Tucker Carlson – news: New texts reveal Carlson ‘hates’ Trump as McConnell, Schumer slam Fox host over Jan 6

Oliver O'Connell,Josh Marcus and Io Dodds

Fox News host Tucker Carlson told a colleague that he “passionately” hated Donald Trump, according to bombshell new text messages released as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against the network.

New court filings on Tuesday revealed a message Carlson sent to a Fox News employee just two days before the January 6 Capitol riot.

“We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” he wrote.

“I hate him passionately, I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I can’t handle much more of this.”

The texts came to light the same day that both Democratic and Republican lawmakers slammed Carlson for sharing edited footage of the Capitol riot on his show – and falsely claiming it depicts the riots as a peaceful gathering led by “sightseers”.

Senator Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell led the condemnation of the “shameful” coverage.

Key Points

Tucker Carlson attacks critics but offers little new in second part of Jan 6 video ‘scoop’

14:15 , Rachel Sharp

Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday hit back at senators from both parties who’ve condemned his attempts to whitewash the January 6 attack on the Capitol with selectively-released video excerpts of Capitol surveillance footage from the day of the attack.

Earlier in the day, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he “aligned himself” with a blistering statement from US Capitol Police chief J Thomas Manger, who said Carlson’s description of the Capitol attack as a peaceful protest that had been weaponised by Democrats against former president Donald Trump’s supporters had been drawn from “offensive and misleading conclusions” about the siege, the worst attack on the US legislature since British troops under Major General Robert Ross set it ablaze in 1814.

The Independent’s John Bowden reports:

Tucker Carlson attacks critics but offers little new in second part of Jan 6 ‘scoop’

Anderson Cooper horrifies viewers with image of Tucker Carlson 'wetting his pants' on Jan 6

13:45 , Rachel Sharp

CNN host Anderson Cooper horrified some of his viewers on Tuesday as he painted an image of Tucker Carlson “wetting his pants” had he been at the US Capitol during the January 6 riots.

“The idea of Tucker Carlson being in that mob that day and not wetting his pants is hard to imagine,” said Mr Cooper on his show.

“I find it hard to understand somebody who’s never put himself in harm’s way in any capacity for anyone else or on reporting a story and yet has the audacity to try to rewrite history.”

The CNN host made the comments after Carlson shared edited footage of the Capitol riot on his show on Monday night – and falsely claimed it depicts the riots as a peaceful gathering of “sightseers”.

Mr Cooper described Carlson’s show as “an attempt to rewrite history on what is one of the most consequential, certainly one of the biggest events in American democracy, biggest threats to American democracy”.

‘Sad to see Tucker go off the rails’

13:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Republicans have been pressed on their reactions to Tucker Carlson’s inaccurate portrayal of the insurrection on January 6, 2021 as peaceful, with many criticising the characterisation of the violent attack on the Capitol as peaceful.

Gustaf Kilander compiled their reactions.

All the Republicans slamming Tucker Carlson for misleading insurrection broadcast

Why Tucker Carlson is so fixated on a video of the ‘QAnon Shaman’

12:45 , Oliver O'Connell

John Bowden writes:

One of Fox News’s primetime stars has embarked on a crusade to change the public perception of the facts around the January 6 attack on Congress, and on Monday used a clip of the much-mocked “QAnon Shaman”, Jacob Chansley, to do it.

Read on:

Does Tucker Carlson’s QAnon Shaman video matter?

Tucker Carlson downplays Jan 6 violence

12:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Fox News personality Tucker Carlson aired surveillance footage from the attack on the US Capitol that was exclusively provided to him from a top congressional Republican to falsely depict the riots on 6 January, 2021 as a peaceful gathering.

He downplayed an attempt to disrupt an election and overturn millions of Americans’ votes, and asserted that other media outlets and Democratic lawmakers lied to the public about the attack, despite real-time video of rioters pushing past police, breaking windows, threatening lawmakers and storming the halls of Congress, with hundreds of criminal prosecutions and charges against at least 1,000 people.

Alex Woodward filed this report after the first installment of Carlson’s version of events.

Tucker Carlson downplays Jan 6 violence to falsely depict ‘peaceful’ riot

New texts reveal Tucker Carlson ‘hates’ Trump

11:45 , Rachel Sharp

Fox News host Tucker Carlson told a colleague that he “passionately” hated Donald Trump, according to bombshell new text messages released as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against the network.

New court filings on Tuesday revealed a message Carlson sent to a Fox News employee just two days before the January 6 Capitol riot.

“We are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait,” he wrote.

“I hate him passionately, I blew up at Peter Navarro today in frustration. I actually like Peter. But I can’t handle much more of this.”

The messages are the latest to emerge showing how the coverage and opinions presented by Fox News and its personalities on air was directly at odds with what they said and thought behind the scenes.

