Trump Supporter at Capitol Riot Calls Out Tucker Carlson For ‘False Story’ Suggesting He’s a Cop

Ken MeyerJan 12th, 2022, 3:10 pm
 

A Trump supporter who participated in the Jan. 6 riot called out Fox News host Tucker Carlson for amplifying the false claim he was a law enforcement plant who incited rioters.

Rally Runner says he’s not a cop. He’s a Trump-loving, Tucker-watching St. Louis Cardinals superfan who traveled to the Capitol on Jan. 6 2020 to help stop the steal.

Last month, Carlson interviewed Joseph McBride, an attorney representing several Capitol riot defendants, who was prominently featured in Carlson’s conspiracy theory-driven “Patriot Purge” series.

The segment, which you can watch above, focused on a man wearing red face paint and an all-red outfit — Rally Runner — and Carlson and McBride both speculated that since the man hasn’t been arrested, he must be an undercover agent who attended the Jan. 6 Stop the Steal rally to promote chaos.

“He is clearly a law enforcement officer,” McBride claimed. “He interacts with uniformed personnel, he interacts with agents in the crowd.”

McBride went on to accuse the man of handing weapons out to the crowd, saying that his actions were “clearly entrapment.”

This led Carlson to ask: “Who is this person? Why hasn’t he been charged? That’s a very simple ask.”

The segment was one of many that Carlson has aired pushing the conspiracy theory that Jan. 6 was a false flag operation carried out by federal agents to allow for a crackdown on conservatives.

In reality, Rally Runner’s background is considerably more mundane.

KMOV4 and HuffPost have both published profiles of Runner, a St. Louis Cardinals superfan known as a local celebrity who runs around Busch Stadium during home games.

HuffPost reporter Ryan Reilly noted that Runner is a “huge Tucker Carlson fan,” and that his social media is full of posts praising the Fox News host.

Reilly posted to Twitter a new series of videos Runner had sent to him, in which Runner defended his attendance of the “powerful, patriotic and mostly peaceful” rally. Runner spoke of how he was “cleared of all wrongdoing” by the FBI, and that he gave police GoPro footage he obtained from the riot.

“What drove me there was the fake news hatred for President Trump,” he said in one video.

He also addressed the segment on Tucker Carlson Tonight, accusing McBride and Carlson of knowingly promoting a “false story.”

“Joseph McBride, as a defense attorney, had access to this, but leaked a false story which Fox and Tucker knowingly reported. So in short, the civil legal battles are just beginning,” he said.

“I never planned on being in the national spotlight. Due to unforeseen circumstances, and bogus claims by Joseph McBride, here I am.”

The profile of Runner revealed by KMOV4 and HuffPost flies in the face the claims pushed on Carlson’s show that he is an undercover officer.

It prompted this response from McBride when interviewed by Reilly.

“If I’m wrong, so be it, bro. I don’t care. I don’t give a shit about being wrong,” McBride said. He claimed he was “theorizing” with his remarks to Carlson and “If this guy turns out to be some, some guy who runs around the Cardinals’ stadium with his face painted, then that’s great. If that’s the truth, then so be it, and God bless America.”

Fox News did not respond to Mediaite’s request for comment on the segment.

Reilly also highlighted Runner’s confrontation with Capitol Police, his post about being interviewed by the FBI, and Runner’s assessment that HuffPost was “fair” in how they covered his story.

Watch above, via Fox News and KMOV4.

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