As America watched Capitol attack testimony, Fox News gave an alternate reality

On the Fox News channel, however, there was a different take on the historic congressional hearings exploring the attack on the Capitol in Washington DC.

What followed instead was an hour of obfuscation, misdirection and what-about-ism, as Carlson, aided by a selection of guests that included one man who was fired from the Trump administration after he spoke at a conference attended by white nationalists.

The scenes broadcast on other TV channels made this claim laughable. Non-Fox News viewers were watching previously unseen footage that showed police officers being kicked and beaten, and people carrying Trump 2020 flags breaking into the Capitol building.

Fox News typically has more than 3 million viewers in the 8pm hour, but announced earlier this week that it would not air the hearing, instead relegating coverage to the Fox Business channel, which averages fewer than 100,000 viewers.

Carlson might well have nodded. Last year he hosted a documentary, Patriot Purge, about the January 6 attack which floated the conspiracy theory that violence that day was instigated by leftwing activists. Carlson has also suggested FBI operatives organized the attack on the Capitol.