Topline
Fox News host Tucker Carlson hit back at a string of Republican senators on Tuesday who criticized his misleading publication of January 6 video footage downplaying the seriousness of the riot, saying on his show that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others somehow “exposed” themselves as secretly aligned with the Democrats given of their indignation towards him.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks at the National Review Institute Ideas Summit at the … [+]
Highlights
Carlson specifically called out McConnell, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Sen. Thom Tillis (RN.C.), who called Carlson’s selection of videos “bulls…”.
He claimed the senators managed to “degrade themselves” by criticizing the release of the video, adding that they were “telling such obvious lies and calling for censorship”.
Carlson faced a wave of bipartisan criticism Tuesday for videos he aired on his show Monday, which he said showed police ‘acting as tour guides’ for rioters and suggested the death of the Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick on Jan. 7, 2021, was unrelated to the riot.
Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger slammed Carlson in a letter to his police force on Tuesday for “conveniently cherry-[picking] quieter moments” of the riot, noting that police used “de-escalation tactics” because they were “outnumbered” by the rioters and calling Carlson’s framing of Sicknick “the most disturbing” of liberation.
McConnell said after the letter was released, “I want to associate myself fully with the opinion of the Capitol Police Chief of what happened on January 6.”
crucial quote
“If you want to know who is really aligned, despite the illusion of partisanship, we found out today,” Carlson said on his show, calling the backlash against him “hysteria” and a sign of “panic. ” policy.
Key Context
The Carlson Show exclusively obtained 41,000 hours Jan. 6 riot footage of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last month, in a move that has also drawn bipartisan criticism given Carlson’s history of taking the news out of context and to give a misleading turn to the subjects. The host’s controversial video release and renewed suggestion that the rioters were largely ‘tourists’ who protested on Capitol Hill against the ‘serious betrayal of American democracy’ also comes at a precarious time for Fox News, which is watching a $1.6 billion lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems accusing it of defamation for spreading false conspiracy theories about voting machines. Fox Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch said in a recent deposition that some Fox News hosts “approved” former President Donald Trump’s baseless fraud allegations in the 2020 election, saying, “I wish we were stronger to call him out in hindsight.” Fox News attorneys argued the lawsuit was without merit since the hosts were acting as reporters investigating a complaint by the President of the United States. Text messages made public in a Dominion court filing last month appeared to show Carlson and other high-profile hosts privately taunting to Trump’s fraud allegationsCarlson calling then-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell “shockingly reckless” for arguing that the Dominion machines were somehow rigged against Trump.
Contra
Trump called the release of the video footage a vindication of the jailed Jan. 6 rioters, telling Truth Social that they should be freed based on the “IRREFUTABLE” video.
Further reading
President McCarthy gives Tucker Carlson 41,000 hours of January 6 footage (Forbes)
Murdoch admits Fox News hosts pushed bogus claims of voter fraud (Forbes)