House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., upheld Tuesday his decision to give Fox News host Tucker Carlson temporary exclusive access to 41,000 hours of Capitol footage from Jan. 6, 2021.
When asked if he regretted the move by reporters, McCarthy gave a blunt "No," The Hill reported.
"I said at the very beginning, transparency. And so, what I wanted to produce for everybody is exactly what I said," McCarthy said. "The people could actually look at it and see what's gone on that day."
The speaker refused to endorse Carlson's comments the never-before-seen footage proved the Capitol protest was not a "deadly insurrection." McCarthy said he was unaware of what the Fox News host said Monday night.
"I continue to hold that my job here, just like I was asked long before, is to make sure all the transparency comes out. And that's exactly what I'm doing," he said, noting news professionals can "interpret the way they want."
Later, the outlet noted McCarthy had reiterated his condemnation of the Jan. 6 protest.
The Biden administration, congressional Democrats, and the family of Brian Sicknick have condemned McCarthy's move to provide Fox News with early access to the 41,000 hours of tapes and Carlson's subsequent coverage of it.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., revealed Tuesday he supported a memo by Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger claiming Carlson's show was peddling "offensive and misleading conclusions about the Jan. 6 attack."
"It was a mistake, in my view, [for] Fox News to depict this in a way completely at variance with what our chief law enforcement official here at the Capitol" described, McConnell told reporters.
McCarthy pledged late last month the surveillance footage will eventually be given "out to the entire country" once Fox News has finished the primetime coverage of it.