Jan. 6 Capitol Attack has been at the forefront of political discourse since it occurred, and Fox News' Tucker Carlson has provided sympathetic coverage of the incident. This has caused concerns from Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla. ), who believes that Carlson's views are creating a space where people can feel emboldened to commit similar acts of violence in the future. Additionally, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was met with bipartisan backlash after providing Carlson with 41,000 hours of surveillance footage from the day of the attack.
Carlson has downplayed the violence that transpired, and Chief of the U.S. J.J. Capitol Police J. Thomas Manger has slammed Carlson's show for presenting "offensive and misleading conclusions" on the attack. In response to the GOP's new investigation of House Select Committee that investigated the insurrection during the past session of Congress, Rep. Frost noted that House Democrats want to focus on issues such as affordable housing, gun violence and climate change but the GOP has prioritized investigations over addressing these pressing issues.
In his coverage of Capitol Attack, Carlson has highlighted the story of Ray Epps, a man who was seen in a video the day before the riot encouraging people to breach the Capitol. Carlson showed security footage of Epps on Capitol grounds half an hour after he said he left the area, which suggests that he may have lied to investigators. Additionally, Carlson discussed the tour rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga. ) gave constituents the day before the riot, noting that two of the men from Loudermilk's party did show up at the Capitol grounds on Jan.
Carlson has also cast doubt on the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, saying surveillance footage showed he was "healthy and vigorous" after the attack, though Capitol Police Chief Manger directly compared Carlson's account, saying that his death had nothing to do with heroic actions on Jan. Carlson also focused on "QAnon Shaman" Jacob Chansley, who was seen on security footage being followed by officers but not stopped. Finally, Carlson discussed the ongoing trial of proud boy Dominic Pezzola, who used the Chansley video to support his argument that the Senate could have continued proceedings following the breach.
The sympathetic coverage of the Capitol attack by Tucker Carlson has caused alarm among some political figures, as they worry that his views will encourage people to commit similar acts of violence in the future. This has sparked a heated debate over the narrative of the attack and its implications, as well as the prioritization of investigations in addressing pressing issues such as affordable housing, gun violence and climate change.