Everybody knows that free speech is protected in America under the First Amendment of the nation’s constitution. It’s quite striking, then, to see the Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanding that a major television network stop its leading anchor from airing footage he doesn’t like.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a primetime cable news anchor manipulate his viewers the way Mr. Carlson did last night,’ said Schumer, referring to Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host, who this week began showing new security camera images from the Capitol building on 6 January 2021.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anchor treat the American people and American democracy with such disdain,’ he said. ‘Fox News, Rupert Murdoch: tell Carlson not to run a second segment of lies. I urge Fox News to order Carlson to cease propagating the big lie on his network and to level with their viewers about the truth — the truth behind the efforts to mislead the public.
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