Surfaced text messages from around the time of the 2020 presidential election revealed a panicked private conversation between Fox personalities Tucker Carlson and Bret Baier in which Carlson worried Donald Trump would "blame" the network if he lost.
Fox News had previously become one of the first outlets to report that Joe Biden won Arizona by a mere 0.3% — a decision that frustrated many of the network's conservative viewers who believed they should have waited to announce the win until it was more certain.
"I continue to think the company isn’t taking the [sic] seriously enough," a November 5, 2020, text from Carlson to Baier read. “We need to do something to reassure our core audience. They’re our whole business model."
"Is there some way I could help?" the now-fired Fox host added in a follow-up text. "Obviously I’d never do anything without full approval from the top."
Carlson went on to speculate on whether or not the network should come up with a "plan" on when to make future calls for upcoming states' election results, noting that a wrong move could cause Fox to "lose" their audience.
"We have been pushing for answers," Baier responded. "I have pressed them to slow. And I think they will slow walk Nevada. The votes don’t come in until tomorrow."
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"Please let me know if they don’t seem to be obeying. We could really f*** up a lot of what we’ve built," Carlson wrote in another message, to which Baier said, "I totally agree."
"I’ve got four more years here," the former Tucker Carlson Tonight host continued. "I’m stuck with Fox. Got to do whatever I can to keep our numbers up and our viewers happy.
Later in the conversation, Carlson worried Fox would be "destroyed" by the election, noting: "When Trump loses, he’s going to blame us. That’s going to be very bad."
This is far from the first time resurfaced videos or texts have come back to bite the controversial political commentator. Earlier this week, a lengthy message revealed Carlson once "rooted" for a young man to be beaten to death by a group of Trump supporters.
"I really wanted them to hurt the kid," he wrote in the message. "I could taste it."
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Mediaite reported the content of Carlson and Baier's conversation.
