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When it comes to conservatives pushing a false narrative minimizing the violent events that befell the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, 2021, acclaimed horror novelist Stephen King can distinguish between truth and fiction.
King called out Hercules actor Kevin Sorbo after Sorbo shared Fox News host Tucker Carlson's selected surveillance footage from the Capitol siege that did not depict any violence.
Carlson has been downplaying the storming of the Capitol incited by former Republican President Donald Trump–who encouraged his base to help overturn Democratic President Joe Biden's victory after Trump falsely claimed the 2020 Presidential election was rigged.
Recently, the Fox host was granted access to 40,000 hours of Capitol surveillance footage courtesy of fellow insurrection denier Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
On his program, Carlson only showed clips of Trump supporters calmly wandering around the hallways of the building and referred to them as "sightseers"–even though the Capitol was closed to tourists due to the pandemic.
Sorbo–more known for his far-right and anti-feminist commentary than his acting credits–shared Carlson's take on the day's tragic events and tweeted:
"It took 2 years for them to show us this."
"Still believe they’re telling the truth?"
The clips showed conspiracy theory activist Jacob Chansley–a.k.a. the "QAnon Shaman," who was arrested on federal charges for "violent entry and disorderly conduct"–walking through the empty hallways of the Capitol being followed by security guards.
Carlson claimed, according to the footage he chose to show, the Capitol police never stopped Chansley but "helped him."
"They acted as his tour guides."
"Chansley understood that the Capitol police were his allies."
In response to Sorbo's tweet supporting Carlson's manipulated take on January 6, King–a vocal critic of the GOP– called BS.
The author of The Stand and 11/22/63 described what Carlson actually did with the obtained footage.
He wrote:
"Cherry pickin.'"
Twitter users couldn't agree more.
The thread revealed the public is more confused and divided than ever.
Many claimed both sides of the political spectrum were complicit in presenting a distortion of facts in the media.
Many agreed with King's observation, including US Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger, who wrote in an internal department memo obtained by CNN, saying that the Fox host “cherry-picked” from the hours of footage to present “offensive” and “misleading” conclusions about the insurrection.
North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis also called out Carlson for perpetuating a lie about the insurrection.
Tillis told reporters:
“I think it’s bullsh*t."
These days, however, anything Carlson believes or says is anybody's guess.
It was recently revealed that his actual thoughts about Trump were a contradiction to his on-air persona of being a staunch ally.
Text transcripts of his private messages with an unnamed recipient revealed he said of Trump:
"I hate him passionately."
The transcripts were from legal documents presented as part of Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox.
Dominion alleged the hosts at the right-wing news channel “recklessly disregarded the truth” and pushed a conspiracy theory that their voting machines were used to rig the 2020 Presidential election to disadvantage Trump.