Tucker Carlson – news: Fox News host calls GOP critics ‘sociopaths’ as White House says clips ‘not credible’

Oliver O'Connell,Josh Marcus,Io Dodds and Graeme Massie

Tucker Carlson blasted his bipartisan critics in Congress as “sociopaths” and accused attorney general Merrick Garland of lying about the number of police officers killed during the January 6 Capitol riots – as he went on the defence over his widely-condemned coverage of the attacks.

“The sociopaths turned out to be both Democrats and Republicans,” Carlson complained on his Fox News show on Wednesday.

His comments came after the White House released a damning statement calling the Fox News host “not credible” and slating his “false depiction of the unprecedented, violent attack on our Constitution and the rule of law”.

Meanwhile, 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.”

Key Points

Video resurfaces of Tucker Carlson warning about conspiracy theories

13:30 , Rachel Sharp

A video has resurfaced showing Tucker Carlson warning about the dangers of conspiracy theories – as he continues to use his platform on Fox News to push his own.

The footage, from a speech in 2006, was posted on Twitter this week as he comes under fire for misrepresenting the January 6 Capitol riot to his viewers.

“In a democracy, it is vital that people have, that citizens have, a common frame of reference for reality,” Carlson said.

“There has to be a place where all citizens can go, and look at facts about what happened yesterday, and say, you know what, I agree that that’s probably roughly what happened.”

Tucker Carlson would have been ‘wetting his pants’ if he was at Capitol riot, Anderson Cooper says

13:00 , Rachel Sharp

CNN’s Anderson Cooper laid into Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson during a recent segment, suggesting the TV personality would have been “wetting his pants” if he had been at the Capitol riot.

Cooper spoke with former DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fannone, who was assaulted during the riot. The pair discussed Carlson’s recent insistence that the rioters who attacked the Capitol and its police on 6 January 2021 in attempt to keep Donald Trump in power were simply “sightseers.”

Graig Graziosi reports on Cooper’s takedown of Carlson.

Anderson Cooper says Tucker Carlson would have wet him in Capitol riot

Gretchen Carlson (no relation) calls out Fox News over Jan 6 ‘lies'

12:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Fox host Gretchen Carlson is joining the pile-on against her old network after its star opinion host Tucker Carlson predictably used exclusive access to security footage from January 6 to falsely depict the attack on Congress as a peaceful protest.

Ms Carlson, who bears no relation to her former colleague, furiously denounced the network and criticised the channel’s journalists for covering Mr Carlson’s remarks and the resulting backlash as if they are somehow unattached from the situation.

Notably, her criticism comes just days after Media Buzz host Howard Kurtz revealed on air that Fox bosses have banned him and others from speaking about the $1.6bn defamation lawsuit the network faces for its platforming of the lies that led to the attack.

John Bowden has the story from Washington, DC.

Former Fox News star furiously calls out network over Tucker Carlson’s Jan 6 ‘lies’

‘Tucker Carlson is not credible’

12:00 , Oliver O'Connell

The White House has condemned Fox News’ recent coverage of the January 6, 2021 insurrection, saying that host Tucker Carlson “is not credible”.

“We agree with the chief of the Capitol Police and the wide range of bipartisan lawmakers who have condemned this false depiction of the unprecedented, violent attack on our Constitution and the rule of law – which cost police officers their lives,” a White House spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The Independent.

Gustaf Kilander reports on a rare rebuke from the White House.

White House condemns ‘false’ Tucker Carlson coverage of ‘violent’ Jan 6 attack

Mitch McConnell hospitalised after fall in hotel

11:30 , Rachel Sharp

Mitch McConnell has been hospitalised after a fall in a hotel in Washington DC.

The Senate Republican leader was attending a private dinnner at a hotel on Wednesday evening when he tripped and fell, his spokesperson said.

The 81-year-old was taken to hospital where he is receiving treatment.

No further details have been revealed about his condition.

The accident comes days after the Kentucky lawmaker became one of the most vocal members of the GOP to condemn Tucker Carlson for his attempt to misrepresent the January 6 Capitol riot on his Fox News’ show.

Mitch McConnell (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Mitch McConnell (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Despite the apparent hatred, Trump still praises Carlson

11:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Donald Trump avoided addressing the revelation that Fox News host Tucker Carlson once wrote that he “passionately” hates the former president as he praised Mr Carlson over his misleading coverage of the insurrection on January 6, 2021.

“GREAT JOB BY TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday night.

Trump ignores Tucker’s texts saying he ‘hates’ him in Truth Social Jan 6 rant

Tucker Carlson said he ‘passionately’ hated Donald Trump, Dominion lawsuit reveals

10:15 , Oliver O'Connell

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

“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” 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.

Josh Marcus reports.

