The White House sharply rebuked Tucker Carlson
David Goldman, CNN
The White House on Wednesday lashed out at Fox News host Tucker Carlson with an extraordinary rebuke of a late-night commentator who aired false images of the January 6, 2021 attack this week.
Carlson, given access to approximately 40,000 hours of U.S. Capitol security camera footage by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, aired carefully curated clips depicting Trump supporters mobsters as peaceful patriots. Carlson falsely claimed that the footage provided “convincing” evidence that Democrats and the House Select Committee investigating January 6 had lied to Americans about the events of the day.
According to the Department of Justice, 140 officers were attacked at the Capitol that day, including 60 members of the Metropolitan Police and 80 members of the US Capitol Police.
This week, the Fox News anchor came under fire from Capitol police, Democratic lawmakers and some Republicans. White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates added to Wednesday’s condemnation.
“We concur with the Capitol Police Chief and a wide range of bipartisan lawmakers who condemned this false portrayal of an unprecedented brutal attack on our Constitution and the rule of law that cost police officers their lives,” Bates said. “We also agree with what Fox News’s own attorneys and executives have repeatedly stressed in several courts: that Tucker Carlson is not credible.”
Lawyers for Fox News, who successfully defended Carlson in a 2020 libel lawsuit, have alleged that he repeatedly uses rhetorical exaggerations and opinions.
During her daily press conference with reporters on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called January 6, 2021, “a very dark day and an attack on our democracy.”
“To say what he said when we saw Capitol cops dying or cops losing their lives is simple — it’s just a shame,” Jean-Pierre said.
Although Carlson claimed that he viewed footage of the Capitol police before broadcasting it, several sources on Capitol Hill told CNN that only one clip was made available for viewing on Carlson’s show, and no others. Capitol police have consistently warned that the release of all security footage from the Capitol could pose a potential security risk to the building.
US Capitol Police Chief Tom Munger said Tuesday that Carlson chose favorable footage to mislead the audience about the attack. Munger called Carlson’s description of the events “offensive”.
“The program is carefully selected from the quietest moments in our 41,000 hours of video,” Munger wrote in a department memo obtained by CNN. “The commentary does not provide context for the chaos and violence that occurred before or during these less intense moments.”
Munger added that Carlson’s show did not reach the police department “to provide accurate context”.
Carlson has been the subject of several revealing documents released as part of the $1.6 billion Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox lawsuit that appear to show Carlson holding opposing views on what he says to his audience. Included in the defamation court documents was a series of personal text messages in which Carlson said he “passionately” hated former President Donald Trump.
In a November 2020 exchange, Carlson called Trump’s post-election behavior “disgusting”. And in another text message, two days before the January 6 attacks, Carlson said: “We are very, very close to ignoring Trump most nights. I really can’t wait.” He added, “I hate him with a passion.”
The-CNN-Wire
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M.J. Lee of CNN contributed to this report.
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