Tucker Carlson is doing what Tucker Carlson does best, completely reframing an event to serve his own political leanings despite the mountains of evidence that prove otherwise. The Fox News host has recently doubled down on claims that the January 6 Capitol Insurrection was peaceful, airing videos that were provided to him by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tucker’s reporting on the events has called out as manipulative and dangerous, but nonetheless found traction with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Donald Trump.
Back on January 6 of 2021, after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 Presidential race, Trump urged supporters to fight back against what he claimed to be a “rigged election.” Those supporters then stormed Capitol Hill in an unprecedented attack on the building which left lawmakers, including Trump’s own Vice-President, Mike Pence, running and hiding in fear. The whole event was caught on camera at the time by news outlets as well as those stupid enough to film and post their own illegal actions online, with many of these videos leading to their arrest at a later date.
Recently, Speaker McCarthy granted Carlson over 40,000 hours worth of security footage, footage he has not handed over to any other news outlet. It would seem then that Tucker has been rather selective in the footage he has chosen to broadcast on his show on Monday, which shows the mob entering and wandering around the Capitol with no police engagement. Carlson has asserted that other media channels and government officials have lied about the nature of the riot, despite videos that very much prove that violence was perpetrated. McCarthy has since defended the Fox News pundit’s reporting of the event.
Other video footage, which directly contradicts Carlson’s false narrative, is now being shared on Twitter to counteract claims that this event was “peaceful,” with one such video shared by NBC News Justice reporter Ryan J. Reilly. We guess the Fox host will likely condemn this as “fake news,” given that it doesn’t align with his version of events.
The video shows senate rooms trashed, glass broken, and rioters breaking open and going through documents — a far cry from the “sightseers” narrative that Tucker has put forward. But we have known this for a long time, we saw real-time footage aired on the day that showed rioters breaking windows, threatening lawmakers, and pushing through law enforcement.
The Justice Department reported that over 120 law enforcement officials were injured on the day, and more than 60 individuals have pleaded guilty to attacking officers since. We don’t know where Carlson goes on his holidays, or what he does there, but this is not the package that most people sign up for when they’re taking a “sightseeing” vacation.
One tweet that surmises how many feel about this extremely one-sided and misguided depiction of a horrific day comes from actor and director Rob Reiner (This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride), who opined,
It isn’t just Democrats who find Carlson’s skewed reporting of the events to be dangerous; members of the GOP have also denounced his disinformation, with Republican former Rep. Adam Kinzinger calling the reporting “disgusting” and Carlson a “grifter,” telling CNN (later reported by The Independent),
“What Tucker Carlson does – and he’s done this the entire time he’s been as a grifter TV show host because he knows better than this, by the way – he takes a cut scene and creates a straw man.”
This is not the first time, and unfortunately will likely not be the last, that Carlson has pulled a stunt like this.
