Fox News anchor falsely claims there wasn’t “a lot of new ground” in January 6 committee’s first prime-time hearing

The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection held the first of a series of prime-time hearings Thursday night, showcasing never-before-seen evidence of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. But, as Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum told it, there was really nothing new to see here.

To be clear, the committee’s evidence included videotaped testimony from such figures as former Attorney General Bill Barr, former White House adviser Ivanka Trump, and former Trump campaign spokesman Jason Miller, all describing how then-President Donald Trump was informed that he had lost the 2020 election.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), the vice chair of the committee, also described accounts of how Trump privately voiced his approval of the crowd of his supporters who chanted, “Hang Mike Pence,” after the then-vice president had refused Trump’s unconstitutional demands that Pence refuse to certify the results of the presidential election.

MacCallum made her comments during a discussion on Fox Business Network while the committee had gone into a brief recess — Fox News Channel opted not to air the hearing, instead welcoming a series of guests to attack the committee’s work.

From the June 9, 2022, edition of Fox Business Network’s coverage of the January 6 House select committee hearing

MARTHA MACCALLUM (FOX NEWS ANCHOR): It does bring back, certainly, the moments of watching that. I think every American who watched it felt, you know, sort of the gut punch when you see them breaking through the doors and the windows of the Capitol. Overall, I would say, that we were told that there was going to be things we hadn’t seen or heard before. I don't think there was a lot of new ground that was really pushed here in terms of things we haven't seen —

BRET BAIER (FOX NEWS ANCHOR): As of yet.

MACCALLUM: As of yet. They have seven of these hearings, over the course of it. I think most of this, though, are the kinds of things that we've seen and heard before, even in the video. I think we have seen even more aggressive, more violent video in the past that we’ve witnessed. They didn't show what happened to Ashli Babbitt in that video. She’s the only person who was shot and killed in the middle of this melee. She was trying to break in, to breach that door of the main chamber, and so she was repelled.

Fox News anchor falsely claims there wasn’t “a lot of new ground” in January 6 committee’s first prime-time hearing

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January 6 Insurrection

Martha MacCallum