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

ICYMI: Tucker Carlson offered little new in second part of Jan 6 video ‘scoop’

09:15 , Oliver O'Connell

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.

There was little new in what he presented on Tuesday evening as Andrew Feinberg reports.

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

McCarthy claims he ‘didn’t see’ Tucker Carlson show amid uproar

07:45 , Oliver O'Connell

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday that he did not see Tucker Carlson’s show where he broadcasted cherry-picked video footage of the January 6 riot on Fox News Monday evening.

The Republican Speaker of the House gave the footage to the right-wing cable news host who has frequently downplayed the events of 6 January 2021 when supporters of former president Donald Trump raided the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

Eric Garcia filed this report from Capitol Hill.

Kevin McCarthy says he ‘didn’t see’ Tucker Carlson show amid uproar over Jan 6 tapes

‘Tucker Carlson took a page from 1984’

06:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Whoopi Goldberg has hit out at Fox News host Tucker Carlson over the recent controversy surrounding his handling of Capitol riot footage.

Louis Chilton reports on the what The View host said.

Whoopi Goldberg roasts Tucker Carlson over Jan 6 footage scandal

Josh Hawley stands by Tucker Carlson

04:15 , Oliver O'Connell

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 has the story.

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

‘Sad to see Tucker go off the rails’

03:15 , 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 his mischaracterisation of the violent attack on the Capitol.

Gustaf Kilander rounded up some of their reactions.

All the Republicans slamming Tucker Carlson for misleading insurrection broadcast

Does Tucker Carlson’s QAnon Shaman video matter?

02:15 , Oliver O'Connell

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.

Tucker Carlson’s latest effort to spread disinformation is the result of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to supply him with access to hours upon hours of surveillance footage from the day of the attack, while not allowing other journalists (even at his own network) the same access; as a result, Carlson’s producers have been able to present selective clips of the attack and cut them together in the hopes of making Americans forget about the scenes of shocking violence already released by the January 6 committee last year.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Does Tucker Carlson’s QAnon Shaman video matter?

Carlson fawns over ‘interesting’ Trump

01:38 , Graeme Massie

Despite Dominion court documents that reveal he “hates” the former president “passionately”, Tucker Carlson reminded his viewers on Wednesday that Mr Trump was running for the White House again “unless they put him in prison, which is of course the plan.”

And he added: He is saying things that are really interesting, not rehashes at all. In fact, he has come out with a bunch of proposals that are so interesting we thought we would bring them to you,” he said on his Fox News show.

Tucker Carlson unloads on GOP critics as ‘sociopaths'

01:36 , Josh Marcus

During a broadcast on Wednesday, Tucker Carlson blasted his bipartisan critics in Congress as “sociopaths” and accused attorney general Merrick Garland of lying about the number of police officers killed during the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

It’s the latest headline-grabbing moment after the Fox News host caused a controversy throughout the week by airing selectively chosen clips to claim the riots at the Capitol in 2021 weren’t violent.

“The sociopaths turned out to be both Democrats and Republicans,” Mr Carlson said, hammering GOP leaders like senators Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham as “weak men” for their criticisms of the Janaury 6 video segments.

Legislators from both parties have accused Mr Carlson of distorting the facts about January 6 in recent episodes.

Follow the breaking news story here.

Tucker Carlson calls critics ‘sociopaths’ and says DoJ lies about Jan 6 police deaths

Carlson claims 2020 racial justice protests were insurrection

01:24 , Graeme Massie

“Antifa descended on Washington, DC to force the sitting president out of office,” claimed Carlson on Wednesday night.

Despite court filings reveal him ridiculing conspiracy theories, Carlson revived bogus election fraud claims

01:15 , 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 reports.

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

Fox’s latest statement on Dominion lawsuit

00:32 , Graeme Massie

“Dominion and its private equity owners join a long line of public figures and corporations across the country that have long tried to silence the press and this lawsuit from Staple Street Capital-owned Dominion is nothing more than another flagrant attack on the First Amendment. FOX News will continue to fiercely protect the free press as a ruling in favor of Dominion would have grave consequences for journalism across this country,” Fox told The Independent in a statement on Wednesday.

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

‘Leave us the hell alone’

00:15 , 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 from Washington, DC.

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

Dominion taunts Fox for not covering case

Wednesday 8 March 2023 23:33 , Graeme Massie

Dominion seemingly taunted Fox News for not covering the lawsuit in a new filing on Wednesday responding to a Fox News request for summary judgement in the case.

“Finally, Fox has conceded what it knew all along. The charges Fox broadcast against Dominion are false. Fox does not spend a word of its brief arguing the truth of any accused statement. Fox has produced no evidence—none, zero—supporting those lies,” lawyers for Dominion wrote in court papers.

