On Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer went on a tirade against Fox News host Tucker Carlson for sharing new footage of the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots. Schumer demanded that Fox News “order” Carlson to stop after he was given exclusive access to roughly 41,000 hours of surveillance footage by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Schumer began his attack by stating that millions of Americans tuned into one of the most shameful hours in cable television history. He accused Carlson of having contempt for the facts, disregarding the risks, and lying to his audience. Carlson ran a lengthy segment arguing that the January 6 Capital attack was not a violent insurrection. Schumer stated that Carlson had manipulated his viewers and treated American democracy with disdain.
Schumer went on to criticize Carlson’s use of the surveillance footage, calling it a “cherry-picking” of evidence that allowed him to tell the bold-faced lie that the Capitol attack was somehow not an attack at all. Schumer expressed his disbelief that Carlson tried to argue it was nothing more than a peaceful sightseeing tour.
Schumer explained that many of his staff were present at the Capitol on January 6, and their lives were put in danger, as were the lives of many of his colleagues, police, maintenance staff, reporters, and countless others. He revealed that he was within 30 feet of the rioters at one point and that one of them had shouted, “let’s get him,” before his detail pulled him away, and they ran in the other direction. Schumer then stated that to say January 6 was not violent is a pure and simple lie.
Schumer also took aim at Speaker McCarthy, stating that he was every bit as culpable as Carlson. He claimed that McCarthy had played a treacherous game by catering to the hard right, enabled the big lie, and further eroded the nation’s democracy. Schumer accused McCarthy of choosing cheap political expediency over truth and the preservation of democracy.
Schumer then shifted his focus to Carlson’s producer, who had texted him stating, “I don’t think there is evidence of voter fraud that swung the election.” Schumer claimed that Carlson and his team knew full well that they were lying, but they were doing it anyway. He called Carlson’s conduct a dangerous, unforgivable attempt to destabilize the country’s democracy and rewrite the history of the worst attack on the Constitution since the Civil War.
Schumer expressed that it was an insult to every police officer who was on the scene that day and every single person who perished in connection to the attack, especially to the memory of Brian Sicknick. He stated that it made him sick just thinking about what Sicknick’s family must be going through and that Carlson’s conduct was an insult to everyone who cares about democracy and wishes to preserve the dream of the nation’s founders.
Schumer concluded his attack by calling on every member of the chamber to call out Fox News and Carlson for defending the insurrectionists. He expressed disappointment and anger in Speaker McCarthy’s decision to share sensitive security footage with Carlson and urged Fox News to order Carlson to cease propagating the big lie on its network. Schumer stated that conduct like theirs was just asking for another January 6th to happen.
In response to Schumer’s attack, conservative writers have argued that Schumer was attempting to stifle free speech and silence those who dared to question the official narrative of January 6th. They stated that Carlson was merely presenting an alternative viewpoint based on the evidence that was available to him.
They pointed out that Schumer’s attack was typical of the left’s intolerance of differing viewpoints and their desire to control the narrative. They expressed concern that Schumer’s attack on Carlson was an attack on the First Amendment and freedom of speech.
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Source: ConservativeBrief
