Liz Cheney blasts Tucker Carlson and Fox News over his 'false flag' Jan. 6 film

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Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Thursday assailed Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the top-rated cable news network over an upcoming special that Carlson is billing as the "true story" behind the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

A trailer for the series, which will debut next week on Fox News’ streaming service, Fox Nation, includes a woman who suggests that the violent riot was a "false flag" staged by the left — and part of what the special describes as a "patriot purge."

In a tweet, Cheney — who serves as vice chairwoman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack — said it appears that Fox News is giving Carlson "a platform to spread the same type of lies that provoked violence on January 6."

"As @FoxNews knows, the election wasn’t stolen and January 6 was not a 'false flag' operation," she added.

A violent mob of Trump supporters clash with police outside the Capitol on Jan. 6.
A mob of Trump supporters clashes with police outside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Carlson responded to Cheney's criticism on his primetime show Thursday night while continuing to downplay the violence carried out by supporters of then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6.

“This is not CNN," Carlson said. "We work for Fox News. Our bosses don’t pull people off the air just because some screechy little politician doesn’t like what we say.”

Carlson said he invited Cheney to appear on his show but that “she emphatically refused to come.”

“It turns out that Liz Cheney is not simply a liar, she is also a coward,” he said.

Cheney replied in another tweet, noting that Carlson did not air her assertion that the 2020 election was not stolen.

“Re-upping this tweet so everyone can see the whole thing, including the part @TuckerCarlson was afraid to show," Cheney wrote. "Tucker: are you still falsely contending the voting machines were corrupted and the election was stolen?"

Supporters of President Trump participate in a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6.
Trump supporters at a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Carlson and other Fox News hosts have used their primetime slots to attack the Jan. 6 committee, which has issued subpoenas to numerous ex-Trump officials, including former adviser Steve Bannon, who refused to cooperate with the panel.

Last week, the House voted to hold Bannon in contempt of Congress and to refer him to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.

A total of nine Republicans voted for the criminal referral, including Cheney.

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