When Tucker Carlson Said He Hates Donald Trump 'Passionately': "We're all Pretending..."

Donald Trump has plenty of critics. While some are outspoken, others express their contempt in private like former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. In court filings from 2023 as part of the network's legal fight with Dominion Voting Systems, Carlson wrote scathing messages against the Republican front-runner, and in one of them, he said he "hates [Trump] passionately. 

"We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait," wrote Carlson in one of the texts to an unidentified Fox employee on January 4, 2021. "I hate him passionately, I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I can't handle much more of this," as per The Hill. 

The text messages were part of the $1.6 billion lawsuit made by Dominion for defamation against Fox, accusing Fox of knowingly airing false claims about the company being spun by Trump and his allies. However, Fox claimed the case was dismissed as per the First Amendment and accused Dominion of "cherry-picking" quotes to strengthen the case. 

"Thanks to today’s filings, Dominion has been caught red-handed using more distortions and misinformation in their PR campaign to smear FOX News and trample on free speech and freedom of the press," the television channel said in a statement. "We already know they will say and do anything to try to win this case, but to twist and even misattribute quotes to the highest levels of our company is truly beyond the pale." 

Later, Carlson backtracked from his "hate Trump" texts and said that he was fed up with the former president after the 2020 elections which was revealed in the court filings. During an appearance on WABC radio, the exiled commentator said, "And I think this is in the text, and those were all grabbed completely illegitimately, in my opinion, in this court case, which I guess I'm not allowed to talk about, but I'm enraged that my private texts were pulled," as per NBC News.

Besides, Carlson, who is a conservative media figure, also endorsed Trump after texting he "hates" the ex-prez. In an interview with Roseanne Barr on her podcast in November 2023, "I became an active Trump supporter when they raided Mar-a-Lago last summer. That just can't stand. I'm voting for Trump, and if they convict him, I will send him the maximum donations and I will lead protests. That's how I feel," per CBS News. Furthermore, he said that he's "always agreed with Trump's policies" and even "lost friends" over it. 

According to Bloomberg's article, Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson: A Love Story, that discussed the conservative newsman's sit-down with Trump for a Debate Night and highlighted their "bromance." After mutually bemoaning sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein's death, the politician's second-term plans, and indictments, their time together was "essentially pixie dust." 

They ridiculed other Republican candidates like former Vice President Mike Pence, and called out former AG William Barr for his failed investigation of what Trump alleged was election fraud. Towards the end, Carlson seemed in awe of Trump's resilience, so to speak, in the face of hatred and violence.