Tucker Carlson revives bogus election claims

11:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Days after court filings revealed Fox News personalities and executives privately rejecting bogus claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election, one of the network’s most-watched stars cast about its legitimacy and appeared to defend hundreds of rioters who breached the halls of Congress.

In a segment on 6 March that sought to downplay the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January, 2021, Tucker Carlson said rioters were “right” to believe that the election was “unfairly conducted”.

Alex Woodward has the story.

Tucker Carlson revives election lies while Fox News faces lawsuit over bogus claims

Family of Brian Sicknick hit out at Tucker Carlson over his video claims

09:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The family of Brian Sicknick, the US Capitol Police officer who died the day after he was assaulted by pro-Trump rioters during the January 6 attack, has issued a blistering denunciation of Fox News and host Tucker Carlson after the incendiary anchor aired video footage which called into question Sicknick’s condition after his assault.

Andrew Feinberg reports on what the family said.

Family of Capitol officer who died after January 6 calls out Fox News

Trump uses Tucker Carlson tapes to call for Jan 6 prisoners to ‘go free’

08:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has used the January 6 insurrection surveillance footage released to Fox News host Tucker Carlson to call for Capitol riot prisoners to “go free”.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Trump uses Tucker Carlson tapes to call for Jan 6 prisoners to ‘go free’

Voices: Why Kevin McCarthy really gave Tucker Carlson the Jan 6 videos

06:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Eric Garcia writes:

The conservative movement and right-wing media has never really trusted Kevin McCarthy. They often see him as a chameleon devoid of any real ideology who has shifted as his party has changed. Indeed, last year, Mr Carlson said in private McCarthy “sounds like an MSNBC contributor” and called him “a puppet of the Dem Party” after The New York Times revealed recordings of his conversations with House GOP leadership after the January 6 riot.

Read on:

Why Kevin McCarthy really gave Tucker Carlson the Jan 6 videos

Schumer rips Tucker Carlson for ‘lie’ about Jan 6 rioters

04:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the conservative right for its continued effort to whitewash the deadly attack on the US Capitol on Tuesday during a speech from the floor of the upper chamber.

John Bowden reports on this morning’s reactions from the chief Democrat in the Senate.

Schumer rips Tucker Carlson for ‘lie’ about Jan 6 rioters being peaceful

‘It almost seems like the press is jealous’

03:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Gustaf Kilander reported on when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy defended the release of the video to Tucker Carlson.

Kevin McCarthy defends giving trove of Jan 6 footage to Tucker Carlson

AOC blasts Kevin McCarthy as ‘completely unethical’

03:19 , Io Dodds

Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has blasted Kevin McCarthy’s gift to Tucker Carlson as "completely unethical", my colleague Eric Garcia reports.

Asked by Eric tonight whether Mc McCarthy’s actions made the Capitol less safe, Ms Ocasio-Cortez said: "It absolutely does. The fact that he handed that to one organisation is completely unethical."

The New York firebrand has previously said that she feared she would be killed or raped as hundreds of pro-Trump rioters, allegedly including organised paramilitary groups, stormed the Capitol and went room for room looking for specific congressfolk.

Read Eric Garcia’s full story here.

AOC blasts Kevin McCarthy for giving Jan 6 footage to Tucker Carlson

Fox News anchors are largely ignoring Carlson’s ‘bombshell’

03:00 , Io Dodds

Other Fox News shows today have largely ignored Tucker Carlson's supposed bombshell exposé, according to Rolling Stone.

In a review of Fox News transcripts for Tuesday, the magazine found only one segment that addressed the footage, which news anchor Bret Baier assured his viewers that "to be clear, no one here at Fox News condones any of the violence that happened on January 6".

For context, Mr Beier was one of the most passionate voices inside Fox News speaking out against Donald Trump's election theft hokum, according to recent filings from the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against his network.

"There is NO evidence of fraud. None. Allegations – stories. Twitter. Bull****," he texted a friend.

Flashback: Uproar as Fox News host Tucker Carlson gets Jan 6 videos

02:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Speaker Kevin McCarthy sparked outrage by handing thousands of hours of footage of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Abe Asher filed this report when news of the release of videos to Carlson first emerged.

Uproar as Fox News host Tucker Carlson gets Jan 6 videos

Carlson offered nothing new from January 6 tapes

02:31 , Io Dodds

Tucker Carlson spent this evening's show attacking his critics but offered little new information, writes my colleague Andrew Feinberg in Washington DC.

Discussing the "cascade" of Republican congressfolk who objected to his segment last night, Carlson accused them of telling "obvious lies" and "calling for censorship".

"They’re on the same side," Carlson claimed. "It’s actually not about left and right. It’s not about Republican and Democrat... the people that, underneath it all, have everything in common are all aligned against everyone else."