“If Fox cared about the truth that it now acknowledges, Fox would have its top personalities reporting that truth to its audience. Today. If not for Dominion’s sake, then for the sake of the significant percentage of Americans who still wrongly believe the 2020 election was stolen—including so many of Fox’s own loyal viewers, who heard it over and over again on Fox’s airwaves.

“After all, as Rupert Murdoch himself admitted, Fox is ‘uniquely positioned to state the message that the election was not stolen,’ though Fox failed to do so back when it most mattered.”

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

ICYMI: Trump calls for Jan 6 prisoners to ‘go free’ after Tucker Carlson videos

Wednesday 8 March 2023 23:15 , 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”.

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

Elon Musk mocks Schumer’s outrage at Tucker Carlson video

Wednesday 8 March 2023 22:50 , Oliver O'Connell

Elon Musk has mocked Senator Chuck Schumer’s outrage at Tucker Carlson’s reframing of the January 6 Capitol riot as a “peaceful protest” by people who were sightseeing.

Musk asked the senator on Twitter if he would like the platform to remove a post in which a comedic voiceover is added to the footage as if it were an announcer welcoming people to a tourist attraction.

ICYMI: Tucker Carlson downplays Jan 6 violence

Wednesday 8 March 2023 22:30 , Oliver O'Connell

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

Alex Woodward filed this initial report.

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

Tucker Carlson would have been ‘wetting his pants’ if he was at Capitol riot, Anderson Cooper says

Wednesday 8 March 2023 22:00 , Oliver O'Connell

CNN’s Anderson Cooper laid into Fox News‘ Tucker Carlson during a recent segment, suggesting the TV personality would have been “wetting his pants” if he had been at the Capitol riot.

Cooper spoke with former DC Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fannone, who was assaulted during the riot. The pair discussed Carlson’s recent insistence that the rioters who attacked the Capitol and its police on 6 January 2021 in attempt to keep Donald Trump in power were simply “sightseers.”

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

Graig Graziosi reports on Cooper’s takedown of Carlson.

Anderson Cooper says Tucker Carlson would have wet him in Capitol riot

ICYMI: Fox News refuses to air advert revealing how stars rejected Trump election fraud claims

Wednesday 8 March 2023 21:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Fox News reportedly rejected a television advert from a progressive advocacy group and political action committee that highlighted recently uncovered reactions from the network’s top stars and executives to Donald Trump’s bogus election fraud claims and conspiracy theories surrounding a voting machine company that is suing the network for defamation.

Alex Woodward reports.

Fox News refuses to air ad with bombshell Trump election fraud texts

‘Completely unethical’: AOC condemns McCarthy for giving Carlson footage

Wednesday 8 March 2023 21:25 , Oliver O'Connell

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez blasted House SpeakerKevin McCarthy’s decision to turn over January 6 footage to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Carlson broadcasted selectively edited security footage of the January 6 riot on his highly-watched show on Monday evening in an attempt to portray the majority of those who broke into the Capitol as mostly peaceful and said “ These were not insurrectionists. They were sightseers.”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez, who has said she feared for her life on the day of the insurrection, told The Independent that Mr McCarthy’s actions made the Capitol less safe.

Eric Garcia reports for The Independent from Capitol Hill.

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

Watch: Tucker Carlson’s texts read into the congressional record

Wednesday 8 March 2023 21:10 , Oliver O'Connell

Bannon wanted Fox anchor Bartiromo to run for Senate, new texts reveal

Wednesday 8 March 2023 20:45 , Oliver O'Connell

Steve Bannon worked to console Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election and urged her to run for Sen Chuck Schumer’s seat in New York.

The messages between Mr Bannon and Bartiromo was made public this week as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6bn defamation lawsuit against Fox News.

Abe Asher has the details.

Steve Bannon wanted Maria Bartiromo to run for Senate, new texts reveal

How Rupert Murdoch’s relationship with Jared Kushner boosted Trump’s campaign

Wednesday 8 March 2023 20:34 , Oliver O'Connell

A defamation lawsuit against Fox News alleges a tight relationship between right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump’s campaign while the now-former president’s allies and attorneys frequently appeared on the network to promote his baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him.

Court documents with uncovered emails and sworn depositions in the case have revealed Mr Murdoch providing Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, with what allegedly amounted to campaign advice, magnifying the network’s intially-reluctant alliance with the former president.

Mr Murdoch, the executive chairman of the Fox Corporation, admitted in a sworn deposition that he gave Mr Kushner a preview of a campaign advert from then-candidate Joe Biden’s campaign and appeared to offer him debate strategy to pass along to Mr Trump.

“Do you think it is appropriate for someone in your position to give a heads up to the opposing campaign about what the ad of the opposing campaign will show before it is public?” an attorney for voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems asked Mr Murdoch, according to court filings.

