Wednesday, FNC host Tucker Carlson opened his program with his take on Democrats’ apparent overreach in politicizing the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot.
Carlson dismissed claims January 6 was a “violent terrorist attack,” referring to it as a midterm election strategy.
Transcript as follows:
CARLSON: Pardon the good cheer, solemnity is called for.
Today is January 5, or as it will henceforth be known to all civilized peoples around the world, January 6 Eve.
Tonight at midnight, just hours from now, we will begin the first of many annual remembrances of the horrifying atrocities that took place exactly one year ago at the United States Capitol.
So how do you commemorate something like this history-changing event that’s horrible to think about, yet so significant in the life of the country? Well, body counts are the traditional measure. When the nation was wracked by unimaginable loss in years past. That’s how we remembered it.
Forty thousand casualties at Gettysburg, 2,400 lost to Pearl Harbor, nearly 3,000 Americans dead on 9/11. But this is a new time, a different age. Those antiquated metrics won’t work as we observe a moment of silence for the fallen of January 6.
On January 6, there was — let’s see, actually there was just Ashli Babbitt. Ashli Babbitt was not a union soldier. She’s not a deckhand on the Arizona. She is not even a heroic fireman rushing into a collapsing office tower. She was merely a Trump voter.
She was unarmed, she was shot to death without warning by a Capitol Hill police officer with a documented history of reckless behavior. In the end, Ashli Babbitt was the death toll on January 6, but honestly, so what? It’s not really about the numbers, is it? It’s not about how many people were killed on January 6.
In fact, the list of those who weren’t killed on January 6 is quite long. It’s impressively long. It includes all 535 Members of Congress, as well as their entire staff, and the Press Corps that covers them. None of them died. They’re still around.
But again, who cares? It’s not about body counts. It’s about feelings. It’s about how the survivors feel, especially the reporters who survived.
The feelings of reporters in Washington matter a great deal in America. They certainly matter a lot more than how you feel at the moment. How you feel, as you’ve probably noticed by this point is totally irrelevant to anyone. Nobody cares.
But the journalists of Capitol Hill, we do care, and they’re very upset. In fact, many has still not recovered from what they saw that day, as they lie down to sleep at night, the horrible images replay in a loop on the back of their eyelids. The deafening thunder of cannon volleys, the smoke from the remorseless artillery fire blotting out the sun, the screams of the mortally wounded calling out for their loved ones echoing like some demonic soundtrack against the walls of the Speaker’s Lobby. Hell in a very small place.
Unless you were there that day, you cannot possibly understand what it was like. Imagine the Tet Offensive plus Fallujah, plus the night before Thanksgiving at Whole Foods. On January 6, you couldn’t tell who the enemy was, unless you looked down and saw they bought their shoes at Walmart, then you knew.
But otherwise, it was the fog of war, my friends.
Kasie Hunt was there that day. Hunt is now something called the chief national affairs analyst over at CNN. As a veteran of the siege of the Capitol, Hunt took to Twitter today to give hope to her fellow survivors. Quote: “Tomorrow is going to be a tough one for those of us who were there or had loved ones in the building. Thinking of all of you and finding strength knowing I’m not alone in this. #January6.”
That was just a tweet.
But someday, you’ve got to believe because this is a hopeful country that Hunt and her fellow survivors of the insurrection massacre of January 6 will come together in some more formal way. Annual reunions held in the shadow of Washington certain to be built January 6 Memorial, the one they’re going to have to bulldoze the Washington Monument to construct.
Hunt and graying grizzled veterans of The Washington Post and Bloomberg News and POLITICO and The Daily Beast and The Atlantic magazine will raise their white claws as one and remember how they cheated death that terrible day.
Okay, we’ll stop. It’s too embarrassing. We’re feeling shame even making fun of it. And in fact, as a political matter, anyway, the anniversary of January 6 is not a joke at all. It’s a serious thing, a very serious thing.
Pretending that a protest was actually a failed coup is the Democratic Party’s entire strategy to win this year’s midterm election. At this point, it’s all they’ve got. Governing didn’t work.
And that’s why today, the Attorney General of the United States, one of the most political men in Washington, announced the Department of Justice will continue to harass and arrest people who voted for Donald Trump. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Justice Department remains committed to holding all January 6 perpetrators at any level accountable under law whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy. We will follow the facts wherever they lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Everyone who was responsible. So the Department of Justice already had the largest manhunt in its history. John Dillinger is laughing from the pit of hell. January 6 trumped him, and it trumped the manhunt after 9/11. It trumps all man hunts.
So people who are just staying there taking pictures on their phone got picked up by the FBI, some got sent to jail, but it’s not ending. There are still more to come.
And of course, Merrick Garland never speaks alone. The chorus always joins him because they always move as one.
Frank Figliuzzi, for example. He is a high FBI official. He now works at quote, “NBC News” tweeted this prediction/observation, quote: “Attorney General references Watergate. Get it? Merrick Garland pledges pursuit of January 6 suspects at any level.”
Oh, there’s more, ladies and gentlemen, a former NBC executive called Mike Sington wrote this. “Don’t give up hope. Trump could still be arrested.”
Arrested for what? Because there wasn’t room in the tweet to explain, but just arrested. Bad people should be arrested. That’s the point.
What is interesting is that there are a lot of actual criminals who have got no space in the Garland speech today. Garland made no mention at all of the pipe bomber. Remember that — oh, there’s the pipe bomber right there. The pipe bomber of January 6, maybe it was January 5 actually.
We’re observing the anniversary of the pipe bomber right now. That individual was caught, we would say, man, but you know, we don’t want to get too specific in the current environment. That person was caught in surveillance tape.
The pipe bomber was on several phones, or one phone several times. That’s all traceable. Where’s that person? Merrick Garland didn’t even mention it. Here’s what he focused on instead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARLAND: We have received over 300,000 tips from ordinary citizens who have been our indispensable partners in this effort. The FBI’s website continues to post photos of persons in connection with the events of January 6 and we continue to seek the public’s assistance in identifying those individuals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Oh, be sure to check the FBI website. They are posting photos and not of people who actually work for them who were there that day. They’re not only posting photos, they’re taking them off the site, including the most wanted list. Remember Ray Epps?
He is on video several times encouraging crimes, riots, breaches of the Capitol on January 6. He was on the FBI website. Now, he’s gone. He hasn’t been charged with anything, apparently. Why is that? That’s a real question.
No one in Congress seems to care, even supposedly conservative Republican senators. What are they busy doing? Well, they’re busy repeating the talking points that Merrick Garland has written for them. Here is one example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): We are approaching a solemn anniversary this week, and it is an anniversary of a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol where we saw the men and women of law enforcement demonstrate incredible courage, incredible bravery, risked their lives to defend the men and women who serve in this Capitol.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Let’s be honest, everyone who is conservative appreciates Ted Cruz. You may not like him, but you’ve got to appreciate him. He’s legitimately smart. He’s one of the more articulate people to serve in the Congress, maybe the most articulate. He doesn’t use a single word by accident.
Every word Ted Cruz uses is used intentionally. He’s a lawyer.
He described January 6 as a violent terrorist attack. Of all the things that January 6 was, it was definitely not a violent terrorist attack. It wasn’t an insurrection. Was it a riot? Sure. It was not a violent terrorist attack. Sorry.
So why are you telling us that it was, Ted Cruz? And why are none of your Republican friends who are supposed to be representing us and all the people have been arrested during this purge saying anything? What the hell’s going on here?
You’re making us think maybe the Republican Party is as worthless as we suspected it was. That can’t be true. Reassure us, please. Ted Cruz?
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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