The White House is striking back against Fox News host Tucker Carlson for his use of surveillance video footage from the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol, claiming he is not a credible source of news.
"We agree with Fox nation's executives and own attorneys who have repeatedly stressed in multiple courts of law that Tucker Carlson is not credible when it comes to this issue," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday during her daily briefing.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., released more than 40,000 hours of surveillance footage to Carlson and his show's producers, a move heavily criticized by Capitol Police, lawmakers from both parties and the mainstream media.
Segments of the footage, which Carlson first aired Monday, showed there was a stark contrast about activity inside the Capitol than what was portrayed by the Democrat-controlled House select committee investigating the incident, and by the mainstream media.
To back her case, Jean-Pierre read a headline from an NPR story in September 2020 that "You literally can't believe the facts Tucker Carlson tells you. So say Fox's lawyers."
The story, regarding a defamation lawsuit filed against Fox by Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who claimed she had an earlier affair with President Donald Trump, quotes the judge's opinion about Carlson's show and no Fox attorney is directly quoted about what the headline implies.
Jean-Pierre also read a headline from a Washington Post story Tuesday that "Fox exec: Hannity, Carlson shows are not 'credible' sources of news." But the story, a brief in a package of highlights regarding documents released in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems, only mentions Fox executive David Clark's testimony about "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo." Carlson and Sean Hannity's shows aren't mentioned.
"We condemn this false depiction of the unprecedented violent attack on our constitution and the rule of law which cost police officers their lives," said Jean-Pierre, falsely claiming Capitol Police officers died during the protests. Officer Brian Sicknick died from multiple strokes hours after confronting protesters, according to the D.C. medical examiner. Four others died by suicide in the days and months after the riot.
"That's what we saw on that day, a very dark day in an attack on our democracy," Jean-Pierre said. "To have said what he said when we saw Capitol Police officers lose their lives is just shameful."
Newsmax reached out to Fox News for comment.
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