Court documents unsealed in a $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News have exposed a chasm between the network's public support for Donald Trump and the private views of its most prominent stars. The lawsuit, brought by Dominion Voting Systems, alleges the network knowingly aired false claims of election fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
Text messages from Tucker Carlson, one of the network's most-watched hosts, show him describing Trump as "a demonic force" and declaring "I hate him passionately". In another exchange, Carlson said Trump had a talent to "destroy things" and that there was "really not an upside to Trump". Yet in 2017, Carlson had said Trump was "the greatest president that ever will be". Similar contradictions have emerged for other hosts, with Rupert Murdoch, chair of Fox Corp, privately telling executives that some presenters "went too far".
The disclosures paint a picture of a network anxious about losing its audience to more extreme competitors. Internal emails show concern over viewer fury after Fox correctly called Arizona for Joe Biden on election night. Ratings dropped from first to third, and thousands of viewers migrated to Newsmax, while Carlson wrote to a producer about lost credibility and trust. Michael Steele, a former Republican National Committee chairman, described the relationship as toxic: "They are good and bad for each other at the same time."
Despite the acrimony, analysts say each side remains dependent on the other. While Fox hosts may privately favour Ron DeSantis for the 2024 nomination, they have signalled a willingness to back Trump again. The outcome of the lawsuit could yet reshape a relationship that has dominated conservative media for over a decade.