Yet there was nothing new from the January 6 tapes themselves, Andrew says, only the interview with former Capitol Police officer Tarik Khlaid Johnson that we reported on early.

You can read the full story here.

Tucker Carlson attacks critics but offers little new in second part of Jan 6 ‘scoop’

'This assault on truth is unconscionable'

02:18 , Io Dodds

Democratic House member Jamie Raskin, who helped lead the second impeachment attempt against Donald Trump after the January 6 riot, has described Kevin McCarthy's behaviour as "unconscionable".

Former officer on Tucker Carlson says January 6 committee focused more on Trump than failures of police

01:45 , Josh Marcus

Tarik Johnson, a former US Capitol officer who became famous for wearing a MAGA hat during the January 6 riots, told Tucker Carlson on Tuesday he felt that the investigation into the Capitol riot had a partisan bent.

“They focused Donald Trump and not the failures of the Capitol Police,” Mr Johnson told the anchor.

“The frontline officers and supervisors were not prepared for that at all,” the former officer said elsewhere during the broadcast. “We knew that there was going to be a demonstration that day, but we had no idea we were going to facing what we faced on that day.”

Mr Johnson explained during his interview that he wore the Trump hat in an effort to pass more easily through the crowd of diehard supporters and rescue his fellow officers.

Tucker Carlson said he ‘passionately’ hated Donald Trump, new Fox News lawsuit filings show

01:27 , Josh Marcus

Tucker Carlson “passionately” hates Donald Trump and fantasised in 2021 about the day he would no longer have to cover his fellow conservative, new messages released as part of a defamation lawsuit against Fox News reveal.

“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” Mr Carlson told an unknown Fox News employee just two days before the January 6 Capitol riot, according to the court documents. “I truly can’t wait.”

“I hate him passionately,” he added.

More information in our breaking news story.

In new documents, Tucker Carlson describes ‘passionately’ hating Trump

01:15 , Josh Marcus

Top Fox News personalities can be seen voicing doubt about the election conspiracies being reported like fact on the network and criticising Donald Trump and his allies in a newly released trove of documents as part of a defamation suit against the network.

In one exchange, as Media Matters for America notes, Tucker Carlson writes, “I hate him passionately,” about Mr Trump and dreams about a period when he will no longer have to cover him on his show.

Tucker Carlson mocks outrage in Congress over new January 6 videos

01:11 , Josh Marcus

Tucker Carlson mocked Chuck Schumer on Tuesday, accusing the Senate leader of engaging in “hysteria” and “censorship” for criticising Fox News’s decision to air highly selective exceprts of January 6 footage that painted the attack on the Capitol as a peaceful scene.

“What you’re seeing is hysteria,” Mr Carlson said on Tuesday’s show.

Mr Carlson called the footage “a threat to the lies Chuck Schumer has been telling for the last 26 months.”

Here’s more on the backlash, with reporting from John Bowden.

Capitol Police chief accuses Tucker Carlson of using ‘cherry-picked’ Jan 6 footage to push agenda

00:56 , Josh Marcus

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is facing widespread condemnation after his latest attempt to change the truth to better suit Donald Trump’s needs.

The primetime host even found himself criticised by Capitol Police, the very organisation whose officers suffered the most at the hands of Carlson’s ideological allies on the day that they stormed the US Capitol and attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

It all began with an episode of Carlson’s show airing Monday evening, the first of several set to feature footage from the January 6 attack provided exclusively to his producers by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, who now faces ridicule by the left and some of his own Republicans for the overt effort to throw a bone to the far-right and allow Carlson first dibs at the footage.

John Bowden has the details.

Capitol Police chief says Carlson using ‘cherry-picked’ Jan 6 footage

Graham: ‘I’m not interested in whitewashing January 6'

00:45 , Oliver O'Connell

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of former president Donald Trump told reporters including NBC News: “We don’t want to whitewash January 6.”

“I think the January 6 committee had a partisan view of things and I’d like to know more about what happened that day and the day before,” he added — a reference to the bombs planted at the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC.

“But I’m not interested in whitewashing the Covid lab theory, and I’m not interested in whitewashing January 6.”

New documents show Fox leaders fretting over 2020 ‘existential crisis’ and ‘crazy’ Trump claims

00:37 , Josh Marcus

Top anchors on Fox News may have presented Donald Trump’s claims of a stolen 2020 election with little nuance or critique, but internally, officials at the network were far more aware of the dubious nature of the conspiracies coming from the former president and his allies, new documents reveal.

In a trove of evidence released as part of a defamation suit against the network, top Fox officials were seen calling Trump attorney Sidney Powell “problematic” and “crazy” after she appeared during an election-season broadcast in November.

“That Sydney Powell interview was problematic — will monitor for traction,” one top media relations official at the network wrote to another.

“Yes tons of crazy,” the other responded.

Things got so bad that one top editors, former Washington managing editor Bill Sammon, texted a colleague in December that the network’s embrace of election conspiracy was a “crisis” for Fox.

“In my 22 years affiliated with Fox, this is the closest thing I’ve seen to an existential crisis — at least journalistically,” Bill Sammon wrote.“What I see us doing is losing the silent majority of viewers as we chase the nuts off a cliff,” Chris Stirewald, another former editor, responded.

All the Republicans slamming Tucker Carlson for misleading insurrection broadcast

00:30 , Josh Marcus

Republicans have been pressed on their reactions to Tucker Carlson’s inaccurate portrayal of the insurrection on January 6, 2021 as peaceful, with many criticising his mischaracterisation of the violent attack on the Capitol.

Gustaf Kilander has compiled their reactions for The Independent.

All the Republicans slamming Tucker Carlson for misleading insurrection broadcast

Josh Hawley backs Tucker Carlson

00:00 , Josh Marcus

Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley has praised the release of the security footage from the Capitol riot to Fox News.

Host Tucker Carlson claimed that the footage showing Mr Hawley fleeing rioters during the insurrection on January 6 was “propaganda” because other senators also fled the mob.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Hawley backs Carlson after slamming ‘coward tape’ showing him fleeing Jan 6 ‘sham’

Murdoch thought Fox hosts may have gone ‘too far’ in coverage of Trump’s election lies, new filings reveal

Tuesday 7 March 2023 23:51 , Josh Marcus

Rupert Murdoch thought Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham went “too far” in backing Donald Trump’s election lies on the right-wing channel, bombshell new legal filings reveal.

The revelation was made as a cache of new documents was uploaded on Tuesday as part of the $1.6bn lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting System against Fox News.

“Still getting mud thrown at us! … Maybe Sean and Laura went too far. All very well for Sean to tell you he was in despair about Trump but what did he tell his viewers?” Fox Corp chairman Mr Murdoch wrote in an email to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott.

Graeme Massie reports on the latest developments in this breaking news story for The Independent.

Murdoch thought Fox hosts may have gone ‘too far’ in covering Trump’s election lies

Dominion documents show Fox News schism as Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham rage at news team over accurate reporting

Tuesday 7 March 2023 23:45 , Josh Marcus

Newly released documents in the sprawling defamation suit against Fox News for its election coverage show a split inside the Fox newsroom, with top opinion commentators like Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham fuming at the network’s news division for its accurate depiction of Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020.

In a November group text, Mr Hannity complains to Mr Carlson and Ms Ingraham about the network’s decision to call Arizona for Biden, the earliest news channel to do so.

“Why would anyone defend that call,” Mr Hannity wrote.

“My anger at the news channel is pronounced,” Ms Ingraham added.

Tucker Carlson, meanwhile, argued that such decisions from the news network, based on the facts on the ground, would chip away at the massive audience for Fox’s opinion programming.

“We devote our lives to building an audience and they let [then-Fox News anchors] Chris Wallace and Leland (expletive) Vittert wreck it,” he wrote. “Too much.”

The decision for Fox to call Arizona for Biden also infruriated the Trump campaign, the early signs of a split that’s now pronounced between Mr Trump and his former media ally Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox News.

Trump team ‘called Murdoch to complain about Fox News declaring Arizona for Biden’

Emails from Dominion suit show Fox execs worrying Sean Hannity ‘went too far’ on 2020 claims

Tuesday 7 March 2023 23:37 , Josh Marcus

Leaders at the highest level of Fox News had their doubts about the 2020 election conspiracy theories their top anchors were voicing everying night.

In a newly released trove of documents, part of a $1.6bn defamation suit against Fox, Fox Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch can be seen writing to a colleague that he worries Sean Hannity and Laura Igraham may have crossed the line in their coverage.

“Maybe Sean and Laura went too far,” the message reads, according to The Washington Post. “All very well for Sean to tell you he was in despair about Trump but what did he tell his viewers?”

Previously, the billionaire news magnate has testified about similar concerns.

He told a court that top Fox News figures like Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election.”

“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” Mr Murdoch said, according to court documents.

Rounds: ‘There was violence'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 23:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota was another GOP lawmaker who rejected Tucker Carlson’s description that the events at the Capitol on 6 January 2021 were peaceful.

“I was there on January 6. I saw what happened. I saw the aftermath. There was violence on January 6,” he told reporters.

“I think the footage that’s available should be made available to all networks and everybody should be able to see for themselves just what kind of chaos we had on that day.”

