‘They Look Like Tourists’: Tucker Carlson Downplays Capitol Riot, Then Suggests It Was an Inside Job
Tucker Carlson attempted to completely rewrite the history of the January 6 Capitol riot by severely downplaying it on his show Thursday night, saying those who breached the Capitol looked like “tourists.”
He also suggested that federal agents played a key role in storming the building.
Carlson selectively showed footage of Capitol breachers engaged in nonviolent behavior. One clip he aired depicted people milling about in the Senate wing of the building.
“You don’t see people hiding bombs, or using bayonets, or firing weapons trying to take over the country with an insurrection,” said Carlson. “You see people walking around and taking pictures. They don’t look like terrorists, they look like tourists.”
The Fox News host’s “tourists” remark calls to mind Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA), who, despite the fact that he helped barricade a door in the Capitol that day, said the breach looked like a “normal tourist visit.”
Only for a fleeting few seconds did Carlson air any violent acts, doing so in one grainy piece of footage as part of a split screen. There is ample footage of rioters engaged in violence against police, but he declined to include any of those in the segment. He also did not note that the mob had chanted, “Hang Mike Pence” as a makeshift gallows stood outside the Capitol. He noted the death of Brian Sicknick of a stroke the day after the riot, but failed to mention that the 42-year-old was sprayed by a rioter with an unknown substance the day before he died. Since there is video of that incident, Carlson could have chosen to air it, but he did not do so.
He also did not air footage of Officer Daniel Hodges of being crushed in a doorway by a violent mob trying to force their way further into the Capitol. In that disturbing scene, Hodges wailed in pain as a rioter forcefully ripped off his gas mask. Carlson also didn’t show Officer Michael Fanone being dragged by rioters as one yelled, “Kill him with his own gun.”
These are inexhaustive examples of violence carried out that day by supporters of former President Donald Trump who falsely believed the election was stolen from him.
Carlson also suggested the federal government played a key role in the attack. He showed a clip of the moment the Senate part of the building was breached:
Take a look at this. It is surveillance footage showing a squad of people dressed in all black, systematically entering the Capitol and kicking open one of the exterior doors on the Senate side. These people appear to be well-trained and coordinated… The question is, who are they? And why don’t we know their names? And why aren’t they dressed like any of the other people in the footage that was just released.
Remember – and we were attacked by saying this – but we’ve already been vindicated for it. We still don’t know how many federal agents were involved in the event that day on January 6. But we have very good reason to believe from court documents that it’s a significant number.
Watch above via Fox News.
Correction: Rep. Clyde represents a district in Georgia, not North Carolina. The post has been updated.
