Fox News host Tucker Carlson ended his first program back from his “long-planned” vacation by accusing The New York Times of trying to “injure” and “inflict pain” on his family by doing a story on where he lives.
Carlson, who is at the center of a firestorm at Fox News over the racist content of his top-rated primetime show, didn’t address any of the current controversies he finds himself mired in on Monday night, including a lawsuit accusing him of sexually harassing a frequent female guest.
The Fox News star, however, did devote the closing segment of the show to preemptively attacking The New York Times for an upcoming article on his family that will supposedly contain his address. Recently, Variety reported that Carlson had sold his tony Washington, D.C., home and appears to have purchased a new property in Florida.
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Claiming that he’s “really tried not to talk about myself” during his show’s run because the last thing America needs is “more narcissism,” Carlson said the Times has been working on a story about where he lives. Saying there’s “no conceivable justification for a story like that,” the conservative host then alleged the report was based on personal animosity and a disdain for his politics.
“So why is The New York Times doing a story on the location of my family’s house?” Carlson said. “Well, you know why. To hurt us, to injure my wife and kids so that I will shut up and stop disagreeing with them. They believe in force. We’ve learned that.”
Carlson then brought up an incident from a few years ago when protesters appeared at his house. He said a “left-wing journalist” published his address at the time and that the protesters “threatened” his wife. He decided to sell his home despite loving the neighborhood because of the threats he’s received, he said.
Targeting the reporters assigned to the new story, Carlson said the editors at the Times “know exactly what will happen to my family when it does run” but don’t care because “they want my show off the air.”
“If one of my children gets hurt because of a story they wrote, they won’t consider it collateral damage—they know it’s the whole point of the exercise,” he bellowed. “To inflict pain on our family, to terrorize us, to control what we say. That’s the kind of people they are.”
After saying the paper will deny his allegations and “claim it’s just journalism,” Carlson wrapped up the segment by issuing a veiled threat to the reporters and editors working on the story.
“What if we publicize the home address of every one of the soulless robot editors of The New York Times who assigned and manage this incitement to violence against my family?” he huffed. “What about the media editor, Jim Windolf? We could do that. We know who they are. Will that qualify as journalism?”
Following Carlson’s fiery remarks, The New York Times released a statement denying the Fox host’s central complaint that the paper was planning on publishing the address of any of his homes.
“While we do not confirm what may or may publish in future editions, The Times has not and does not plan to expose any residence of Tucker Carlson’s, which Carlson was aware of before tonight’s broadcast,” the paper said.
