An increasing majority of American voters believe the federal government had a role in inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a national poll has found.
Forty-six percent of those polled said they believe it is “very likely” government agents helped provoke violence at the Capitol. Some 26 percent said they don’t believe the government provoked rioting, including 12 percent who think it is “not at all likely.”
Carlson’s producers spent several weeks looking through more than 41,000 hours of Jan. 6 video, with exclusive access provided by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
A series of specials aired on Fox the first week of March detailed Carlson’s findings. They showed Jan. 6 defendant Jacob Chansley—the so-called QAnon Shaman—being led around inside the Capitol and let into the U.S. Senate chamber by Capitol Police.
The release of the video clips on Fox sparked outrage from Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer called on Fox owner Rupert Murdoch to stop Carlson from showing Jan. 6 security video footage.
Rasmussen found that 67 percent of voters reported they closely followed news about the Jan. 6 videos, including 39 percent who followed the news “very closely.”
Thirty-two percent of respondents said the new videos made them more likely to believe supporters of former President Donald Trump engaged in an “illegal insurrection,” while an equal 32 percent said they are less likely to believe in the “insurrection” narrative as a result of the new Jan. 6 videos.
Another person discussed in Carlson’s broadcast was Ray Epps, a former Arizona Oath Keepers leader who was famously captured on camera a day before the Jan. 6, 2021, protests urging people to enter the U.S. Capitol.
Results of the Rasmussen poll, taken April 12, 13, and 16, were just the latest indicator that the public wants to know more about what is on the 41,000 hours of security video, most of which has been kept from public view by court order.