News broke Monday that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 41,000 of surveillance footage from the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol, and Stephen Colbert is very concerned about what message that footage will be used to send.
To start with, the “Late Show” host made sure to point out that Carlson himself has cast doubt on the events of Jan. 6 already.
“No! What are you doing?!” Colbert said. “You can’t give this footage to Tucker Carlson! Ever since January 6, he has repeatedly downplayed the violent attack on the Capitol as ‘vandalism’ and ‘a forgettably minor outbreak by recent standards!’”
The “Late Show” host also pointed out the obvious flaw in logic of giving the footage to Carlson by noting that, at the very least, this now gives people outside the Capitol very explicit knowledge of where cameras are for future reference.
According to Colbert, Carlson has promised that the video will be used to reveal the truth of what all went down that day, because “by definition, this video will reveal it.”
“No. By definition, 41,000 hours of footage can be edited to say whatever you want it to,” Colbert mocked.
To prove his point, he did exactly that, by simply playing some of the public footage in reverse.
“I mean, look at these good samaritans repairing that window with a shield! And now they’re peacefully leaving the Capitol!” he mocked. “With the right graphics, he could even make the Q Shaman seem peaceful.”
You can watch Colbert’s full monologue in the video above.