A freshly resurfaced 1991 Trinity College yearbook featuring Fox News superstar Tucker Carlson listed him as part of the "Dan White Society," an organization affiliated with pushing an extreme anti-LGBTQ agenda. Another organization listed under Carlson's name in the yearbook was the "Jesse Helms Foundation," a reference to the arch-conservative former North Carolina senator, who for much of his career supported segregation.
As for the "Dan White Society," that appears to refer to the disgruntled local politician who became infamous for shooting and killing San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk — the nation's first well-known openly gay elected official — in 1978. Carlson, who was born in San Francisco and spent his early childhood there, was nine years old at the time.
The Wrap confirmed with Trinity College, a small liberal arts school in Hartford, Connecticut, that the yearbook images reproduced in numerous social media posts this week are authentic. "While I cannot speak to the yearbook process in 1991, current practice is that only a student's name, home state and/or country, and the student's major are listed with their photos," a Trinity College spokesperson told The Wrap.
Perhaps this is the story that @TuckerCarlson was trying to get ahead of. In his college yearbook, he listed himself as a member of the "Dan White Society."
Dan White was the man who murdered Harvey Milk. pic.twitter.com/TYklyfC8tS
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) April 21, 2021
Trinity officials also told The Wrap that they could find no evidence suggesting that the Dan White Society was an actual organization affiliated with the college. Snopes reports it could not find evidence that the Jesse Helms Foundation was a school-endorsed group either. The organizations' names could simply have been jokes in dubious taste. If they ever existed, they were likely unofficial or outside the college.
Fox News didn't return Salon's request for comment on this story.
During a Tuesday night segment on his show, Carlson attempted to go on defense, calling out Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple for seeking to contact former college classmates of Carlson's. "Jeff Bezos had one of his minions, a mentally unbalanced middle-aged man called Erik Wemple, pull out our dusty college yearbook and call around and see if we'd done anything naughty at the age of 19," Carlson declared.
"That sounds like fun. Let us know if you hear any good stories," Carlson added. "But before Bezos drops any more of his billions on opposition research, he should know that it will not affect any election outcome. This is a news show, not a political campaign. No one here is running for anything or plans to."
Certainly sounds like Tucker is trying to get ahead of an embarrassing story here. pic.twitter.com/l8LyLkMQRI
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) April 21, 2021
Wemple declined to comment on the matter when contacted by Salon.
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