Fox News host calls Cassidy Hutchinson’s Jan 6 evidence ‘stunning’ and ‘compelling’
A senior anchor with Fox News, a channel long supportive of Donald Trump, has described Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony before the Jan 6 committee as “stunning” and “compelling”.
After Ms Hutchinson spoke to the committee and outlined a succession of jaw-dropping moments that were told to her about the events of Jan 6 and some of which she witnessed herself, Bret Baier told Fox News viewers her appearance had been notable for many reasons.
“This testimony is first of all stunning because we haven’t heard this. Two, it’s compelling because of her proximity to power,” he said of Tuesday’s hearing.
“All of these people [were] directly having conversations with her. I think, as we’ve seen before it’s methodical.”
Mr Baier said some caveats had to added to the appearance of Ms Hutchinson, 26, who had been special executive assistant to Mr Trump’s chief-of-staff, Mark Meadows. There was no member of the committee “pushing back” or trying to find holes in her story, he said.
Fox News's Bret Baier describes Hutchinson's testimony as "stunning" and "compelling" pic.twitter.com/aBoJ2h43MK
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“But it leads up to January 6, the concern that it might ‘get real, real bad’ in the days before, the concern that the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers were going to be there, the concern that there would be weapons on The Mall, and then radio transmission that they saw weapons, AR-15s and others,” said Mr Baier, Chief Political Anchor for Fox News, which had until Tuesday chosen not to stream much of the hearings.
“And then the testimony that the President was really concerned about the crowd [not being] allowed in through the magnetometers. He wanted the crowd to be bigger, more robust, and she quotes him as saying ‘I don’t effing care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the effing mags away. Let my people in they can march to the Capitol from here. Let the people in. Take the effing mags way’.”
He added: “Listen, all of this is firsthand. So it’s from her listening to it. That’s why it’s so compelling.”
