The White House blasted Tucker Carlson on Wednesday for spreading lies about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, joining a growing number of voices denouncing the Fox News host’s efforts to misrepresent the insurrection in his primetime program.
Carlson was criticized by Democrats, Republican Senate leaders and the Capitol Police chief after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gave the influential far-right host exclusive access to tens of thousands of hours of surveillance footage on 6 January.
Carlson used select images to misrepresent the attack as nothing more than a group of supporters of then-President Donald Trump on a peaceful visit to the United States Capitol. In reality, Trump incited his followers to violently storm the building in an effort to keep him in power, and the rioters injured about 140 officers as they searched for lawmakers to attack.
Several Senate Republicans were quick to condemn Carlson’s misrepresentation of the events of January 6. Sen. Thom Tillis (RN.C.) said the Jan. 6 presentation was “bullshit,” and Sen. Kevin Cramer (RN.D.) said the day “was clearly more of a peaceful protest than boisterous scouts”. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) criticized McCarthy for releasing Carlson’s video, though the House speaker defended his decision Tuesday.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a rare denunciation of Fox News on Tuesday, saying the network made a “mistake” in showing select images to paint a different reality. McConnell’s comments echoed those of Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, who earlier this week called Carlson’s show “deceptive and offensive.”
“We agree with the Capitol Police Chief and a broad range of bipartisan lawmakers who have condemned this misrepresentation of the unprecedented and violent attack on our Constitution and the rule of law that cost the lives of police officers” White House, Andrea. Bates told HuffPost on Wednesday after Politico first released its report.
The White House’s decision to specifically prosecute Carlson — who has been criticized in the past for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories about women, people of color and immigrants — suggests heightened tension between the Biden administration and the conservative cable network.
In his statement, Bates cited a case in which Fox News lawyers tried to defend Carlson against defamation charges in 2020, arguing that viewers should not take the host’s comment as fact.
The spokesman also cited the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, in which a senior vice president of the network testified that he himself did not consider Carlson’s show a credible source of news.
“We also agree with what Fox News’ lawyers and executives have repeatedly emphasized in multiple courts,” Bates said, “that Tucker Carlson is not credible.”
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