Fact Check

Is Fox News Host Tucker Carlson in Critical Condition After Head-On Collision?

Reports that the Fox News Channel host succumbed to injuries from an automobile accident are fake news.

Published May 14, 2017

 (Gage Skidmore / FLICKR)
Image Via Gage Skidmore / FLICKR
Claim:
Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson succumbed to injuries from an automobile accident.

On 13 May 2017, the America's Last Line of Defense web site published an article positing that Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson had been critically injured in an automobile accident:

Fox News’ bright and shining primetime star, Tucker Carlson, was involved in a hit and run head-on collision on his way home from his live broadcast of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” which is shot at Fox News in New York City. NYC Police Sargeant Michael O’Leary told reporters that while he couldn’t confirm the identity of the driver, a well-known news anchor was rammed in what looked like an act of violence and not an accident.

EMT’s on the scene were heard on their radios describing the man as Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson after retrieving his wallet. He was transported to Saint Mary’s where he is said to be in critical condition and awaiting surgery. No other information is available from the hospital, which also refuses to release anything until they get the OK from police.

This report was followed up by one claiming that Carlson had succumbed to his injuries, and police had found that the traffic mishap that resulted in Carlson's death was no "accident":

Fox News superstar Tucker Carlson succumbed to his injuries and died overnight after being hit head-on while driving home. The Ford Explorer that crossed the median to slam into him was stolen, reinforced to sustain a head-on collision without killing the driver and left at the scene. After a preliminary investigation, police have ruled out an accident and Carlson’s cause of death has been ruled a homicide.

None of this was true. These reports originated solely with America's Last Line of Defense, a clickbait fake news site which engages in political trolling under the guise of producing "satire" -- and which published the very same sequence of fake news articles (i.e., "conservative political figure injured in car crash, incident later discovered to be no accident") about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin a month earlier.

Tucker Carlson remains alive and uninjured.

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.