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'It's bullshit': GOP senators rip Tucker Carlson for Jan. 6 footage

Alec Regimbal

A handful of Republican senators tore into Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday for remarks he made Monday night while airing never-before-seen security footage of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol provided by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

When asked about Carlson's commentary the next morning, Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina didn't parse words.

"I think it's bullshit," he told reporters. 

"I was down there, and I saw maybe a few tourists, a few people who got caught up in things,” he added. “But when you see police barricades breached, when you see police officers assaulted, all of that ... if you were just a tourist, you should’ve probably lined up at the visitors’ center and came in on an orderly basis.”

In his segment Monday night, Carlson said the security footage proved that a small number of bad actors made the riot look worse than it actually was, going so far as to label the bulk of those who stormed the building as "sightseers" as opposed to "insurrectionists." The unseen videos were provided exclusively to Carlson by McCarthy last month in a decision that was met with fierce criticism. 

Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, another conservative, said he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and flat-out accused Carlson of lying in his portrayal of events.  

“I think that breaking through glass windows and doors to get into the United States Capitol against the borders of police is a crime," he said. "I think particularly when you come into the chambers, when you start opening the members' desks, when you stand up in their balcony, to somehow put that in the same category as, you know, permitted peaceful protest is just a lie."

Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota reportedly echoed Cramer, saying he was present on Jan. 6 and reiterating that the actions of the rioters amounted to an insurrection, not a peaceful protest. He also joined with congressional Democrats in saying that the unseen security footage should be released to all major news outlets. 

Unsurprisingly, some of the strongest remarks came from Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who is well-known for bucking his party on issues involving decorum. He told CNN it was "sad" to see Carlson going "off the rails," and he cast the host's portrayal of events as "dangerous and disgusting," comparing it to Alex Jones' now-infamous portrayal of the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. 

"Any attempt to normalize what was a violent attack on the United States Capitol only makes it more intriguing for people to do such a thing in the future,” he said. 

The public rebuke of Carlson comes at a time when Fox News is suffering one of the worst embarrassments in the network's history. In recent weeks, a trove of newly released text messages and emails from senior executives and hosts at the network — including Carlson — revealed that many on-air employees chose not to disclose that they did not believe conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 presidential election for fear that it might alienate viewers.