White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is taking aim at Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his depiction of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
On Wednesday, Jean-Pierre was asked if she has any “broader comment” on the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News and Carlson’s narrative about Jan. 6.
“We agree with the chief of Capitol Police and the outrage of bipartisan lawmakers…who have condemned this false depiction of the unprecedented violent attacks on our Constitution and the rule of law, which cost police officers their lives,” she responded.
She went on, “We agree with Fox (News)’s own attorneys and executives, who have repeatedly stressed in multiple courts of law that Tucker Carlson is not credible when it comes to this issue in particular.”
Jean-Pierre then referenced an article from NPR published in 2020 with the headline, “You Literally Can’t Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox’s Lawyers.”
Watch the video below:
WH press sec: "Tucker Carlson is not credible…" pic.twitter.com/Ju8nQ4ZrcR
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) March 8, 2023
Additionally, she noted David Clark, senior vice president for weekend news and programming for Fox News, said in a deposition Carlson’s show and host Sean Hannity’s programs are not news shows but opinion programs.
Jean-Pierre added, “So to have said what he said when we saw Capitol Police officers lose their lives, or police lose their lives, is just shameful.”
Earlier this week, Carlson released some of the 40,000 hours of footage from the Jan. 6 riot. Carlson focused on one part of the footage, which appeared to show law enforcement walking with the so-called “QAnon Shaman” in the Capitol and declining to stop him.
“The tapes show the Capitol police never stopped Jacob Chansley. They helped him. They acted as his tour guides,” Carlson insisted, adding, “If he was in the act of committing such a grave crime, why didn’t the officers standing right next to him place him under arrest?”
He claimed there was a “small percentage” of “hooligans” who engaged in vandalism.
He went on:
“They were peaceful, they were orderly and meek. These were not insurrectionists. They were sightseers. Footage from inside the Capitol overturns the story you have heard about January 6. Protesters cue up in neat little lines. They give each other tours outside the speaker’s office. They take cheerful selfies and they smile. They are not destroying the Capitol. They obviously revere the Capitol.”
Four people died that day: one died of a stroke, one died of a heart attack, and one is believed to have died as they were crushed in a rush of people. And Ashli Babbitt was shot while trying to enter the House chamber.
Officer Brian Sicknick, of the Capitol Police, died of a stroke on Jan. 7 after being attacked by the mob. The Washington medical examiner ruled he died of natural causes but added, “All that transpired played a role in his condition.”
Additionally, Officer Jeffrey Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department and Officer Howard Liebengood of the Capitol Police died of suicide after the attack.
