Tuesday’s Fox News programs were silent about Tucker Carlson’s Monday airing of surveillance footage from the 2021 Capitol riot, which he used to downplay the storming of the building by Trump supporters intent on overturning the 2020 election.
Then Special Report aired at 6 p.m.
During the program, anchor Bret Baier ran a report by Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram. Though a piece of straight news reporting, the thrust of it cast serious doubt on Carlson’s framing of the events of Jan. 6.
Carlson’s show homed in on mostly banal moments from the thousands of hours of footage that did not feature rioters smashing windows, breaking through doors, defecating in offices, and physically assaulting police officers.
Pergram noted that while some people at the Capitol that day did not engage in violence, plenty of lawmakers present – including Republicans – stated the obvious.
“It was an attack on the Capitol,” said Sen. John Thune (R-SD).
“To somehow put that in the same category as a permitted peaceful protest is just a lie,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
The report also included Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) rebuking Fox News.
“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 Capitol thinks,” McConnell said.
The report also showed footage of 42-year-old Capitol police officer, Brian Sicknick, who died of a blot clot one day after the riot. Pergram noted Sicknick’s partner said she was appalled by Carlson’s coverage.
Pergram noted that some 140 officers were assaulted during the attack, and 106 people were charged with using a deadly weapon.
Baier concluded the segment by stating the network does not condone violence.
“And to be clear, no one here at Fox News condones any of the violence that happened on Jan. 6,” he said.
Carlson’s team has access to more than 40,000 hours of security footage after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) gave the show special access to the recordings.
Watch above via Fox News.
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