Tucker Carlson reportedly 'furious' at Fox for 'not backing him up' on NSA spying claims
Tensions are reportedly high between Fox News host Tucker Carlson and network executives after they have failed to support his claims that the National Security Agency spied on him.
Carlson is "furious" with Fox News executives "for not backing him up" after he alleged the NSA spied on him and was seeking to get his show taken off the air, CNN reports.
"Tensions are sky high," a source told CNN.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Carlson, citing an alleged whistleblower, first made his claim late last month that the NSA was "monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air," prompting the NSA to release a statement denying his allegations as "untrue." CNN notes that one would normally expect statements from Fox News strongly denouncing the NSA's actions if Carlson's allegations were correct, but executives haven't done so, and the claim also hasn't received coverage on the air from Fox's news department.
Following a report from Axios that Carlson made his claims after seeking an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Fox did say it supports "any of our hosts pursuing interviews and stories free of government interference," but according to CNN, Carlson saw this statement as being "wholly insufficient." Another source told CNN that while Carlson has "always had tension with" Fox News' management, he's now "extra pissed." Carlson, meanwhile, denied CNN's "absurd" reporting.
"I'm not mad at anyone at Fox," Carlson told a CNN reporter. "If I was, I'd say so. I'm mad at you for lying relentlessly. What a loathsome person you are. Please print that."
-
Ultimate pasta alla NormaThe Week Recommends White miso and eggplant enrich the flavour of this classic pasta dish
-
Death in Minneapolis: a shooting dividing the USIn the Spotlight Federal response to Renee Good’s shooting suggest priority is ‘vilifying Trump’s perceived enemies rather than informing the public’
-
5 hilariously chilling cartoons about Trump’s plan to invade GreenlandCartoons Artists take on misdirection, the need for Greenland, and more
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
Maduro pleads not guilty in first US court hearingSpeed Read Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty to cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracy
-
Iran’s government rocked by protestsSpeed Read The death toll from protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency has reached at least 19
-
Israel approves new West Bank settlementsSpeed Read The ‘Israeli onslaught has all but vanquished a free Palestinian existence in the West Bank’
-
US offers Ukraine NATO-like security pact, with caveatsSpeed Read The Trump administration has offered Ukraine security guarantees similar to those it would receive from NATO
-
Hong Kong court convicts democracy advocate LaiSpeed Read Former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai was convicted in a landmark national security trial
