See them: Are these the internal messages that led Fox News to fire top talent Tucker Carlson?

The New York Times has published internal messages from former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that may have been responsible for his firing from the network.

The Times report noted that a text from Carlson on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after the Capitol incursion, “set off a panic at the highest levels of Fox” as it was facing a trial against Dominion Voting Systems. The report added that Fox news executives were not aware of the texts until April 16, or roughly a week before Carlson's show was taken off the air.

His texts said: “A couple of weeks ago, I was watching video of people fighting on the street in Washington. A group of Trump guys surrounded an Antifa kid and started pounding the living s*** out of him. It was three against one, at least. Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously. It’s not how white men fight.

“Yet suddenly I found myself rooting for the mob against the man, hoping they’d hit him harder, kill him. I really wanted them to hurt the kid. I could taste it," he added.

His more rational thought processes kicked in then, however.

“Then somewhere deep in my brain, an alarm went off: this isn’t good for me. I’m becoming something I don’t want to be. The Antifa creep is a human being. Much as I despise what he says and does, much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him,” the text continued. 

“I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering. I should be bothered by it. I should remember that somewhere somebody probably loves this kid, and would be crushed if he was killed. If I don’t care about those things, if I reduce people to their politics, how am I better than he is?” Carlson wrote, the Times report said.

The Times said the text was redacted in court filings but its full contents “were disclosed in interviews with several people close to the defamation lawsuit against Fox.”