(LifeSiteNews) — U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wants former Fox News primetime personality Tucker Carlson to face government regulation for his coverage of the dispute over the 2020 presidential election, which she claims “very, very clearly” constitutes “incitement of violence.”
Speaking last week with MSNBC host Jen Psaki (President Joe Biden’s first White House Press Secretary), Ocasio-Cortez claimed, “[W]e have very real issues with what is permissible on air. And we saw that with January 6, and we saw that in the lead-up to January 6th and how we navigate questions, not just of freedom of speech, but also accountability for incitement of violence. These are, this is the line that we have to really explore through law as well.”
“I believe that when it comes to broadcast television, like Fox News, these are subject to federal law, federal regulation in terms of what’s allowed on air and what isn’t. And when you look at what Tucker Carlson and some of these other folks on FOX do, it is very, very clearly incitement of violence. Very clearly incitement of violence. And that is the line that I think we have to be willing to contend with.”
Neither of the two offered examples of how Carlson supposedly incited the riot, which interrupted congressional certification of the election results following former President Donald Trump holding a rally to urge Congress not to certify his loss to Biden, citing allegations of vote fraud. Since then Carlson has been a target of left-wing ire for his focus on the use of the event to paint peaceful conservatives as violent extremists.
Ocasio-Cortez argued that the “incitement” angle was more important than Fox’s agreement to a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine company that factored prominently in some of the election claims given airtime by some Fox personalities and pushed by some Fox guests. Dominion published internal communications in which various Fox personalities expressed greater doubts about the claims than were conveyed on-air, although Carlson himself publicly challenged attorney Sidney Powell at the time for failing to deliver evidence that she had promised.
Critics accused “AOC” of wanting to undermine speech and press freedom in a manner akin to authoritarian regimes, and of hypocrisy in light of various examples of left-wing media figures engaging in approval or promotion of violence:
This is what happens under Marxist regimes. It must never happen in America! https://t.co/deZoPWpGM2
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) April 23, 2023
MSNBC is not the best network to go on to accuse other TV hosts of "inciting violence."
: https://t.co/VJ74QmiVUW pic.twitter.com/vb36yHAKrT
— Bobby Burack (@burackbobby_) April 23, 2023
“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” in Ferguson was a lie perpetuated for weeks by numerous media outlets, particularly CNN.
It stoked racial tension, anti-police sentiment and division, and caused an enormous amount of harm and loss of property. https://t.co/BgdazaG9kR
— stevemur (@stevemur) April 23, 2023
On Monday morning, Fox News announced that it was parting ways with Carlson, its most popular personality, sparking intense speculation as to which side made the decision and why. No details have yet been confirmed, though Ocasio-Cortez reacted to the news with a simple “Wow” and by retweeting the clip of her demanding legal action against Carlson.