Kevin McCarthy claims he ‘didn’t see’ Tucker Carlson show amid uproar over Jan 6 tapes
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday that he did not see Tucker Carlson’s show where he broadcasted cherry-picked video footage of the January 6 riot on Fox News Monday evening.
The Republican Speaker of the House gave the footage to the right-wing cable news host who has frequently downplayed the events of 6 January 2021 when supporters of former president Donald Trump raided the Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
In response, the chief of Capitol Police condemned the footage as “cherry-picked” and misleading. But Mr McCarthy did not respond to the criticism.
“I didn’t see what was aired, what I want to do exactly is give the transparency to everybody and everybody can make up their own [mind],” he told reporters on Tuesday.
On Monday’s broadcast, Mr Carlson selectively showed footage portraying rioters taking selfies and acting mostly peacefully. Mr Carlson said a “small percentage of them were hooligans” but said “the overwhelmingly majority weren’t,” saying “they were peaceful. They were orderly and meek. These were not insurrectionist. They were sightseers.”
