Tucker Carlson Attacks Dan Crenshaw Over House Vote, Texas Republican Fires Back: ‘Lying for Attention, As Usual’
Screenshots via Tucker Carlson YouTube (L)/Tucker Carlson Twitter (R)
Tucker Carlson blasted Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) on Friday, claiming the House Republican gave President Joe Biden the “power to shut down news sites that dare to challenge him” after his vote for a bill to force China-based ByteDance to divest from TikTok.
“This is Rep. Dan Crenshaw as he walks out of the Capitol after voting to give Joe Biden the power to shut down news sites that dare to challenge him,” Carlson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The former Fox News host included video of Crenshaw balking at a question from reporter Liam Cosgrove outside the U.S. Capitol.
“With data and access to your app that you’re addicted to. You can vastly manipulate an entire population, which the Chinese have done,” Crenshaw said.
All House Republicans were joined by more than 30 Democrats in passing a bill that would force TikTok out of the United States if ByteDance continues to be involved. Critics have said the China-based ByteDance raises concerns about access to data and manipulation around algorithms.
“Are you worried that our intelligence agencies are doing the same thing, domestically?” Cosgrove asked Crenshaw.
“Am I worried that — well, I know that they’re not,” the congressman said.
“They’re not manipulating Americans?” Cosgrove asked.
“Do you have some evidence otherwise that you’d like to share?” Crenshaw asked before moving on. “Okay, any serious questions?”
Cosgrove caught up with Crenshaw again as the congressman was leaving with his staff. The “evidence” he presented was a group of intelligence officials that suggested Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop was likely Russian disinformation after the New York Post published a report on the contents in the abandoned computer.
Crenshaw dismissed the point, saying the former officials were all retired from their positions with the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
“No because they were retired. There’s no program — this is nothing even close to what TikTok does,” Crenshaw said as he closed the door to the SUV taking him away.
“Crenshaw tells reporter Liam Cosgrove that U.S. intel agencies don’t meddle in domestic news coverage, when of course he knows that’s untrue. Watch his face as he says it. Liar,” Carlson wrote on Friday.
Crenshaw fired back on Friday afternoon, accusing Carlson of “lying for attention, as usual.”
“Tucker lying for attention, as usual. Maybe since he lost his production assistants at Fox News he can no longer do basic research or read short legislation,” Crenshaw wrote. “Nothing in the TikTok bill gives anyone any authority to shut down news agencies. Tucker is mad about a bill that simply stops the CCP from stealing the data of tens of millions Americans and using TikTok to push their propaganda. 90% of conservatives in the House voted for this bill.”
The Texas Republican accused Carlson of never missing “an opportunity to defend our enemies” and of trying to generate “clickbait” by going after him.
In a Thursday chat with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) for the Tucker Carlson Network, Carlson spoke more about his point of the government targeting news agencies, suggesting that banning TikTok would set the “precedent” for Elon Musk’s X and other social media platforms to be targeted.
Paul also argued in a heated exchange this week with Fox’s Brian Kilmeade that going after TikTok means networks like Fox News could also be targeted and face allegations solely through Congress, without a trial.
“What would stop the Congress or the next administration from saying, you know, Elon Musk is effectively a tool of Russian disinformation, doing what they did to [Donald] Trump to him and forcing a sale of X? I mean, what would stop them?” Carlson asked.
“The thing is I don’t enough about X to know who his foreign investors are. Some of them probably live in foreign countries,” Paul said.