Jan 6 defendant trying to use Tucker Carlson video to delay trial

Tuesday 7 March 2023 23:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Attorneys representing a defendant accused of crimes in connection to the January 6 insurrection in 2021 have attempted to get his trial delayed as they argue that they need access to the footage handed over to Tucker Carlson of Fox News by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

Shane Jenkins is in jail as he awaits his trial. He stands accused of throwing a pole, a desk drawer, a pipe and a flag pole at members of law enforcement during the Capitol riot.

His lawyers argue that they need time to review the more than 40,000 hours of footage recently released as it could help his case.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Jan 6 defendant trying to use Tucker Carlson video to delay trial

Tillis: ‘I think it’s bulls***’

Tuesday 7 March 2023 22:55 , Oliver O'Connell

North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis blasted Tucker Carlson’s description of the Capitol riot as “mostly peaceful chaos” as “bulls***”.

“I think it’s bulls***,” Senator Tillis told reporters on Tuesday.

“I was here. I was down there and I saw maybe a few tourists, a few people who got caught up in things,” he added. “But when you see police barricades breached; when you see police officers assaulted, all of that ... if you were just a tourist you should’ve probably lined up at the visitors’ center and came in on an orderly basis.”

Why Tucker Carlson is so fixated on a video of the ‘QAnon Shaman’

Tuesday 7 March 2023 22:35 , Oliver O'Connell

John Bowden writes:

The Fox host made objectively false statements in a brazen attempt to minimise and whitewash the violence of the attack and the danger that lawmakers including the vice president found themselves in. By doing so, he simultaneously sought to chip away at the perceived credibility of all of his political enemies on Capitol Hill, as well as the mainstream media and law enforcement bodies like Capitol Police that are controlled at the federal level – part of a long-running effort to do just that in the hopes that Americans instead will turn to right-wing politicians (and, more importantly for Carlson’s bank account, right-wing media).

Read on:

Why it matters that Tucker Carlson is fixated on a video of the ‘QAnon Shaman’

Schiff: Tucker Carlson has accomplice in Speaker’s office

Tuesday 7 March 2023 22:15 , Oliver O'Connell

California Democrat Rep Adam Schiff is the latest lawmaker to lambast Fox News host Tucker Carlson for his depiction of the January 6 riot as a peaceful protest.

Mr Schiff, who plans to run for the Senate to replace Senator Diane Feinstein when she retires, was on the January 6 committee investigating the attack on Congress. In a pointed tweet he says that Carlson has lied in public before and how he is lying, but with an accomplice in Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.

He tweeted: “Dominion emails showed Tucker Carlson lied to the country about the election because he feared losing Trump fans and corporate profits. Last night, he lied about January 6. Different lies, same motive. Only now he has an accomplice in the Speaker’s office.”

McCarthy to answer questions about Tucker Carlson segment later

Tuesday 7 March 2023 21:55 , Oliver O'Connell

Kevin McCarthy told reporters he would speak to them later when asked about Tucker Carlson’s depictions of the January 6 rioters as “not insurrectionists”. He said he would take questions before tonight’s House vote.

Jan 6 defendant asks for delay in trial to review footage released by McCarthy

Tuesday 7 March 2023 21:40 , Oliver O'Connell

January 6 Capitol riot defendant Shane Jenkins is now arguing for a delay in his trial by saying that the 41,000 hours of surveillance footage “released by Kevin McCarthy” includes video he wants to see for his defence.

Mr Jenkins is in pretrial jail accused of throwing a pole, a desk drawer, a pipe, and a flagpole at police officers during the storming of the US Capitol two years ago.

Part of the court filing, shared by Scott MacFarlane of CBS News, states: “The government has disclosed approximately 16,000 hours of video footage to Mr Jenkins, which means that approximately 25,000 hours of video footage have been withheld.”

His lawyers argue: “Discovery in criminal cases is crucial to a fair and just judicial system.”

Crenshaw: ‘Tucker’s message doesn’t make any sense'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 21:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Texas Republican Rep Dan Crenshaw was asked if it was a mistake to give Tucker Carlson the US Capitol security tapes. He told Politico: “I don’t really have a problem with making it all public. But if your message is then to try and convince people that nothing bad happened, then it’s just gonna make us look silly.”

Mr Crenshaw added: “I don’t think transparency is ever a mistake. I think Tucker’s message doesn’t make any sense.“

Asked if January 6 is something the party really wants to be talking about again, he said: “It’s definitely stupid to keep talking about this … So what is the purpose of continuing to bring it up unless you’re trying to feed Democrat narratives even further?”

He added: “It doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know. … I’ve always known that there were people who are kind of like wandering around like jackasses and others who were violent. I don’t know why that’s like a big story. Doesn’t change anything in my opinion.”

Whoopi Goldberg says Tucker Carlson Jan 6 segment took a page from 1984

Tuesday 7 March 2023 21:07 , Oliver O'Connell

Speaking on today’s edition of The View on ABC, Whoopi Goldberg told the audience that in releasing his depiction of a peaceful protest at the Capitol on January 6 versus the violent attack on Congress witnessed in real time on television on the day, Tucker Carlson must have been inspired by George Orwell.