“I was trying to help Mr Kushner,” Mr Murdoch said. “He’s a friend of mine.”

How Rupert Murdoch’s relationship with Jared Kushner boosted Trump’s campaign

Democrats continue to lambast Carlson — and McCarthy — over Jan 6 videos

Wednesday 8 March 2023 20:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Congressional Democrats have continued to lambast Tucker Carlson throughout Wednesday, and have also taken aim at Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy for providing the Fox News host with raw surveillance footage from the Capitol building on 6 January 2021.

Senator Chuck Schumer took a shot at Mr McCarthy for his part in spreading former president Donald Trump’s “Big Lie”.

“Speaker McCarthy has held the gavel for less than three months,” he said. “But by sharing the January 6th security footage with Fox News, he has already done more than any party leader in Congress to enable the spread of Donald Trump’s Big Lie.”

Rep Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said: “January 6 was an attack on our democracy, and now Tucker Carlson has chosen to side with the enemies of democracy. But what's most alarming about all this was that he was aided and abetted by Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy ... this is a new low.”

Arizona Rep Ruben Gallego said: “If Tucker Carlson had been at the Capitol on January 6th, I have no doubt he would have been scared and begging for help, just like Kevin McCarthy.”

“Instead, both men are colluding to spread Trump’s Big Lie,” he added.

Dominion lawsuit: All the embarrassing things Tucker Carlson has said about Trump

Wednesday 8 March 2023 19:45 , Oliver O'Connell

In a lawsuit that has produced a wealth of revelations about the internal working of the Fox News network, some of the most interesting parts have been the unfiltered opinions of the on-air talent about the 2020 election and former president Donald Trump.

Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights from Tucker Carlson regarding Mr Trump.

What has Tucker Carlson said about Trump?

Gretchen Carlson calls out former network over Jan 6 ‘lies'

Wednesday 8 March 2023 19:20 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Fox host Gretchen Carlson is joining the pile-on against her old network after its star opinion host Tucker Carlson predictably used exclusive access to security footage from January 6 to falsely depict the attack on Congress as a peaceful protest.

Ms Carlson, who bears no relation to her former colleague, furiously denounced the network and criticised the channel’s journalists for covering Mr Carlson’s remarks and the resulting backlash as if they are somehow unattached from the situation.

John Bowden reports from Washington, DC.

Former Fox News star furiously calls out network over Tucker Carlson’s Jan 6 ‘lies’

Watch: Bannon echoes Trump call to charge Jan 6 committee with treason

Wednesday 8 March 2023 18:55 , Oliver O'Connell

“Trump demands January 6 Committee members are tried for treason...I think I am in total 100 percent agreement with that,” says Steve Bannon.

Voices: Tucker Carlson ‘passionately’ hates Donald Trump. But that’s not all

Wednesday 8 March 2023 18:30 , Oliver O'Connell

Noah Berlatsky writes:

I think it’s a mistake, though, to see Carlson solely as a man who knows better, but who is driven by the nonpartisan lure of money. He has an extensive history of hateful statements and of mangling of the truth. Dominion has found evidence of Tucker deceiving his audience in order to secure his bottom line. But that doesn’t mean he’s solely motivated by his bottom line, or that he never believes the ugly ideology he presents on air.

Read on:

Tucker Carlson ‘passionately’ hates Donald Trump. But that’s not all

Liz Cheney reacts to Carlson’s depiction of Jan 6

Wednesday 8 March 2023 18:15 , Oliver O'Connell

Former Republican congresswoman and Jan 6 committee member Liz Cheney has a few thoughts about the depiction of the Capitol riot as pieced together by Tucker Carlson for his show.

She tweeted on Tuesday: “One lesson of Jan 6 is this: Trump’s lies, spread on TV and 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.”

Ms Cheney followed up today, responding to reporting by CNN that Republicans want a new probe into January 6, by saying: “If [House Republicans] wants new Jan 6 hearings, bring it on. Let’s replay every witness and all the evidence from last year. But this time, those members who sought pardons and/or hid from subpoenas should sit on the dais so they can be confronted on live TV with the unassailable evidence.”

Watch: McCarthy says his job is ‘transparency'

Wednesday 8 March 2023 18:00 , Oliver O'Connell

Full story: White House condemns ‘false’ Fox News coverage of ‘violent’ Jan 6 attack

Wednesday 8 March 2023 17:45 , Oliver O'Connell

The White House has condemned Fox News’s recent coverage of the January 6, 2021 insurrection, saying that host Tucker Carlson “is not credible”.

Gustaf Kilander has the latest from Washington, DC.

White House condemns ‘false’ Tucker Carlson coverage of ‘violent’ Jan 6 attack

New Jan 6 footage from rioter trial shows not a very peaceful protest

Wednesday 8 March 2023 17:30 , Oliver O'Connell

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