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The histrionics and bad faith claims over Tucker Carlson making the J-6C videos available expose what is wrong with our press.

At the start of this new year, on the Lie-Able Sources podcast, I stated that I believed that 2023 would be a year where the press complex of this country will have a serious reckoning. That has started to already come to fruition, with numerous examples already displayed this young year. From gas stoves to making excuses for spy balloons, to deflecting from a train wreck of a trainwreck response, turning racist about Nikki Haley, and a black-on-black police shooting blamed on white supremacy – along with numerous lies from prominent outlets — it has been remarkable how they are dissolving as we watch.

This week it gets worse, as the responses to the revelations of the January 6 footage have been almost uniformly hysterical, and there is a prime example to be seen with NBC News’ reaction to this disclosure. It is difficult to single out one outlet, yet this is one that basically typifies much of what we are watching unfold.

The reactions to Tucker Carlson beginning to reveal the unreleased aspects of the compiled security videos from the January 6 committee have been something to behold. Many in the press are taking the seemingly contradictory position that it is wrong to make these tens of thousands of hours of videos available for the public to view. Yes, members of the journalism class, you would hate for the facts to be shown. 

Of course, this stance is defied by the collection of news outlets that came together to demand that they be given the same access that Tucker was granted. Now just try to reconcile that contradiction: It is wrong for these tapes to be made available, and by the way you need to give them to us!

Adding to the misanthropy is the personally-affected Adam Kinzinger, a prominent member of said committee. The unreleased footage has revealed what the J-6C crew wanted to keep hidden, as it unspools many of the positioned claims that were made. Kinzinger tried to claim they were all about transparency on the committee…all while he wails about more transparency taking place. 

This is the kind of paradox on display from NBC News, which came out with what they felt was a scathing rebuke of Tucker’s reveal. Sahil Kapur writes on the video releases, and from the start, you get the feel of creative reporting — just from the headline, claiming Carlson “Falsely Depicts Jan. 6 Riot as a Peaceful Gathering.” Carlson has not depicted anything, he displayed evidence, and the inconvenience of this reality is evident.

Kapur goes on to say Tucker was using the footage to “portray the riot as a peaceful gathering.” This is both a misdirection, and it is an attempt to deflect from the inconvenience. Kapur actually feels the need to do the very thing Tucker is doing — provide a contradictory presentation. As he complains that Tucker is showing a different version, Kapur tries to display his differing view.

Video that Carlson didn’t air shows police and rioters engaged in hours of violent combat. Nearly 1,000 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack. About 140 officers were assaulted that day, and about 326 people have been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding officers or employees.

Tucker did show some of the violence that erupted outside the Capitol, but Kapur pretends something else does not exist; we have already been inundated with those images. That violence is not a secret and not something Carlson could hide; it is a reality we all are well aware took place. The videos being shown this week provide a contrast, adding context to the claims from the committee. Consider how it was sold to us. They wanted those images of violence outside to carry on into the Capitol, but it was unseen. What we now see taking place inside was far more serene, and sits in defiance of claims of an attempt to overthrow a government.

Kapur also tries to spin the now-proven lie that officer Brian Sicknick was killed on January 6, attempting to suggest Tucker misrepresents his death. “He played video that he said showed Sicknick walking around inside the Capitol after the mob attacked him.” Really, “he said”?! No, Sicknick was shown, and as Kapur has to admit, he died the following day of natural causes, proven in a medical examiner report. This is a sharply lame attempt to accuse Carlson of misinformation while he is being completely accurate. 

Then Kapur delivers one of the more laughable arguments that has arisen against Carlson’s release. As many have previously said, this will only extend the discussion of a supposedly closed investigation. “The episode presents thorny politics for McCarthy who, in releasing the video to Carlson, is reigniting a national debate over the failed insurrection,” whines the NBC News reporter. This is precious. The issue is that Tucker is talking about an event the press has been covering in perpetuity for two full years. They have not been able to shut up about January 6, but now Tucker needs to zip it.

Why? Why, after all of this time, is it suddenly wrong to discuss and explore the events? Because until now, the details have been managed and controlled. The J-6 Committee has been the gatekeeper on these images, and as a result, controlled the narrative. Now that more is revealed and a fuller view is seen, it is disrupting their intent, and it is upsetting the media.

You see this in a dose of concern-trolling from Kapur. He states how some Republicans are also against the idea of these tapes being released.

Some Republicans believe it is a mistake to reopen the Jan. 6 discussion, particularly after Trump-backed election deniers faced midterm defeats up and down the ballot in swing states. “The 2022 election was a categorical rejection of election denialism. It cost Republicans the Senate and nearly kept them from winning back the House,” said Republican strategist Ken Spain.

Of course, what is lost on the reporter, is that if this were the case, then Tucker is not displaying the footage in a partisan fashion. If GOP members are also against the release, then it cannot be argued, as Sen. Chuck Schumer stated, that it is being done to “distort reality.” Then, with more amusement, Sahil lets Chuck Schumer prattle on, oblivious to the unintended revelation he makes.

“Tucker Carlson will select only clips,” said the Senate leader, “that he can use to twist the facts to sow doubt of what happened on January 6 and feed into the propaganda he’s already put on Fox News’ air.”

That Schumer is unaware he just managed to describe the actions of the January 6 Committee is amusing. That he and the press are upset about these videos getting out and undermining the attempts by the committee is now rather obvious.