Said Goldberg: “Tucker Carlson took a page from George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and told his viewers to reject the evidence of their eyes and ears.”

Watch: GOP Senator describes Carlson portrayal of Jan 6 as ‘just a lie'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 20:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota tells CNN that to compare the actions of the January 6 rioters to those of permitted peaceful protest “is just a lie”.

Jan 6 rioters on the run after removing ankle monitors

Tuesday 7 March 2023 20:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Two Capitol riot defendants are being sought by the FBI after going missing.

A Florida woman disappeared before she was set to stand trial on Monday after being charged in relation to her actions during the insurrection in Washington, DC on January 6, 2021, when supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to violently stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.

Last week, a Washington federal judge issued bench warrants for the arrest of Joseph Hutchinson III and Olivia Pollock following the revelation that they had tampered with or removed the ankle monitors used to track them, according to the Associated Press.

Gustaf Kilander has the story.

Two Jan 6 rioters are on the run after removing ankle monitors

Cheney: 'No American pledged to our Constitution, should deny what happened’

Tuesday 7 March 2023 20:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Republican Wyoming Rep Liz Cheney, a key member of the Jan 6 committee, responded to the Tucker Carlson segment, by saying: “One lesson of Jan 6 is this: Trump’s lies, spread on TV & social media, provoked a violent attack on our Capitol. No responsible adult, and especially no American pledged to our Constitution, should deny what happened or repeat the same reckless lies.”

Rep Norma Torres says handing security footage to conspiracy theorist ‘appalling'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 20:05 , Oliver O'Connell

“The speaker’s decision to hand over sensitive security footage to a conspiracy theorist is appalling. On January 6th, I was face down with my colleagues in the House Chamber, praying we would get out alive.”

Watch: Garland says Americans saw what happened on Jan 6

Tuesday 7 March 2023 19:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Brian Sicknick’s brother says Fox News ‘trying to discredit a national hero'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 19:40 , Oliver O'Connell

Craig Sicknick, brother of late US Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, told ABC News congressional correspondent Rachel Scott that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is “disgusting and has no backbone” for handing over the surveillance footage to Tucker Carlson.

He also accused Fox News of “trying to discredit a national hero.”

“They’re not looking for the truth — they’re looking to push their own agenda,” he said.

Watch: McConnell comments on Tucker Carlson January 6 segment

Tuesday 7 March 2023 19:31 , Oliver O'Connell

McConnell: ‘Mistake for Fox News to depict this'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 19:28 , Oliver O'Connell

Asked if Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy made a mistake in handing over the footage to Tucker Carlson, Mitch McConnell sidestepped the questions and said: “My concern is how it was depicted. It’s a different issue. Clearly, the chief of the Capitol police correctly described what most of us witnessed on January 6.”

He added: “So, that’s my reaction to it. It was a mistake, in my view, for Fox News to depict this in a way that is completely at variance with what our Chief law enforcement official here at the Capitol thinks.”

McConnell stands with US Capitol Police statement on January 6

Tuesday 7 March 2023 19:23 , Oliver O'Connell

Unprompted, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell addresses Tucker Carlson’s January 6 segment on Fox News last night at his press conference and says: “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.”

He holds up Chief Tom Manger’s letter.

Here’s what Mr Manger wrote to his colleagues:

Last night an opinion program aired commentary that was filled with offensive and misleading conclusions about the January 6 attack. The opinion program never reached out to the Department to provide accurate context.

One false allegation is that our officers helped the rioters and acted as ‘tour guides.’ This is outrageous and false. The Department stands by the officers in the video that was shown last night. I don’t have to remind you how outnumbered our officers were on January 6. Those officers did their best to use de-escalation tactics to try to talk to rioters into getting each other to leave the building.

The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video. The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.

Finally, the most disturbing accusation from last night was that our late friend and colleague Brian Sicknick’s death had nothing to do with his heroic actions on January 6. The Department maintains, as anyone with common sense would, that had Officer Sicknick not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted, Officer Sicknick would not have died the next day.

As some people select from 41,000 hours of video clips that seemingly support the narrative they want to push, those of you who were here on January 6, those of you who were in the fight, those of you who ensured that no Member of Congress was hurt, those of you who contributed to the effort to allow the country’s Legislative process to continue, know firsthand what actually happened.

You fought like hell on January 6 and risked your lives to protect the Constitution and everything this country stands for. You, along with our law enforcement partners, saved every Member of Congress and their staff.

TV commentary will not record the truth for our history books. The justice system will. The truth and justice are on our side.

