Uncovered legal filings show popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson vehemently disparaging former President Donald Trump in private text conversations following the 2020 election, going as far as saying he hates Trump "passionately."

"We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait," said Carlson's message to an unidentified Fox employee on Jan. 4, 2021, according to the filing, which was unsealed Tuesday. "I hate him passionately, I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I can't handle much more of this."

Carlson's text was released as part of legal filings stemming from Dominion Voting System's $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the news network. Dominion has accused Fox of consciously spreading false claims about the company and airing election conspiracy theorists affiliated with Trump and his allies.

New information has continued to be released as part of the Dominion-Fox legal battle, and Carlson's alleged hatred of the former president does not come as a surprise in light of previous filings. In February, court documents showed Rupert Murdoch, the revered head of Fox, calling the behavior of Trump and his allies post-2020 election "crazy stuff."

Fox has battled Dominion's evidence throughout the proceedings, arguing the company has cherry-picked quotes to better suit its case and calling for the entirety of the suit to be thrown out on the basis of the First Amendment. Fox has steered clear of mentioning the lawsuit on air but continues to take on Dominion in the mainstream media.

"Thanks to today's filings, Dominion has been caught red-handed using more distortions and misinformation in their PR campaign to smear FOX News and trample on free speech and freedom of the press," Fox said in a statement. "We already know they will say and do anything to try to win this case, but to twist and even misattribute quotes to the highest levels of our company is truly beyond the pale."

Carlson's admission is all the more surprising given the current spin he is putting on the exclusive security-camera footage from the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Carlson refers to those storming the Capitol as "sightseers" rather than insurrectionists.

Carlson, whose relationship with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy permitted him access to the footage, has received extensive criticism from both sides of the aisle due to his downplaying and misrepresentation of the events that took place during the fateful insurrection.

The trial in the Fox-Dominion case is expected to begin in April.

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