Key supporters of former President Donald Trump have taken public shots and made irate phone calls to one of the front-runners for the No. 3 leadership position in the House GOP whip contest, which had previously been competitive.
According to a person with knowledge of the exchange, Republican Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota, who is vying for the whip post if Republicans regain the majority, engaged into a furious phone conversation with Fox News host Tucker Carlson last week.
According to the source, Carlson charged that Emmer fabricated a disparaging statement about Carlson’s 25-year-old son Buckley to appear in a Daily Beast article against Republican Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, one of Emmer’s main opponents for the whip position.
On the Republican Study Committee, a conservative Congressional caucus, Buckley Carlson works for Banks.
Requests for response from a Fox News spokeswoman were not answered.
Emmer vehemently refuted Carlson’s claim that he or his employees were responsible for the anonymous reference to Buckley Carlson in the Daily Beast article during the phone discussion, which was initially made public by Axios. In a statement, Emmer’s spokesman also refuted the charge.
