Dan Kanninen, former senior adviser for Hillary Clinton‘s campaign, pointed out during an appearance on Fox News that some of the network’s hosts texted former President Donald Trump‘s staff during the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
Kanninen made that point during a recent segment on Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus in which he was speaking about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s comments on the day of the attack after it was reported that she said that she would “punch” the then-president.
Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra Pelosi, a documentary filmmaker, captured the moment on January 6, 2021, showing the House speaker saying that she hoped Trump would come to the complex so that she could “punch him out,” NBC News reported. That moment aired after the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack played clips from that video on Thursday during its public hearing.
Kanninen defended Pelosi’s remarks and said that she showed more grace “and courage and composure in that moment than I think any of us would.”
“Let me remind the viewers that the exact moment she was saying those things…she’s expressing real frustration at the same time that hosts on this network were texting Mark Meadows saying the President’s gotta get these folks out of the Capitol. It’s dangerous. You gotta shut this down. That was happening right then it was a real moment. It was dangerous,” he said.
Kanninen didn’t specify which Fox News hosts he was referring to, but the January 6 committee previously revealed the details of texts sent by Fox News host Sean Hannity to Trump’s circle in the days prior to and after the riot.
The committee said Hannity’s texts showed that he was “expressing concerns and providing advice” to Trump and his staff at the time about the plans for January 6 about efforts to challenge the outcome of the 2020 election.
On December 31, 2020, Hannity said he was concerned about the White House legal team’s response to the plans while texting then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
“We can’t lose the entire WH counsels office. I do NOT see January 6 happening the way he is being told. After the 6 th. [sic] He should announce will lead the nationwide effort to reform voting integrity,” Hannity wrote.
Fox News host Laura Ingraham also texted Meadows on January 6, 2021, urging Trump to tell his supporters at the Capitol to “go home.” The text was revealed by Republican Representative Liz Cheney, vice chair of the House Select Committee.
On Thursday, the committee held its last public hearing, before the midterm elections, and revealed new evidence that panel members argued made Trump “the central cause” of the riot.
Chairman Bennie Thompson confirmed that the evidence presented by the panel “did not come from Democrats or opponents of Donald Trump.” The evidence came from Trump’s family, former Trump officials, White House aides, top state and national Republican figures, Thompson said.
The committee members also agreed to subpoena Trump for documents and testimony related to the riot, saying that Trump “is required to answer for his actions.”
“We have left no doubt—none—that Donald Trump led an effort to upend American democracy that directly resulted in the violence of January 6,” Thompson said. “He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on January 6. So we want to hear from him.”
Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment.
The post Fox Guest Points Out Network Hosts Texted Trump Staff During Jan. 6 Riot appeared first on Newsweek.
