‘It Was a Mistake’ for Fox News to Let Tucker Carlson Depict Jan. 6 Footage as He Did: Sen. McConnell

Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters on March 7, that the Senate was in a “mistake” Fox News will allow Tucker Carlson’s depiction of the Jan. 6 events to be shown on its March 6 Daily Program.

On Feb. 20, it was announced that Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had given Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 hours of surveillance footage from the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Carlson hosts two shows: His primetime show and his second program. “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” The show attracted over 3.5million viewers in one week earlier this month. “Tucker Carlson Originals,” Carlson has created a series of new documentaries. Carlson might draw on the footage McCarthy provided for both programs.

In the last Congress the Jan.6 panel promoted a narrative that described the Capitol breach, which was the culmination a long-running effort by Trump supporters to overthrow U.S. government.

This panel formed in a majority party line vote. It included two Republicans, former Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger (R.Ill.). Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., both fierce Trump critics.

Accordingly, panel members were criticized for unfairly weighing the former president against their narrative.

Carlson is often critical of the narrative on his television show.

Carlson dismisses Jan. 6 in the past. “outbreak of mob violence, a forgettably minor outbreak by recent standards.”

McConnell on the other hand, has mostly rubber stamped Jan. 6’s official narrative leading to conflicts with his party members over this issue.

Carlson aired January 6 footage from Jan. 6. On March 6, he concluded that the truth was radically different than the narrative of the committee.

“Taken as a whole, the video record does not support the claim that January 6 was an insurrection,” Carlson stated. “In fact, it demolishes that claim.”

Later, McConnell, the Senate GOP Leader was asked if this was true. “mistake” McCarthy should give Carlson the video footage.

“My concern is how it was depicted,” McConnell was ambivalent. “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,” McConnell cited a U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Manger letter, which was published after Carlson’s segment.

Manger said that the segment was a mistake. “offensive and misleading conclusions about the January 6 attack.”

McConnell said that Manger is correct when he was asked about it.

“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,” McConnell said.

Our Findings

Carlson’s first segment utilizing the new footage was broadcast on March 6th.

“Virtually no one in Washington, D.C., Republican or Democrat, wanted these tapes released tonight,” Carlson said this in the kickoff of the explosive segment.

“Democrats in Congress, assisted by [Reps. Adam Kinzinger (D-Ill.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)], lied about what happened that day,” He continued.

“They are liars,” He stressed. “That fact should prevent them from ever being taken seriously again.”

These are the videos that people haven’t seen “paint a very different picture of what happened that day” Carlson said that Carlson was comparing the story of the Jan.6 panel to his.

“By controlling the images you could see from January 6, they controlled how the public understood that day.”

Carlson stated that the USCP did not find much to fault with the Carlson footage despite being warned by the left about imminent disaster. Carlson claimed that only one change was requested by Capitol Police: blurring out details for a single entrance.

The “enormous crowd” Carlson stated that the Capitol was entered that day. “only a few were hooligans” Who were involved in illegal or violent activities.

“These were not insurrectionists—they were sightseers,” Carlson stated. “Protestors queue up in neat little lines; they give each other tours outside the speaker’s office; they take cheerful selfies, and they smile. They’re not destroying the Capitol: they obviously revere the Capitol. They’re there because they believe the election was stolen from them; they believe in the system.

“These are not rioters—they’re people who wandered over from a political rally,” Carlson stated.