Former President Donald Trump praised Fox News and host Tucker Carlson for airing footage of the Jan. 6 protest and breach of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. The previously suppressed footage indicates the event was not the violent insurrection portrayed by the Jan. 6 House Select Committee and many left-leaning legacy media outlets.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democrat-led Select Committee had denied conservatives access to the thousands of hours of Capitol grounds surveillance footage. In February, new Speaker Kevin McCarthy made good on his vow to release more than 40,000 hours of surveillance video to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson.
Carlson presented the first installment of what will likely be a series of reveals during Monday’s broadcast of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” Carlson claimed the footage “proves lawmakers and the media were lying about the events that took place on Jan. 6.”
Many have repudiated Jan. 6 Select Committee claims. In a stinging rebuke, several committee members lost their bids for reelection in November’s election.
Carlson noted that video shows police officers “calmly” escorting protestors — including the notable Jacob Chansley, who later received a 41-month prison sentence for “violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.”
The Fox News host pointedly claimed that the video overwhelmingly contradicted the select committee’s narrative that protesters were there attempting to overthrow the government.
Former President Trump, whom the committee accused of instigating an insurrection, praised Carlson for the exposé and his work to set the record straight.
On Tuesday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “Congratulations to Tucker Carlson on one of the biggest ‘scoops’ as a reporter in U.S. history. The New Surveillance Footage of the Jan. 6 Events sheds an entirely different light on what actually happened. The Unselect Committee was a giant SCAM, and has now unequivocally been stamped as CRIMINAL FABRICATORS OF THIS MOST IMPORTANT DAY.”
Trump added: “Pelosi & McConnell failed on security. The Police story is sad and difficult to watch. ‘Trump’ and most others are totally innocent. LET THEM GO FREE, NOW!”
In a follow-up post, Trump hailed the “great courage” shown by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in releasing the surveillance footage to Carlson.
In Carlson’s first reveal, Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick is shown walking about the Capitol with protesters, unharmed and apparently unconcerned.
Carlson noted how this contradicts the Democratic narrative that early on, Sicknick was attacked by protesters and bludgeoned to death by a fire extinguisher (a claim The New York Times eventually retracted, though former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden continue to espouse).
Carlson noted that Sicknick did not die on Jan. 6 and did not die at the Capitol. Notably, a Washington, D.C., medical examiner determined that officer Sicknick died of “natural causes.”
According to The Epoch Times, the medical examiner’s assessment was “accepted by the U.S. Capitol Police.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined Trump in praising the video’s release and Carlson’s report. He tweeted:
“Truth is beginning to be revealed. Thank you @SpeakerMcCarthy, @TuckerCarlson & company for showing America the rest of the Jan. 6 story. When will judges begin applying justice equally? Doesn’t look like ‘thousands of armed insurrectionists’ to me.”
Select committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) attacked McCarthy’s decision to release Jan. 6 video to Carlson, claiming Carlson is a “right-wing propagandist” who spreads “the Big Lie.”
McCarthy has responded to the criticism by saying the video’s release is “in the public’s interest” and that “Americans have a right to know the truth.”
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
