Oh what a fun week I’ve had. I’ve been reading all the texts and transcripts just released in court documents in the defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion (voting machines) against Fox News. But, stop right there for a moment. I’m not gloating. Just because I’m not a fan of Fox News doesn’t mean I can’t see the media conglomerate winning this lawsuit.
All I’m saying is that I’m still snickering over the big headlines which zeroed in on all those private cellphone texts; you know the ones that exposed what Fox News hosts like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham really thought about Trump’s claims of election fraud; and what Fox talk show host Tucker Carlson really thought of Donald Trump while sucking up to him on-air.
Treasure Trove
What a treasure trove of texts between Carlson and his producer Alex Pfeiffer about Trump. in the days following the 2020 election.
There was the text stating: “ I hate him passionately.” And, another stating: “We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.” Some of the articles about Tucker’s texts illustrated the story with a photo showing Trump (in his Maga hat) with Tucker laughing uproariously beside him. (Now wondering: Is he laughing with Trump or at Trump?)
What Do Tucker’s Texts Have To Do With It?
Specifically, Dominion points to 12 defamatory instances where it says Fox News anchors including Tucker Carlson repeated lies/false allegations about its voting machines. Dominion says they were lies told by Trump’s lawyers, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani that the machines were used to rig the 2020 election by using a software algorithm that switched votes from Trump to Biden.
Dominion further points to texts from Carlson’s cellphone and other Fox anchor cellphones like those of Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham to argue that it has proved a threshold element of a defamation case, that of actual malice. That is, Fox repeated/published these false allegations knowing they were false; and that they broadcast falsities because that’s what their Trump-voting viewers wanted to hear.
And, how does Dominion think they’ve proved that? By pointing to texts from Carlson’s cellphone and other Fox anchor cellphones where they described the allegations privately, between themselves as “ludicrous”, “nuts,” and “bullshit.”
“Most Newsworthy Story” of the Day
Fox’s response, in a nutshell, is simply that as a news organization it had a right to publish newsworthy allegations that the voting machines were rigged against Trump. And what could be more newsworthy, says Fox News, than such allegations being made on behalf of a sitting president? Moreover, being made by lawyers who stated on air, on Fox News, that they had proof which they would produce in lawsuits they intended to file?
Fox adds that they presented Trump’s claims as allegations being made by lawyers and that any “reasonable viewer” would understand by the phrases they used on the air that these claims of rigged Dominion machines were merely allegations and not proven facts.
Of course, the question Dominion might posit is : Who or what is a “reasonable viewer” when it comes to the primetime audience of Fox News?
A judge in Delaware has set March 21 as the date for oral hearing of the motions on summary judgment filed by both parties. If he denies both motions, a jury trial is scheduled for April.
No Upside To Trump
In the meantime, we can delight a little longer in the revelations of Tucker Carlson’s bald-faced hypocrisy. We can remind ourselves that for four years, while Carlson rabidly extolled Trump’s presidency on air, this is what he really thought about #45 –as he demonstrated in texts to his producer:
“He’s a demonic force, a destroyer. But he’s not going to destroy us. I’ve been thinking about this everyday for four years.
“That’s the last four years. We’re all pretending we’ve got a lot to show for it, because admitting what a disaster it’s been is too tough to digest. But come on. There isn’t really an upside to Trump.
“All of [his business ventures] fail. What he’s good at is destroying things. He’s the undisputed world champion of that. He could easily destroy us if we play it wrong… He’s only good at destroying.”
Wow! How about that? So, all this time Tucker was thinking what the majority of us voters had the courage to say out loud.
That Stupid Smirk
I always disliked Carlson the most of all Fox hosts not only because of the inanities he spouted but also because of his smug, superior attitude. I dislike the way he smirks. Or, when he adopts that fake-puzzled expression. Then, again maybe he is genuinely puzzled that his viewers actually believe all that over-the-top nonsense he peddles.
What worries me is that Trump supporters will either not believe the transcripts, or will not care.
Or they just won’t see these texts, Mike. Fox has still not reported on this lawsuit. And, you can bet your life that if and when Fox does report on it, all these revelations which, by the way, are buried in thousands of pages of documents will not make it into Fox’s reporting. Since most Fox viewers don’t watch anything else, they’ll never really know. And, really, who cares? We know.
Great post Joanna!! I personally always thought Tucker looks like he’s trying to squeeze out a turd when he adopts that expression lol
A very apt analogy, Eldon, since for the most part he does spew out shit in his Fox time slot! If you ever have the chance to catch up with Ari Melber’s report on MSNBC tonight, he had a very interesting profile about Tucker as a journalist. Worth watching.
I’ll look for that. Thanks 🙂
You’re to political.
And one sided at that!
Do you have anything negative to say about
Your dishonest party?
Sandra, I would ask you to perhaps re-read this blog. This was not about party politics; nor even about politics at all. It was about journalism and a lawsuit that is about First Amendment freedoms.Both areas are of great interest to me since I am both a journalist and a lawyer.
Perhaps, you missed my sentence in the first paragraph where I say that I won’t be surprised if Fox News wins this defamation lawsuit. I also think I was fair and balanced in giving both sides of the legal argument further down in the blog.
I would not be at all unhappy for Fox News to win this lawsuit since having read the briefs and the summary judgment motions for both sides, I can see merit in Fox’s argument for its First Amendment rights. For me, the First Amendment is sacrosanct — even when it protects the rights of a news organization I don’t watch!!
Finally, forgive me but I really couldn’t help feeling gleeful to discover that even Fox anchors/talk show hosts privately hold the same opinions about Trump that these days almost everyone in the Republican party shares with virtually the rest of the world. No-one wants him back. Were you not at the Republican Party “pow-wow” at the Breakers a couple of weeks ago where DeSantis was hailed as the new savior, and Trump wasn’t even invited?