The release by Fox News’s Tucker Carlson of the unseen footage from the Capitol surveillance cameras on Jan 6 has caused an uproar on the left. Diverting the attention from the fact that the Jan 6 Committee did not consider the footage, in fact, did not even view it, The Biden administration is trying to call the in-your-face footage “lies” and to attack Fox for viewing it.
As covered by Republic Brief, there is already a case being brought against the Biden DOJ for not including the footage in its original investigation, and in the court cases of those accused of violence that day.
Nevertheless, bringing up points that have already been declared, such as the difference between network and cable news and the commentary of the hosts on cable news, at least one spokesperson for the Biden administration is suggesting that censorship by the government of news shows should be discussed. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre amazingly complained about Fox News’ objectivity in a recent interview with leftwing Mediaite host Dean Obeidallah, and suggested that the government should control cable news.
“Look, the FCC the way the law is right now, it does not cover cable news,” Obeidallah said. “We all know that. Broadcast news, though. It does. It, it’s called distortion. And it has to be you have to show that they said something false on purpose they knew was false and they could be sanctioned. They can lose their license on a network. It doesn’t apply to cable.”
“Do you think there’s any chance to explore the idea of expanding that, it would take an act of Congress, to expand the FCC’s mandate to include, just apply that, what that already applies to CBS and ABC and FOX on network to cable equally,” he continued. “It would apply to everyone, if (inaudible) did same thing that we know Fox did. Because if not, why would Fox not just keep lying to the American public without any consequence? I don’t know why they would stop this.”
“So, look, I have to be careful. FCC is an independent agency, so we need to be careful here. But I get your point,” she said.
“You know, look, I think everybody has a responsibility, if you call yourself a news organization, to tell the truth, you know, and I mean, that’s probably as far as I can go,” she continued. “I think when you ask me about Fox, and I think that’s I think the question that I got on MSNBC with Alex was close enough to that.”
“But to the question that you did, you just you just asked me,” she went on. “And in the best way that I can answer it is even Fox News leadership, in their depositions say, as we as I was being asked about the Tucker Carlson show, that it’s not news or truthful. And I think that tells you everything that you need to know. I mean, when the when the leadership is saying that, I think that tells you everything that you need to know and I’ll just leave it there.”
This issue has come up before, however, in reverse. Tucker Carlson’s editorializing on his show is no different than what an Obama-appointed judge said about MSNBC host Rachel Maddow in court in 2021. Journalist Glenn Greenwald said that the judge ruled that “Maddow’s show is different than a typical news segment where anchors inform viewers about the daily news.” Here is his description:
Maddow does not keep her political views a secret, and therefore, audiences could expect her to use subjective language that comports with her political opinions. Thus, Maddow’s show is different than a typical news segment where anchors inform viewers about the daily news. The point of Maddow’s show is for her to provide the news but also to offer her opinions as to that news.
Maddow is of course no different in concept than Tucker Carlson Tonight, where the Fox News host challenges the prevailing wisdom and news reportage on current events, even challenging the presentation of the news itself.
Commentator Dan Bongino points out that Karine Jean-Pierre has made her career from misinformation and statements that have been proven untrue. KJP has lied about Biden visiting the border, denied the FBI has arrested pro-life Americans, and covered up for Biden’s obvious flubs. Those lies are just for starters, as Bongino.com points out:
KJP claiming that nobody is “just walking in” across the southern border
KJP claiming there was 0% inflation in July
KJP’s denial that she publicly stated the 2016 election was stolen
KJP blaming inflation on Vladimir Putin, or claiming that it would be transitory
KJP denying that Biden’s stimulus bill fueled rising inflation
KJP falsely claiming that Biden had condemned the attempted assasination of Brett Kavanaugh
KJP’s denial about critical race theory being taught in schools
Where are the “fact-checkers” ?