Romney compares Carlson’s depiction of Jan 6 to Alex Jones false portrayal of Sandy Hook

Tuesday 7 March 2023 19:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Republican Senator Mitt Romney compared Tucker Carlson’s depiction of the events of January 6 to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ false portrayal of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in 2012.

Speaking to CNN’s Manu Raju, he said that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had made a mistake in giving the footage to Carlson and said the Fox News presenter’s portrayal of the attack on the Capitol was “dangerous and disgusting”.

“Any attempt to normalise what was a violent attack on the United States Capitol only makes it more intriguing for people to do such a thing in the future,” he said, before making the comparison between Carlson and Jones.

Trump uses Tucker Carlson tapes to call for Jan 6 prisoners to ‘go free’

Tuesday 7 March 2023 18:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump has used the January 6 insurrection surveillance footage released to Fox News host Tucker Carlson to call for prisoners to “go free”.

The decision by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to release around 40,000 hours of security footage from the attack on the Capitol has been blasted by critics.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said on Tuesday that Monday night’s broadcast by Mr Carlson was “one of the most shameful hours of television”.

Gustaf Kilander reports.

Trump uses Tucker Carlson tapes to call for Jan 6 prisoners to ‘go free’

US Capitol Police chief: ‘TV commentary will not record the truth for our history books. The justice system will'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 18:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Full text of the internal memo from US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger:

Last night an opinion program aired commentary that was filled with offensive and misleading conclusions about the January 6 attack. The opinion program never reached out to the Department to provide accurate context.

One false allegation is that our officers helped the rioters and acted as ‘tour guides.’ This is outrageous and false. The Department stands by the officers in the video that was shown last night. I don’t have to remind you how outnumbered our officers were on January 6. Those officers did their best to use de-escalation tactics to try to talk to rioters into getting each other to leave the building.

The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video. The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.

Finally, the most disturbing accusation from last night was that our late friend and colleague Brian Sicknick’s death had nothing to do with his heroic actions on January 6. The Department maintains, as anyone with common sense would, that had Officer Sicknick not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted, Officer Sicknick would not have died the next day.

As some people select from 41,000 hours of video clips that seemingly support the narrative they want to push, those of you who were here on January 6, those of you who were in the fight, those of you who ensured that no Member of Congress was hurt, those of you who contributed to the effort to allow the country’s Legislative process to continue, know firsthand what actually happened.

You fought like hell on January 6 and risked your lives to protect the Constitution and everything this country stands for. You, along with our law enforcement partners, saved every Member of Congress and their staff.

TV commentary will not record the truth for our history books. The justice system will. The truth and justice are on our side.

Voices: Trump’s Jan 6 song is as bad as you’d expect... It’s also dangerous

Tuesday 7 March 2023 18:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Ahmed Baba writes:

On Friday at midnight, Donald Trump dropped a new song with the J6 Prison Choir. No, that’s not an Onion headline. That just happened. Who needs SNL when we have reality?

According to Forbes staff writer Zach Everson, Trump, in partnership with former Trump Admin official Kash Patel and former Fox News Host Ed Henry, collaborated with January 6 insurrectionists awaiting trial in a DC jail.

I’ll save you time. The song is as bad as you’d expect.

Read on:

Trump’s new Jan 6 song is as bad as you’d expect. It’s also dangerous

AG Garland: ‘All Americans saw what happened on January 6... It was a violent attack'

Tuesday 7 March 2023 18:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he won’t be drawn on specific reports but that he believes all American saw what happened on 6 January 2021: “It was a violent attack on a fundamental tenet of American democracy”.

Kristol alarmed as Trump ‘all in for the insurrection’ and Republicans silent

Tuesday 7 March 2023 17:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Bill Kristol, Conservative commentator and editor-at-large of The Bulwark, voiced his alarm that the Republican Party seems incapable of denouncing the January 6 insurrection.

Posting Trump’s praise of Tucker Carlson and Kevin McCarthy, he wrote on Twitter: “Trump is all in for the insurrection. His Republican competitors won’t denounce the insurrection. The Republican Party is half insurrectionist and half anti-anti-insurrectionist.”

He added: “I am alarmed.”

Schumer: ‘What a low point for Fox News’

Tuesday 7 March 2023 17:35 , Oliver O'Connell

Trump thanks Carlson and McCarthy for new footage

Tuesday 7 March 2023 17:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump began his morning on Truth Social with a big ALL-CAPS thank you to Tucker Carlson and Kevin McCarthy for the airing of the US Capitol surveillance tapes reframed to make the attack on Congress look peaceful and raising the ire of Democrats and the family of Brian Sicknick who died soon after.

The former president posted: “LET THE JANUARY 6 PRISONERS GO. THEY WERE CONVICTED, OR ARE AWAITING TRIAL, BASED ON A GIANT LIE, A RADICAL LEFT CON JOB. THANK YOU TO TUCKER CARLSON AND SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE KEVIN McCARTHY FOR WHAT YOU BOTH HAVE DONE. NEW VIDEO FOOTAGE IS IRREFUTABLE!!!”

