During Thursday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration agrees with the criticism of Tucker Carlson's reporting on footage from Jan. 6, which she said "cost police officers their lives."
"Look, we agree with the — the chief of Capitol Police and the wide range of bipartisan lawmakers — you heard them all yesterday; you guys reported on it — who have condemned this false depiction of the unprecedented violent attack on our Constitution and the rule of law, which cost police — police officers their lives. And that’s what we saw on that day, on a very dark day: an attack on our democracy," Jean-Pierre said.
"And so to have said what he said, when we — when we saw Capitol Police officers lose their lives, or police officers lose their lives, is just a — is just shameful," the press secretary added.
Jean-Pierre condemns Tucker Carlson for telling "a false depiction" about January 6 and then says it was "a violent attack that cost police officers their lives."
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 8, 2023
No police officers were killed on January 6. pic.twitter.com/qVZ2Q4mPjL
The comments come after a similar claim from Attorney General Merrick Garland during a news conference this week.
“I think all Americans saw what happened on Jan. 6 and most of us saw it as it was happening. It was a violent attack on a fundamental tenet of American democracy—that power is peacefully transferred from one administration to another," Garland said.
“Over 100 officers were assaulted on that day, five officers died,” he continued. “We have charged more than 1,000 people with their crimes on that day and more than 500 have already been convicted. I think it’s very clear what happened on Jan. 6.”
No police officer died in the line of duty on Jan. 6. While Officer Brian Sicknick collapsed hours after the riot, he died of natural causes the following day, the District’s chief medical examiner ruled. Four other officer deaths in the weeks and in some cases months afterward were due to suicide.