Tucker Carlson generally makes headlines for his adversarial stances, including this week’s admission that he’s never actually understood critical race theory, despite complaining about it for the better part of a year. Strangely enough, however, news has surfaced surrounding a medical procedure that reportedly went down on that the same day of that declaration. Page Six reported in their “We Hear” column that Tucker underwent Carlson reportedly had been ailing for “several weeks,” and one of his producers drove him to the hospital on Tuesday night following election night coverage. He had surgery early Wednesday and popped back on the Fox News airwaves by Wednesday evening, and throughout all of this, he never missed a show.
Vice reports more details via its Motherboard blog, which reported that Tucker described the incident as “one of the most traumatic things that’s ever happened to me in my whole life, ever.” Details on what prompted the severe back pain remain unclear, but here’s more from Vice, including a statement from Fox News:
“Tucker Carlson had emergency back surgery yesterday and did the show anyway. He thanks all those who tuned in and watched closely.” But before Wednesday night’s broadcast of his Tucker Carlson Tonight program, Carlson–who by all accounts doesn’t drink or use drugs–spoke in detail on set to his production team about what he experienced, and said that because he was treated with intravenous fentanyl and other powerful painkillers, he now understands America’s opioid crisis in a deeper way.
Perhaps we’ll hear more from Tucker on-air, although one thing is clear: if Tucker wants to talk about it, he will talk, and if he doesn’t (as with his vaccination status), then we won’t hear anything at all.