Tucker Carlson Says Trump ‘Recklessly Encouraged’ Capitol Hill Riot

Fox News host Tucker Carlson last night accused President Donald Trump of encouraging the riot at the Capitol that left five people dead, including a Capitol police office. Carlson used his prime time show to downplay accusations that the incident was an act of insurrection.

“The Trump protests at the Capitol yesterday is already being used as a pretext for an unprecedented crackdown on civil liberties,” Carlson told his prime time audience. “Just in the last several hours we have heard people in positions of power and authority demand that those who support Donald Trump should no longer be allowed to publish books or use the internet or fly on airplanes.”

Tucker Carlson describes the MAGA riot at the Capitol that Trump incited as a "political protest [that] got out of hand after the president recklessly encouraged it" and roundly dismisses calling it "insurrection" or "domestic terrorism." pic.twitter.com/YfhdVbsncl

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) January 8, 2021

“What happened yesterday, they’re telling us, wasn’t simply that a political protest got out of hand after the president recklessly encouraged it,” Carlson went on. “That is in fact what happened.”

“But it’s not what they’re saying,” he said. “Instead they’re calling it domestic terrorism, CNN describes it as an insurrection.”

Carlson has long been a staunch defender of the president and used his show – the most watched cable news show in history – to criticize those opposed to Trump and his policies. Both Republicans and Democrats have accused Trump of inciting the riot.

Efforts are underway in the House of Representatives to impeach Trump a second time with a view to removing him from office, while speculation has mounted that Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet could invoke the 25th Amendment to strip him of his powers. However, a report overnight claimed Pence did not support the idea.