Tucker Carlson confessed to being “fundamentally a dick” in a text exchange with a journalist.
In messages that Insider’s Mattathias Schwartz tweeted Wednesday, the former Fox News personality responded to a question about a potential presidential run by saying he’d announce his campaign “Friday in New Hampshire.”
When Schwartz asked if he could call Carlson to back up the story, Carlson admitted he was “totally kidding.”
Carlson, who has admitted to lying on the air, said sorry and added: “I can never control myself. I’m fundamentally a dick. My apologies.”
“It’s okay,” replied Schwartz. “I can appreciate a good troll. So you’ve ruled 2024 out completely, it sounds like.”
Carlson did not reply, Schwartz reported in his piece for Insider.
In a later tweet, Schwartz suggested Carlson’s hope “was that we would go with it and hit print based on the one text.”
“But I don’t know that,” he added.
Carlson was reportedly fired from Fox News last month for a reason that remains unknown. He himself has not addressed a run for the White House, despite multiple commentators suggesting he may take on Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
This week, Carlson revealed he was launching a new show on Twitter.