Elon Musk Trolls Schumer Amid Outrage Over McCarthy Sharing Jan. 6 Tapes With Fox News

Zinger Key Points
  • Elon Musk takes a jibe at Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer via a tweet.
  • Schumer had criticised House's Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy for giving Capitol security footage to Fox News.
  • Capitol Police decries the footage and says Carlson didn't reach out for providing accurate context.

Elon Musk asked Senate Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) if he wanted Twitter to remove previously unseen footage of the Jan.6 Capitol insurrectionists layered with a sarcastic voiceover.

What Happened:  Schumer took to Twitter to criticize House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for sharing Jan. 6 security footage with Fox News despite having held "the gavel for less than three months."

“By sharing the January 6th security footage with Fox News, he has already done more than any party leader in Congress to enable the spread of Donald Trump’s Big Lie," he tweeted.

In response, Musk shared a Twitter user's video, which shows insurrectionists moving about the Capitol Complex relatively calmly, but with a mocking voiceover.

The video included segments that featured the so-called QAnon Shaman, Jacob Chansley, being escorted around the Capitol by police officers. The bare-chested Chasnley was sporting horns and face paint on the day of the insurrection.

Why It Matters: The Associated Press, through a review of Court documents and video footage, said Chansley was repeatedly asked to leave the Capitol after entering without permission and was not accompanied at all times.

The footage, provided to Tucker Carlson of Fox News by McCarthy, leaves out context about Chansley’s time in the Capitol on the day of the riots, according to the Press.

A statement by the Department of Justice, signed by Chansley and his lawyer, reportedly establishes the timeline. He pleaded guilty in September 2021 to obstructing an official proceeding and was sentenced in November 2021 to 41 months in prison.

U.S. Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger criticized Carlson’s airing of the footage in an internal memo, which said, “The opinion program never reached out to the Department to provide accurate context. One false allegation is that our officers helped the rioters and acted as ‘tour guides.’ This is outrageous and false.”

Read Next: Trump Considering CPAC Straw Poll Winner Kari Lake For Running Mate: Report

Photo by Steve Jurvetson on Flickr

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