Topline
Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger tore into Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a letter to the police force on Tuesday, a day after Carlson downplayed the January 6 Capitol riot, calling the depiction “outrageous and false,” prompting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to firmly side with the Manger.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., holds a statement by U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. … [+]
Key Facts
Manger accused Fox of “conveniently cherry-[picking] from the calmer moments” of the 41,000 hours of video footage provided to the news network by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last month.
Carlson’s “most disturbing accusation” was claiming “unscrupulous politicians” lied when they said Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was “slain” on January 6, Manger wrote.
Sicknick, who died the following day after suffering two strokes, according to the D.C. medical examiner, would not have died if he had “not fought valiantly for hours on the day he was violently assaulted,” Manger wrote.
Manger also said that Carlson’s team provided an inaccurate characterization of what it planned to air to the police force, despite Carlson saying on his show that his team “checked first with the Capitol Police” and their concerns were “minor” and “reasonable.”
McConnell on Tuesday gave a full-throated endorsement of Manger’s letter, telling reporters, “I want to associate myself entirely with the opinion of the chief of the Capitol police about what happened on January 6.”
Chief Critic
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) launched a scathing rebuke of Carlson’s segment on the Senate floor Tuesday, calling it “one of the most shameful hours we have ever seen on cable television.” A coalition of Republican senators, including Mitt Romney (Utah), John Kennedy (La.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Mike Rounds (S.D.), also criticized the program.
Key Background
Carlson aired his first segment featuring portions of the 41,000 hours of security footage given to him by McCarthy last month as part of a deal he struck with his detractors in the January speaker election to release the footage in exchange for their votes. In the segment, Carlson said the footage “proves it was neither an insurrection nor deadly,” despite a bipartisan Senate report released in June that found seven people died in connection with the attacks. Carlson also said that Capitol police officers “helped” convicted rioter Jacob Chansley, known as the “QAnon Shaman,” and “acted as his tour guides,” while airing footage that showed Chansley walking through the halls of the Capitol with two law enforcement officers. Manger called the suggestion that the officers aided the rioters “outrageous and false” and said they “did their best to use de-escalation tactics,” noting they were severely outnumbered.
Tangent
Carlson said Monday that the rioters were “right” to believe “that the election they had just voted in had been unfairly conducted,” despite privately disputing claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, according to court papers filed by Dominion Voting Systems in its ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox. Off-air, Carlson allegedly called conspiracies linking Dominion’s voting machines to election fraud “absurd” and said it was “shockingly reckless” to push the claims.
What To Watch For
Whether Carlson responds to the criticism in his second segment scheduled for Tuesday that is expected to feature additional January 6 footage. Schumer on Tuesday called on Fox to block the release of additional tapes.
Further Reading
McCarthy: January 6 Tapes Released To Tucker Carlson Will Be Made Public (Forbes)
Speaker McCarthy Gives Tucker Carlson 41,000 Hours Of Jan. 6 Footage (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2023/03/07/capitol-police-chief-condemns-tucker-carlsons-january-6-segment-as-offensive-and-misleading-with-support-from-mcconnell/