Fox News host Tucker Carlson confronted on his show Tuesday night a man who fooled The Washington Times with fake ads offering to pay agitators thousands of dollars to protest Trump’s inauguration.
Using the alias “Dom Tullipso,” the hoaxer posted ads for a group called Demand Protest, offering monthly $2,500 retainers in addition to a $50 hourly rate. The group claimed to have 1,817 operatives employed around the country, which Carlson pointed out would mean they were spending upwards of $54 million per year on retainers alone.
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Carlson called out “Tullipso,” saying he didn’t believe the hoaxer’s name or organization were real. “You have fooled other news organizations, you did not fool us,” Carlson said, “and my question is why are you doing it?”
“Tullipso,” whose hoax originally fooled The Washington Times, remained in character throughout the interview while making absurd comments all throughout. The Times later admitted their error.
“We are greatly greatly supportive of national treasures like Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Peyton Manning,” Tullipso claimed at one point.
“So you’re pretty supportive of Peyton Manning are you?” Carlson laughed, adding: “Obviously this is performance art.”
Manning, the former NFL quarterback, shares the last name as WikiLeaks leaker Chelsea Manning. Tullipso appeared to intentionally confuse the two Mannings, who are not related.
When asked if he was trying to make a “political statement,” Tullipso replied that “it’s pretty darn easy these days to just say whatever the heck you want on national TV and have it pass off as truth,” adding that he would not concede that the whole thing was a hoax.
He later claimed that his organization had changed its mission and would now be protesting the anti-Trump protesters.
“Did you think we were gonna fall for that?” Carlson asked in closing.
“I’m just surprised you put me on,” Tullipso replied, later adding: “God bless you for fact-checking.”