House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has been criticized for granting Fox News host Tucker Carlson access to over 42,000 hours of previously unseen surveillance footage from the January 6th riots. According to ABC News, while acknowledging the public’s interest in the footage, McCarthy refused to commit to a timeline for its release, stating that other news networks and the American people would have access “as soon as possible.” McCarthy also denied claims that he had “handed over” the footage, stating that Carlson had requested it and that other news networks had been granted exclusive access without an issue.
However, Keith Olbermann quickly criticized the decision on his podcast, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” He accused McCarthy and Carlson of being “corrupt, cynical, unprincipled, immoral, indefensible, unreliable, disloyal, dishonest, condescending, unstable, malicious, anti-democracy crooks” and suggested that they were withholding important footage.
According to Olbermann, McCarthy had assured him that the footage released to Fox News would not include footage of secret exit paths for politicians. McCarthy reportedly made this promise because Tucker Carlson had assured him that he would not show or watch any footage of the exit routes. However, given Carlson’s history of promoting false claims and conspiracy theories, Olbermann was skeptical of this promise.
“Tucker Carlson’s word is the coin of the realm, provided the realm is Russia,” said Olbermann. “I await Kevin McCarthy’s announcement that Tucker Carlson has also promised not to alter any of the videos, nor decontextualize them, nor to use them to support further Fox News segments gaslighting this country over what happened on Jan 6th, 2021, calling it as Carlson already has, repeatedly, a false flag operation.”
Olbermann pointed out that Carlson had previously promoted conspiracy theories about the election being stolen by voting machines controlled by foreign powers. He only invited Mike Lindell to his show to encourage false claims.
In addition to criticizing McCarthy and Carlson, Olbermann also referenced Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of Fox News, who admitted under oath that top hosts at the cable news network had promoted false election claims. Olbermann’s criticisms highlight the importance of transparency and accountability in media, particularly regarding coverage of events as significant as the January 6th riots.
