Dem
51
GOP
49
As it turns out, the House Republican Conference did not give the 1/6 footage to Tucker Carlson willy-nilly. It would seem that they are concerned about political blowback, legal exposure, or both. So, Carlson's staff had to head over to the Capitol to view the footage, and then had to get clearance before using any of it. That process is underway, and last night, the Fox entertainer aired his first "report" based on the footage.
The content of the report was utterly predictable. Here is Carlson's main conclusion:
More than 44,000 hours of surveillance footage from in and around the Capitol have been withheld from the public, and once you see the video, you'll understand why. Taken as a whole, the video does not support the claim that Jan. 6 was an insurrection. In fact, it demolishes that claim.
Carlson then showed footage of people not rioting. Shocking that, among 44,000 hours of footage, he managed to find a few minutes of relatively innocuous stuff. Needless to say, you should just disregard what you saw with your own eyes on national television on January 6, 2021.
This farce will change no hearts and no minds, of course. Heck, we all know that even Carlson himself doesn't believe what he's saying. That said, for those already inclined to believe that the insurrection was no big deal, or even that it was some sort of glorious day for democracy, Carlson's propagandizing will serve to affirm their beliefs, thus driving an even deeper wedge between MAGA reality and everyone else's reality (more below). (Z)