Tucker Carlson calls January 6 a ‘nonviolent election justice protest’

Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson has one again downplayed the January 6 2021 assault on the US Capitol by calling the attack a “nonviolent election justice protest.”

Speaking about an alleged FBI whistleblower on Monday night during his nightly broadcast, Mr Carlson described the Capitol riot as “a nonviolent election justice protest” which was “covered by the constitution of the United States.”

“It’s (the FBI’s) opened domestic terrorism investigations all over the country, most of them against innocent people. Now, we have proof that many of these investigations are entirely fraudulent, they’e political. This is so wrong. This should not be happening,” he explained.

Mr Carlson’s words came in the wake of an alleged FBI whistleblower who, according to right wing congressman Jim Jordan, accused the federal bureau of creating a “false and misleading” narrative around the threat of domestic violence facing the US as a result of the agency pursuing multiple cases tied to January 6.

“Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio sent a letter to the FBI director, Christopher Wray – who should be ashamed of himself – outlining the evidence. The evidence comes from a whistleblower within the FBI,” Mr Carlson told viewers, before adding that “the FBI is breaking its own procedures to create the illusion that new domestic extremism cases are popping up all over the United States.”

He continued: “In reality, virtually all of these cases are about Jan. 6, which was a nonviolent election justice protest and covered, of course, by the Constitution of the United States, excluding the people who committed vandalism. You have a right to assemble if you want.”

The Fox News anchor seemingly dismissed hundreds of arrests made in the wake of the attack, which left five people dead and dozens more injured -- including members of law enforcement. Rioters have also been charged for possessing and carrying weapons on January 6, which was carried out in the name of former president Donald Trump and his false allegations of election interference or fraud in 2020.

Outside of Mr Carlson continuing his efforts to downplay the significance of what many have described as an attack on US democracy itself, he went further by accusing the FBI of treating “innocent” Republican supporters as “domestic terrorists” with investigations tied to January 6.

That is in spite of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference seemingly celebrating allegations that some Republicans – or those who assaulted the Capitol – “are all domestic terrorists”.

Speaking in Pennyslavnia last month, US President Joe Biden attacked “MAGA Republicans in Congress” who have refused to condemn the January 6 attack or accept that Mr Trump was fairly defeated in 2020, with a warning about far right and mainstream Republican threats to America’s democracy.