Tucker Carlson denies ‘absurd’ claim that Ron DeSantis kicked his dog

The alleged interaction transpired at the Carlsons’ home during a lunch with Rupert Murdoch’s ‘favoured candidate’ for 2024

After Florida Gov Ron DeSantis was accused of kicking Tucker Carlson’s dog in Michael Wolff’s new book, the former Fox News host pushed back, calling the claim “absurd.”

The forthcoming book, The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty, details many prominent individuals in the world of Fox. According to The Daily Beast, which obtained a copy of the book, Wolff outlined one particular incident during a lunch between the former Fox News host and Mr DeSantis, who was reportedly considered to be Fox owner Rupert Murdoch’s “favoured candidate” for the 2024 election.

Mr DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis were invited to the Carlsons’ Florida home, where Wolff reported that the Florida governor failed the “Susie Carlson test.”

In other words, “the DeSanti” were unable “to read the room,” especially with Carlson’s wife, whom Wolff described as “a genteel, stay-at-home woman, here in her own house.”

According to the book, “For two hours Ron DeSantis sat at her table talking in an outdoor voice indoors, failing to observe any basics of conversation ritual or propriety, reeling off an unselfconscious list of his programs and initiatives and political accomplishments.”

But then things went from bad to worse. During the lunch, Mr DeSantis seemed to take some frustration out on one of the Carlsons’ four spaniels, the book alleged.

Wolff detailed the uncertainty of the interaction: “DeSantis pushed the dog under the table. Had he kicked the dog? Susie Carlson’s judgment was clear: she did not ever want to be anywhere near anybody like that ever again. Her husband agreed. DeSantis, in Carlson’s view, was a ‘fascist.’”

When Insider asked Carlson about the incident, he told the outlet via text: “This is absurd. He never touched my dog, obviously.”

A spokesperson for Mr DeSantis echoed this sentiment, writing in a statement to The Daily Beast: “The totality of that story is absurd and false. Some will say or write anything to attack Ron DeSantis because they know he presents a threat to their worldview.”

The DeSantis spokesperson continued, “But rest assured that as president the one thing he will squarely kick is the DC elitists in both parties either under or over the table, and that’s why they are so desperately fighting back.”