The hotly contested claim that Ron DeSantis kicked Tucker Carlson’s dog came from the TV host himself, it is claimed.
The anecdote was revealed by author Michael Wolff in his great book The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty.
Both sides fiercely denied the claim when it appeared in the bombshell book that left DC insiders stunned with a behind-the-scenes look at the media empire.
But Wolff has now revealed that he was informed by the dog owner in question.
“The source of this is Tucker himself,” Wolff told Mediaite, “I’m just repeating what he told me. I can’t tell you whether that happened or not. I can tell you with the utmost authority that that is what he said happened.”
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson repeatedly interviewed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but a dinner invitation to meet their wives went disastrously wrong, it is claimed
Carlson’s wife Susie was walking one of the couple’s four dogs near their Florida home
Provocative author Michael Wolff (pictured) has detailed the shocking allegations in his forthcoming book entitled The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty, due out on September 26.
The book claims that Carlson thought about running for president to escape his Fox News contract, Rupert Murdoch thought Fox host Sean Hannity was “retarded,” and that Murdoch’s then-wife Jerry Hall made him a called homophobic.
But as DeSantis faces the wrath of animal lovers, both he and Carlson have taken pains to deny the dog story, with the TV host calling it “completely fabricated” and the governor calling it “false and absurd.”
Carlson invited DeSantis and his wife, Casey, to lunch at his home last spring as Florida Governor Donald Trump was trailing in the polls in the race to win the Republican presidential nomination.
Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch had urged his hosts to hear from DeSantis, but things turned sour when the governor arrived at Carlson’s Boca Grande home for the intimate occasion with the host and his wife Susie.
Carlson’s wife is described in the book as a “posh, stay-at-home wife,” whose world consists of “her children, her dogs, and the books she was reading.”
“The DeSantises were put to the Susie Carlson test,” the book claims.
“They failed miserably. They had a total inability to read the room
“For two hours, Ron DeSantis sat at her table indoors, talking in an outer voice, with no regard for any basic conversational ritual or decency, while compiling an unconscious list of his programs, initiatives, and political achievements.
“The Carlsons are dog people with four spaniels, the offspring of other spaniels they’ve had before, sleeping in their bed.
“DeSantis pushed the dog under the table. Had he kicked the dog?
“Susie Carlson’s judgment was clear: she never wanted to be around someone like that again.
Her husband agreed. DeSantis, according to Carlson, was a “fascist.” Forget Ron DeSantis.”
DeSantis, pictured with wife Casey, ‘completely misread the room’ when the couple was invited to lunch with Carlson and his wife Susie, the book claims
Tucker and Susan (pictured in 2019) have been married since 1991 and share four children
The DeSantis campaign hit back, calling the “totality” of that story “absurd and false.”
“Some will say or write anything to attack Ron DeSantis because they know he is a threat to their worldview,” a spokesperson claimed.
Carslon, 54, was fired by Fox News in April of his year in the wake of the disastrous $786 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems for broadcasting false claims that its equipment had transferred votes from Trump to Joe Biden.
He has since relaunched himself on X – formerly Twitter – and provided his old employers with a live interview with Trump last month when they hosted the debate of the first Republican presidential candidates.
He did not deny that he considered DeSantis a “fascist,” but emphasized last week that the dog anecdote was not true.
“This is absurd, he obviously never touched my dog,” he told Insider.
When asked if Carlson was lying, Wolff said, “I don’t know, maybe he exaggerated. Maybe he lied. Don’t know. Maybe he regrets saying that. I have no idea.
“Like I said, this comes from the horse’s mouth.”