Fox News’ Tucker Carlson has flipped 41,000 hours of January 6 security video and launched an impassioned new attempt to explain away the deadly attack on the Capitol, increasingly linking the Republican Party to pro-Trump conspiracy theories about the 2021 presidential election becomes riot.
The conservative commentator aired a first episode Monday to millions of viewers on his primetime show, seeking to turn perceptions of the violent, exhausting siege that has unfolded for the world into a narrative favorable to former President Trump’s change. . A small extra piece was shown on Tuesday when critics called for it to be stopped.
Fox News’ move comes as Trump is once again running for president, and executives at the cable news giant’s highest levels have admitted in lawsuits that he spread the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election, though he denied Trump’s claims. privately denied.
The effort follows the work of Republicans on Capitol Hill, led by Bakersfield House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who turned over the security footage to Fox. Republicans are trying to discredit the findings of the Jan. 6 House investigation, which was painstakingly documented with testimony — mostly Republican — and video evidence of Trump calling on his supporters to go to the Capitol and “fight like hell” , as did Congress acknowledging its loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, Trump argued that Carlson’s presentation was “irrefutable” evidence that rioters were falsely accused of crimes and thanked the host and speaker for their work. Carlson praised McCarthy for “correcting” the official account.
Trump again called for the release of those convicted or pleaded guilty to the attack.
At the same time, criticism has been leveled by Democrats — as well as some senior Republicans — about the GOP’s attempt to reinforce falsehoods about the onslaught seen around the world as Trump supporters besieged the seat of American democracy.
Representative Bennie Thompson, the Democrat presiding over the January 6 parliamentary inquiry, called McCarthy’s decision to selectively release the security footage “dereliction of duty.”
“The announcer decided that giving in to a Fox host spreading lies and propaganda was more important than protecting the Capitol,” Thompson said in a statement. He called January 6 “one of the darkest days in the history of our democracy”.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) called Monday night’s Fox News episode of Carlson “one of the most embarrassing hours we’ve ever seen on television.”
The show’s portrayal was “an affront to any cop” who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, Schumer said, particularly the family of Brian Sicknick, who died after battling the mob. “Nonviolence? Ask his family.”
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said it was a mistake by Fox News to present the footage as it did — contrary to the Capitol Police review and what he and others said at the Capitol on Jan. 6 would have seen.
But McCarthy, who stopped blaming Trump for the uprising but softened his criticism of the former president, stood by his decision, saying people can watch and “come to their own conclusions.”
In the roughly 30-minute segment, Fox distilled thousands of hours of footage from the day’s gruesome scenes at the Capitol, showing some of the hand-to-hand combat as rioters besieged the building, smashing and kicking windows. doors to gain access.
But Carlson also emphasized footage of the invaders, some in riot gear and carrying flagpoles, simply walking the gilded corridors, snapping photos of the area during lulls in the hour-long attack.
“They weren’t insurgents. They were attractions,” said Carlson.
The footage he broadcast focused on one of the most notorious rioters, Jacob Chansley, the “QAnon shaman,” in his horned hat and shirtless prowling the building as officers stood by or opened doors. Chansley pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of due process and was sentenced to 41 months in prison.
Carlson denounced the bipartisan committee of the 6th as Adam Kinzinger, a liar.
Carlson revived the falsehoods of Trump and his allies, including Republicans in Congress, that the attackers were peaceful protesters and were behaving like tourists, despite that day’s well-documented massacre and the deaths of five people in the riot and the aftermath of the riot. It is part of an effort to drop charges against those accused of the attack, many of whom have pleaded guilty and said they regret their actions on January 6.
Capitol police officers defending themselves from the mob testified of their harrowing experiences — one said she slipped in other people’s blood, while another said she was crushed in the mob — while they were at work and there ultimately failed to stop the rioters from storming the Capitol. .
The criminal proceedings resulting from the riot exposed the violence. Officials testified in court that they were chased, beaten, dragged and feared for their lives as they tried to defend the Capitol. One tweeted pictures of his cuts, stitches and swollen bruises from that day late Monday.
Among those who died in the riot and its aftermath were rioter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot dead by police, and Capitol police officer Sicknick, who died after fighting the mob.
Carlson broadcast footage of Sicknick at the Capitol picking up signs and politely leading protesters out the door to show that the officer had not been killed in the stampede.
The latter was called “the most disturbing allegation of last night” by Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger.
“The department maintains, as anyone in their right mind would, that if Officer Sicknick had not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted, Officer Sicknick would not have died the next day,” Manger said in a memo to the agency. Police.
He said the program was “picked” from quieter times of the day, ignoring “the chaos and violence that happened before or during the programme”.
The Sicknick family said in a statement that the footage simply shows Brian Sicknick bravely returning to his duties for a while after being attacked by a chemical agent.
Ken Sicknick, brother of Brian Sicknick, said in an interview that the family “didn’t know” how to defend themselves against a network with millions of viewers and the Speaker of the House of Representatives giving access to the footage.
The failure of law enforcement on January 6 was scrutinized and acknowledged by Congress: Police failed to respond to signs of an imminent attack and were slow to respond appropriately, including strengthening the National Guard.
According to an Associated Press report, more than half of the roughly 1,000 people charged with federal crimes related to riots at the Capitol have pleaded guilty, including more than 130 who have pleaded guilty to felonies.
Members of extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are facing rare charges of sedition for their role in leading the attack. Several members of the Oath Keepers were found guilty of sedition. Hundreds of other rioters were charged only with felony charges, and many served no jail time.
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill rushed to tell the January 6 story through the House Administration Committee, which opened an online portal for public input.
However, some GOP leaders seemed uncomfortable with McCarthy’s move and the way the footage was used.
McConnell quickly distanced himself from the effort, saying he wanted to “entirely join” the police chief’s views.
McConnell said, “Obviously, the Capitol Police Chief is accurately describing what most of us saw firsthand on January 6.”
Source: LA Times