U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger saw Fox News’ Tucker Carlson use exclusive access to Jan. 6 footage and twist it into a distorted picture. As NBC News reported, Manger was not impressed.
U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger on Tuesday ripped Fox News host Tucker Carlson for spreading “offensive and misleading conclusions” about the Jan. 6 insurrection, including a “disturbing accusation” that Officer Brian Sicknick’s death had nothing to do with the riot. In a letter to the Capitol Police force that was obtained by NBC News, Manger conveyed his outrage over the way Carlson portrayed footage aired on his prime-time program on Monday night. The security video was exclusively provided to Carlson by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
“The program conveniently cherry-picked from the calmer moments of our 41,000 hours of video,” Manger wrote in the letter. “The commentary fails to provide context about the chaos and violence that happened before or during these less tense moments.”
The chief went on to note that the controversial television personality and his team “never reached out to the Department to provide accurate context,” adding that some of the host’s assertions were “outrageous and false.”
At face value, this was a significant development, in part because it puts Republicans in a position in which they’ll have to choose between siding with law enforcement and siding with allied cable network that partners with the party.
But it became even more notable this afternoon when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell picked a side.
Asked if it was a mistake for McCarthy to provide Carlson with special access, McConnell told reporters, “My concern is how [the footage] was depicted. Clearly the chief of the Capitol police, in my view, correctly describes what most of us witnessed firsthand on Jan. 6. It was a mistake, in my view, for Fox News to depict this in a way that’s completely at variance with what our chief law…
Read the full article here
