Tucker Carlson’s January 6 ‘documentary’ is his most nakedly fascist piece of propaganda yet
Tucker Carlson’s “Patriot Purge,” a revisionist history of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, clocks in at an easily binge-watchable 70 minutes, spread over three episodes. It’s produced with the aesthetics and narrative suspense of an action thriller. The good guys are the “patriots” who stormed the Capitol. The bad guys are those in the media and government who are persecuting them. “The left is hunting the right,” Carlson warns his viewers.
It is the most nakedly fascist piece of propaganda Carlson has ever produced. And it comes at a dangerous moment: The insurrection is on its way to becoming as noble an enterprise as the Boston Tea Party for large parts of the American right.
Former President Donald Trump is laying clear groundwork to fully embrace the events of Jan. 6, which he now calls “a very beautiful time,” during his potential upcoming presidential campaign. He claimed last month that “The insurrection took place on November 3, Election Day. January 6 was the Protest!” and has repeated the sentiment during recent rallies.
Trump also defended the chants of “Hang Mike Pence!” during an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl. His valorization of the insurrection attempt is having a downstream effect on the entire Republican Party: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) declined over the weekend to criticize Trump for defending those bloodthirsty chants.
And now, Carlson, through this three-part “documentary” as well as his nightly top-rated prime-time show on Fox News, is taking the argument to the masses. [Continue reading…]