More than 1,000 people have now been charged with crimes committed that day in January 2021.

After a series of reposts of 202 election fraud conspiracy theories, a brief rant about Hunter Biden’s laptop, and praise for Steve Bannon, the former president returned to talking about the footage from the Capitol.

“Tucker Carlson a MUST WATCH tonight. Releasing more VIDEO which was “HIDDEN BY THE CROOKED J 6 UNSELECT COMMITTEE.” They should be prosecuted for their lies and, quite frankly, TREASON!”

US Capitol police chief rips Carlson over Jan 6 commentary

Tuesday 7 March 2023 17:05 , Oliver O'Connell

US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger has ripped into Fox News host Tucker Carlson over last night’s January 6 segment on his show.

CNN obtained a copy of an internal memo and reports:

"Last night an opinion program aired commentary that was filled with offensive and misleading conclusions about the January 6 attack," Manger wrote in an internal department memo obtained by CNN, adding that Carlson's show didn't reach out to the police department "to provide accurate context."

“The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video. The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments,” Manger said.

Full story:Tucker Carlson downplays Jan 6 violence with Fox News segment falsely depicting ‘peaceful’ riot

Tuesday 7 March 2023 16:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Fox News personality Tucker Carlson aired surveillance footage from the attack on the US Capitol that was exclusively provided to him from a top congressional Republican to falsely depict the riots on 6 January, 2021 as a peaceful gathering.

He downplayed an attempt to disrupt an election and overturn millions of Americans’ votes, and asserted that other media outlets and Democratic lawmakers lied to the public about the attack, despite real-time video of rioters pushing past police, breaking windows, threatening lawmakers and storming the halls of Congress, with hundreds of criminal prosecutions and charges against at least 1,000 people.

Most of the rioters were “sightseers,” not “insurrectionists,” Mr Carlson said in a segment on 6 March that sought to sanitise a riot fuelled by a baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.

Alex Woodward has the latest.

Tucker Carlson downplays Jan 6 violence to falsely depict ‘peaceful’ riot

Schumer rips Tucker Carlson for ‘lie’ about Jan 6 rioters

Tuesday 7 March 2023 16:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the conservative right for its continued effort to whitewash the deadly attack on the US Capitol on Tuesday during a speech from the floor of the upper chamber.

Mr Schumer became the latest voice to criticise House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to supply Fox News disinformation artist Tucker Carlson with hours of footage from the riot at the Capitol so Carlson’s producers could splice together videos where violence is not explicitly shown onscreen in order to falsely portray the attack as a peaceful protest.

The effort to minimise Jan 6 has been as almost as long-running of a campaign for Carlson as has his effort to sow distrust in the results of the 2020 election, which he continues to do as well.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Schumer rips Tucker Carlson for ‘lie’ about Jan 6 rioters being peaceful

ICYMI: Uproar as Fox News host Tucker Carlson gets Jan 6 videos

Tuesday 7 March 2023 16:05 , Oliver O'Connell

Speaker Kevin McCarthy has sparked outrage by handing thousands of hours of footage of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021 to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Mr Carlson announced Monday that his staff has already been reviewing the up to 41,000 hours of footage for a week.

“Some of our smartest producers have been looking at this stuff and trying to figure out what it means and how it contradicts or not the story we’ve been told for more than two years,” Mr Carlson said. “We think already in some ways that it does contradict that story.”

Abe Asher filed this report at the time.

Uproar as Fox News host Tucker Carlson gets Jan 6 videos

Schumer rips Tucker Carlson for ‘lie’ about Jan 6 rioters being peaceful

Tuesday 7 March 2023 16:02 , John Bowden

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the conservative right for its continued effort to whitewash the deadly attack on the US Capitol on Tuesday during a speech from the floor of the upper chamber.

Mr Schumer became the latest voice to criticise House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to supply Fox News disinformation artist Tucker Carlson with hours of footage from the riot at the Capitol so Carlson’s producers could splice together videos where violence is not explicitly shown onscreen in order to falsely portray the attack as a peaceful protest. The effort to minimise Jan 6 has been as almost as long-running of a campaign for Carlson as has his effort to sow distrust in the results of the 2020 election, which he continues to do as well.

Calling Monday night’s episode “one of the most shameful hours of television” in recent memory, the Senate leader attacked Mr Carlson for his dishonest assertion that the attack on the Capitol, which left a number of police officers seriously injured and led to deaths of others as hundreds breached the US Capitol illegally and fought hand-to-hand combat with police.

Read more:

Schumer rips Tucker Carlson for ‘lie’ about Jan 6 rioters being peaceful

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