisemitic claims from West during the Carlson interview, including paranoid statements about "fake children" being planted in his home to trick his real kids. "I prefer my kids knew Hanukkah than Kwanzaa. At least it will come with some financial engineering," the rapper stated at one point, per Vice, as well as espousing the theory that Judaism really belonged to Black people.

After the fatal January 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol, Tucker Carlson went on the warpath against anyone who described the event as an insurrection. Republican politician Ted Cruz even appeared on Carlson's show to apologize for calling it "a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol" after the Fox News commentator criticized him. "The way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy and it was frankly dumb," Cruz stated, per AP News.

In March 2023, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy let Carlson air previously unseen footage of Jacob Chansley — the so-called "QAnon Shaman," who received a 41-month prison sentence — in the Capitol building to falsely show that the riots hadn't been violent. The Fox News segment was criticized by Capitol police, as well as the family of one police officer who died as a result of the riots, who asked in part in a lengthy statement: "What will it take to silence the lies from people like Carlson?" 

Prosecutors in the ongoing January 6 investigation also pointed out that the footage had been selectively edited and only represented four minutes. In a court filing, they explained that during the rest of his time at the Capitol, Chansley had broken through a line of police officers to enter the building, clashed with security inside, mounted the Senate dais, and wrote a threatening message to then-Vice President Mike Pence. "In sum, Chansley was not some passive, chaperoned observer of events for the roughly hour that he was unlawfully inside the Capitol," the prosecutors stated.

Tucker Carlson's coverage of the 2020 presidential election came under fire when Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News for defamation over claims that there was illegal interference.

In their lawsuit, the company tried to prove that Fox News and its presenters were knowingly spreading a lie by insisting that Donald Trump's loss to Joe Biden was unfair, while apparently acknowledging the truth behind the scenes. Carlson, who reportedly told multiple people off-camera that he had actually voted for Kanye West, was deposed in the case over some of his own televised claims. He had brought MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell onto his show to voice theories about Dominion's systems in January 2021, for example, and incorrectly claimed that "it now appears there actually was meaningful voter fraud in Fulton County, Georgia, last November," per PolitiFact.

In an important precursor to the trial, a judge found that 20 declarations about Dominion that Fox News had aired were all untrue. The network ended up folding at the last minute and offering a $787.5 million settlement to Dominion, who agreed and told CNN that it was important that Fox News had accepted responsibility. "This is really the first time that anyone has paid a price for telling the lies of the 2020 election and we're very proud about that," a representative for Dominion stated in April 2023. As part of the settlement, Fox had to make a significant announcement, telling the press: "We acknowledge the Court's rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false."

When the Dominion lawsuit against Fox News led to Tucker Carlson's private text messages being exposed in court in March 2023, one former president must have been surprised to hear the anchor's real feelings about him.

Although the political commentator publicly espoused conspiracy theories about election fraud in 2020, he appeared to privately celebrate that Donald Trump would be gone soon. "We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait," Carlson reportedly told a fellow Fox employee on January 4, 2021, as The Washington Post reported. He went on to confess: "I hate him passionately." And when the Capitol riots happened two days later, texts published by the Boston Globe reportedly showed Carlson telling his producer that Trump was "a demonic force, a destroyer. But he's not going to destroy us." He also criticized Trump's legal team a couple months prior, as colleague Laura Ingraham seemingly questioned their sanity.

Carlson spoke out about the text messages during a WABC Radio interview, per The Hill, insisting that they had been taken out of context and that he stood by Trump's policies. "I, um, love Trump. Like, as a person, I think Trump is funny and insightful," he declared, pointing out that he had supported the Republican throughout his presidency. The Fox News star also revealed that Trump had personally called him to discuss the texts and that the former president had been quite upset by their content. "That was a moment in time where I was absolutely infuriated," Carlson added.

In March 2023, Tucker Carlson followed the same narrative as other Fox News anchors and declared that Donald Trump's indictment in New York City was an outrage. It had been announced that the former president would be pulled into court to face what turned out to be 34 felony charges related to allegedly paying hush money to Stormy Daniels and covering up criminal activity in his business records, both prior to the 2016 election, per NPR.

"The prosecution of Donald Trump is election interference," Carlson gravely claimed to his viewers on "Tucker Carlson Tonight," pointing out that Trump was the most popular candidate for the Republican party ahead of the 2024 election and that this legal battle might affect his polling. He also explained how the former president was under a gag order about the case and therefore couldn't legally speak about it in public, which Carlson likened to an assault on the whole American political system. Comparing the prosecutors to Vladimir Putin and insisting that the Russian leader had never caused that much harm to the United States, Carlson alleged, "I honestly think it's impossible to imagine greater election interference, a greater or more aggressive attack on our democracy, than gagging a presidential candidate in a presidential year."

In an exclusive interview with Carlson weeks after his arrest and arraignment, Trump announced that he was going to run for president no matter what, even if he ended up being convicted. "It's not my thing," he said of dropping out of the race. "I wouldn't do it."

After Fox News settled its lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, they announced a shocking development: after years of being one of the network's most recognizable and controversial stars, Tucker Carlson was out of a job. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor," the network stated on April 24, 2023, insisting that they had "agreed to part ways." Fox News also revealed that they would be trying out different hosts during his time slot until a successor was found.

The news of his unexplained termination came as a shock to political figures across the spectrum. "I'm surprised. He's a very good person and a very good man and very talented, as you know. And he had very high ratings," former President Donald Trump told the conservative outlet Newsmax. For his part, Carlson reassured his fans that he was okay in a Twitter video two days later, commenting that his time off had already given him a different perspective on TV debates and how meaningless these culture war discussions actually were. He also promised that he would see his viewers again soon.

Sources claimed that derogatory and vulgar comments found in Carlson's text messages were one reason that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch let him go, as The New York Times reported. Meanwhile, it was reported around this time that a former producer on Carlson's show named Abby Grossberg was suing Carlson over claims that he fostered a work environment full of misogyny and antisemitism.