On Monday, far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson accused the National Security Agency (NSA) of illegally "spying" on him, citing an unnamed whistleblower whom Carlson said knew plans for a story that were only revealed in Carlson's electronic communications.
Carlson's razor-thin "evidence"—coupled with his long-established record of promoting deranged conspiracy theories to his millions of viewers—led many across social media to doubt and even mock him for the unhinged claim.
Now, the NSA itself has issued a statement outright denying that it's spying on Carlson at all.
A statement from NSA regarding recent allegations:pic.twitter.com/vduE6l6YWg— NSA/CSS (@NSA/CSS) 1625011226
The statement reads in part:
"This allegation is untrue. Tucker Carlson has never been an intelligence target of the Agency and the NSA has never had any plans to try to take his program off the air."
Despite the NSA unequivocally denying Carlson's allegations, the Fox News host insists the Agency didn't actually deny his claims. On Tuesday, Carlson was back on the air blasting the NSA and delving further into delusion.
Watch below.
Tucker claims NSA statement does not deny the NSA read his emailspic.twitter.com/ONUgc8Ciog— Acyn (@Acyn) 1625012940
Carlson said of the "infuriatingly dishonest formal statement":
"Last night on the show, we made a very straightforward claim. NSA has read my private emails without my permission. Period. That's what we said. Tonight's statement from the NSA does not deny that. ... The question remains, did the Biden Administration read my personal emails? That's the question that we asked directly to NSA officials when we spoke to them about 20 minutes ago in a very heated conversation."
Growing in hysteria, he continued:
"The message was clear: 'We can do whatever we want. We can read your personal texts, we can read your personal emails, we can send veiled threats your way to brush you back if we don't like your politics. We can do anything. We're our own country, and there's literally nothing you can do about it. We're in charge, you're not.' Orwellian doesn't even begin to describe it."
People didn't share Carlson's outrage over the seemingly bogus accusation.
Incidental Collection Man's only superpower is hyperventilating on TVhttps://twitter.com/acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— Jay McKenzie (@Jay McKenzie) 1625013400
The @TuckerCarlson doth protest too much, methinks. https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— Jorge A. Caballero, MD (@Jorge A. Caballero, MD) 1625022807
Tucker Carlson is scared. Very scared.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— Baligubadle (@Baligubadle) 1625013115
He wishes so hard that they took him for someone realhttps://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— Harriet Thompson (@Harriet Thompson) 1625013348
Omg. This guy. I was an MSNBC Intelligence Analyst and an Intelligence Officer and can say nobody read his emails or his search history, because the US stopped using the draft in 1973.pic.twitter.com/YKeb5xNhiD— Naveed Jamali (@Naveed Jamali) 1625018281
Dear lord @TuckerCarlson is whining like the pampered little rich boy I always took him for and then some. He clearly has no idea how surveillance authorities work, how collection occurs, or how minimization procedure work.pic.twitter.com/LLO25Sqn49— Bradley P. Moss (@Bradley P. Moss) 1625013578
The statement also doesn't deny eating tacos on Tuesdayshttps://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— Rebel Scum: Do not go gentle into that good night (@Rebel Scum: Do not go gentle into that good night) 1625015222
Noting the NSA's focus on foreign communications, not domestic ones, some wondered if Carlson inadvertently admitted to conspiring with foreign agents while blasting the NSA for supposedly monitoring him.
Does anyone hear this as his confirmation that he is communicating with foreign agents? Just me?https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— katkersten (@katkersten) 1625019929
So I guess he\u2019s admitting that he is in communication with foreign nationals who are likely under surveillance?https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— TheJeanJeannie (@TheJeanJeannie) 1625057426
Tell me you\u2019re in communication with foreign agents via email without telling me you\u2019re in communication with foreign agents via email\u2026https://twitter.com/acyn/status/1410032587045625857\u00a0\u2026— David Spector (@David Spector) 1625014365
There are a myriad of reasons why Tucker Carlson wouldn't be an intelligence target.
