Tucker Carlson faced widespread condemnation from media figures, Republican lawmakers, and even one of his own Fox News colleagues after airing a trailer for his upcoming project that seemingly portrays the January 6 Capitol riot as a “false flag” operation orchestrated by the government. The promo for Carlson’s documentary series, titled Patriot Purge and airing next week on the Fox Nation streaming service, features one voice suggesting the U.S. government is waging a “domestic war on terror” against “half of the country.”
The trailer, which opens with onscreen text that reads, “The true story behind 1/6” and “The War on Terror 2.0 and the plot against the people,” includes interviews with a man who claims “the left is hunting the right” and “sticking [American citizens] in Guantanamo Bay…leaving them there to rot.” Later in the promo, a woman asserts that “false flags have happened in this country. One of which may have been January 6.” Footage of a man firing a gun at what appears to be a shooting range is shown briefly and a voice says, “We are dealing with an insurgency in the United States” before the image transitions to Joe Biden delivering a speech in which he describes white supremacy as “the most lethal threat” in America.
Carlson, who has previously suggested that federal agents may have set up the Trump supporters who are facing prosecution for storming the Capitol building, makes a personal appearance in the trailer, saying, “The helicopters have left Afghanistan, and now they’ve landed here at home.” While discussing the three-part series on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox’s most popular host said that he believes “it answers a lot of the remaining questions” regarding the Capitol riot. “Our conclusion? The U.S. government has in fact launched a new war on terror. But it’s not against al-Qaida, it’s against American citizens,” he added.
On this week’s edition of Carlson’s Fox Nation program, he went as far to say that “you can see why the people who showed up in Washington on January 6 were mad,” and in September, he said that “the vast majority of people inside the Capitol on January 6 were peaceful. They were not insurrectionists, they shouldn’t have been there. They weren’t trying to overthrow the government. That’s a total crock.” Carlson’s remarks echo those of Republican lawmakers who have tried to downplay the deadly attack perpetrated by Trump’s supporters and fueled by his lies—with one congressman even characterizing the riot as a “normal tourist visit.”
In an interview with The New York Times, Fox News host Geraldo Rivera criticized his colleague’s new project. “Tucker’s wonderful, he’s provocative, he’s original, but—man oh man. There are some things that you say that are more inflammatory and outrageous and uncorroborated,” he said. “I worry that—and I’m probably going to get in trouble for this—but I’m wondering how much is done to provoke, rather than illuminate.” He continued: “Messing around with January 6 stuff…. The record to me is pretty damn clear, that there was a riot that was incited and encouraged and unleashed by Donald Trump.” When asked whether or not he would advise the network against airing Carlson’s series, Rivera declined, saying, “That’s not my job. He’s my colleague. He’s my family. Sometimes you have to speak out about your family.” Though Rivera was willing to call “bullshit” on Carlson’s false flag claims in a Thursday-morning tweet.
Fox News did not respond for comment on criticism of Carlson’s series, which was flowing on Twitter.
Wajahat Ali, a columnist at The Daily Beast, suggested that Carlson’s conspiracy theory about January 6 is representative of the conservative base as a whole. “We kept telling you they were going to become a radicalized, weaponized, death cult. Here it is,” he wrote in response to the trailer. “In defense of a coup and a violent insurrection. Republicans will only get worse. This is Fox News, not OAN or Newsmax. We’ve lost a third of this country for my lifetime. Gone.” Charlie Warzel, who writes a Substack newsletter on the internet, media, and politics, responded to the trailer by comparing it to the likes of conspiracist Alex Jones, tweeting that it’s “important to see what arguably the most popular cable news personality in America is putting out…and it’s basically just…infowars.”
GOP Representatives Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney condemned Fox News for granting airtime to Carlson’s false flag claims. “Anyone working for [Fox News] must speak out,” Kinzinger wrote on Twitter. “This is disgusting. It appears [Fox News] isn’t even pretending anymore.” Cheney, who serves as the vice chair on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack, tagged Fox Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott in a tweet describing Carlson’s claim as an outright lie. “It appears that [Fox News] is giving Tucker Carlson a platform to spread the same type of lies that provoked violence on January 6,” she wrote. “As [Fox News] knows, the election wasn’t stolen and January 6 was not a ‘false flag’ operation.”
Additionally, former Republican lawmaker Joe Walsh asked Brit Hume, a former anchor and senior political analyst, and Bret Baier and Chris Wallace, two of Fox’s most respected hosts, if they have “the courage or the decency to condemn” the series, while Denver Riggleman, another former GOP congressman, noted that “at least 7 white nationalist groups” are actually the parties that participated in January 6. “Tucker’s lies will focus on FBI, Antifa & other false flag conspiracies. Flynn insanity. QAnon ignorance. Replacement theory,” he added. “Propaganda inciting violence on [Fox News].”
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