CNN anchor John King said Tuesday on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was likely giving FNC’s Tucker Carlson video from the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot to quell the popular anchor’s criticisms of him.
King said, “Kevin McCarthy is giving Fox’s Tucker Carlson access to tens of thousands of hours of January 6th security footage. Your tax dollars paid for most of the cameras that captured the scene inside and around the Capitol that day, but Speaker McCarthy is granting access only to Carlson and to Fox. Carlson is a frequent McCarthy critic who says the speaker has no ideological core. Carlson also repeatedly spreads conspiracies about attacks suggesting it was orchestrated somehow by the deep state, the FBI, not the pro-Trump mob, as we all witnessed.”
He asked, “Is it then simply raw politics that Kevin McCarthy only has a four-seat majority, that Kevin McCarthy can be recalled essentially by his members at any moment? One of his sharpest critics happens to be one of the most popular programs among the MAGA base.”
He added, “Kevin McCarthy is saying, Tucker, if I give you these tapes, stop saying this.”
In January, on his Fox News program, Carlson said, “McCarthy is not especially conservative. He is, in fact, ideologically agnostic. First, release the January 6th files. Not some of the January 6th files and video, all of it.”
King said, “And there’s worse than that. I mean, he says he’s essentially not a conservative, he’s agnostic, he flaps with the breeze, he said worse. Is that what this is? Maybe if I give this to you, you’ll be nice to me.”
Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason said, “I think the answer is yes. That seems transparently so.”
King said, “What are we going to see, selectively editing that video? If you’re going to release it all and taxpayers paid for most of it, shouldn’t everybody get it?”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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