McCarthy defends sharing video
Gave footage of Jan. 6 to Carlson
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Sunday again defended giving access to more than 40,000 hours of security video from the U.S. Capitol when it was attacked on Jan. 6, 2021, to Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who recently used that video to describe most of the people who entered the building that day as “peaceful, orderly and meek,” who “revere” the Capitol.
Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Mr. McCarthy said he will “slowly roll out to every individual news agency” access to the same trove, so “they can come see the tapes as well.”
Mr. Carlson contended last week that “the footage does not show an insurrection or a riot” by a mob of Donald Trump supporters. He said that only a “small percentage” of people involved were “hooligans,” while the “vast majority” of those who entered the Capitol were “not insurrectionists. They were sightseers,” who gave “each other tours outside the Speaker’s office” and took “cheerful selfies.”
“They’re not destroying the Capitol,” Mr. Carlson said. “They obviously revere the Capitol.”
Mr. Carlson has also spread a wide array of conspiracy theories and echoed racist rhetoric about White people being replaced by minorities.
Mr. McCarthy said Sunday that he had released the video to Mr. Carlson in the name of transparency and accountability. He then equated the attack on the Capitol to the protests after the murder of George Floyd in police custody. Mr. McCarthy said he had watched federal courts and cities burn, and there was “nobody arrested there.”
The show’s host, Maria Bartiromo, appeared to endorse Mr. Carlson’s depiction of the Jan. 6 attack, saying that seeing people being “escorted by police within the Capitol” that day was “quite stunning.” Mr. McCarthy nodded his head in agreement.
Mr. McCarthy’s decision and Mr. Carlson’s description of the day have been widely criticized by law enforcement officials and lawmakers in both parties.
The siege led to at least seven deaths, resulted in assaults on at least 174 police officers and caused more than $2.7 billion in losses, according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office. More than 950 people have been arrested in connection with the attack, the Justice Department said in January, including more than 280 on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or employees, and almost 100 on charges of using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer.