07 March 2023 , 13:49
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Donald Trump has demanded the release of Capitol riot prisoners after Tucker Carlson's "scoop" footage which falsely depicts the gathering as peaceful.
The former president was responding to security video released from the January 6 on the US Capitol which was given to the Fox News host by Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The footage was handed over to Tucker Carlson to try and falsely portray the riot as a non-violent gathering.
Five people died during the storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters and there is extensive footage of violence.
Trump said the host had achieved one of the nation's "biggest" news "scoops" after Fox News aired some of the footage on his show last night.
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He wrote on the social media platform Truth: "Let the January 6 prisoners go. They are convicted, or are awaiting trial, based on a giant lie, a radical left con job.
Donald Trump has demanded the release of Capitol riot prisoners (Getty Images)"Thank you to Tucker Carlson and speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy for what you have both done. New video footage is irrefutable."
During the footage Carlson described the January 6 rioters as "sightseers" who were "peaceful" - despite only airing a fraction of the video available.
He went on to say the footage "does not show an insurrection or a riot in progress" even though there is evidence of this.
Following the release of the video in his next post, Trump praised the speaker for having the "courage" to release the footage to Fox News.
He wrote on the social media platform Truth: "Congratulations to Tucker Carlson on one of the biggest "scoops" as a reporter in U.S. history.
"The New Surveillance Footage of the January 6th Events sheds an entirely different light on what actually happened.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson was given the footage (Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)"The Unselect Committee was a giant SCAM, and has now unequivocally been stamped as CRIMINAL FABRICATORS OF THIS MOST IMPORTANT DAY."
There have been hundreds of January 6 rioters sentenced to jail for the insurrection attempt.
Trump, who has tried to get the prisoners released, claims the rioters have been unfairly prosecuted - something which his allies and some of his Republicans believe.
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QAnon conspiracy group Jake Angeli entered the US Capitol on January 6 (AFP via Getty Images)Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the president's key allies, called on "QAnon Shaman" Jacob Chansley to be granted a new trial after Carlson on Monday aired footage of him inside the Capitol.
"Jacob Chansley deserves a retrial," Greene tweeted: "All he did was nonviolently walk through the Capital [sic] wearing a costume while being escorted by Capital [sic] Police. I'm sick of the lies and the double standard."