Tucker Carlson of Fox News is facing criticism yet again, this time for a deceptive depiction of the events of January 6 during broadcasts of his high-profile show on Fox News this week.
His idea is essentially that what happened that day wasn’t as bad as what’s been portrayed, and in support of this notion, he has been using select portions of footage from places around the Capitol complex on January 6 that, among other things, don’t depict active physical violence. The idea, though, that these clips somehow meaningfully do away with the reality of the documented violence that took place — or an imaginarily contrived narrative Carlson claimed has driven talk about that day — is nonsensical. He spotlighted how a prominent rioter, Jacob Chansley, could be seen inside the Capitol not engaging in violence… but Chansley wasn’t accused of violence in the allegations to which he eventually admitted before his unfolding prison sentence.
“With regard to the presentation on Fox News last night, I want to associate myself entirely with the opinion of the chief of the Capitol Police about what happened on January 6,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who remains the Senate Republican leader, told reporters on Tuesday, evidently without first being asked about the topic — although, as could be expected, he later faced more questions.
Asked about whether Kevin McCarthy letting Carlson have access to the footage was appropriate, McConnell said: “My concern is how it was depicted, which is a different issue. Clearly, the chief of the Capitol Police, in my view, correctly describes what most of us witnessed firsthand on January 6… It was a mistake in my view for Fox News to depict this in a way that’s completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here at the Capitol thinks.” One of the specific points of contention that the Capitol Police chief raised was with Carlson focusing on officers supposedly broadly showing themselves as supportive or at least not that concerned about the rioters. In reality, cops that day were vastly outnumbered and trying to manage resources, including through trying tactics other than just arresting everybody. These details have been well-documented.
Check out McConnell’s comments below:
McConnell: With regard to the presentation on Fox last night, I want to associate myself entirely with the opinion of the chief of the Capitol Police about what happened on January 6th pic.twitter.com/5g6b3XeEAk
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 7, 2023
McConnell: It was a mistake in my view for Fox to depict this in a way that’s completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official at the Capitol thinks pic.twitter.com/gfStuaTmKd
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 7, 2023
