WASHINGTON — A handful of Senate Republicans on Tuesday rejected conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson after he characterized the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol as “mostly peaceful chaos,” and Sen. Thom Tillis of Carolina del Norte blasted those comments as «bullshit.»

Carlson, the popular but controversial figure on Fox, made those comments to his millions of viewers Tuesday night when he aired selected clips of never-before-seen surveillance footage from the Capitol on January 6, downplaying the violent insurrection that injured 140 police officers. . during a one hour assault.

“I think it’s silly,” Tillis told reporters on Capitol Hill.

«I was here. I was there and I saw maybe some tourists, some people who got caught up in things,» he added. «But when you see police barricades being breached, when you see police being attacked, all of that. ..if you were just a tourist, you probably should have lined up at the visitor center and entered in an orderly manner.”

Tillis called Carlson’s description «inexcusable» and compared it to those who downplayed the fires and «devastation» during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020 following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man.

Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer, a conservative from North Dakota, said he was at the Capitol on January 6 and strongly rejected Carlson’s description of that day as «a loud peaceful Boy Scout protest.»

“I believe breaking windows and glass doors to enter the United States Capitol against police borders is a crime. I think particularly when you walk into the chambers, when you start opening the members’ desks, when you stand on their balcony, to somehow put that in the same category as, you know, allowed peaceful protest is just a lie.» Cramer. saying.

«I think it doesn’t do the narrative any good,» he added.

On his Monday night show, Carlson said that while there were some bad apples, most of the protesters on January 6 were peaceful, calling them «tourists,» not «insurgents.»

“The images do not show an insurrection or riot in progress,” he said. «Instead, it shows the police escorting people through the building.»

When asked if speaker Kevin McCarthy made a mistake by giving thousands of hours of footage from January 6 exclusively to Carlson, Cramer said the speaker could have given it to «all sources equally» instead of «someone who He’s particularly good at conservative entertainment.»

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said it’s «really sad to see Tucker Carlson go off the rails like that,» saying he’s «joining a variety of shocking athletes who are letting America down and feeding falsehoods.»

«The American people saw what happened on January 6,» Romney told reporters. “They have seen the people who were injured, they have seen the damage to the building. You can’t hide the truth by selectively picking a few minutes off the tapes and saying this is what happened. It’s so absurd. Has no sense.»

«It’s a very dangerous thing to suggest that attacking the United States Capitol is somehow acceptable and not a serious crime, against democracy and against our country,» Romney said. “And people saw that it was violent and destructive and it should never happen again. But trying to normalize that behavior is dangerous and disgusting.»

Sen. Mike Rounds, RS.D., also rejected Carlson’s comments that the day was peaceful.

“I was there on January 6. I saw what happened. I saw the aftermath. There was violence on January 6,» Rounds told reporters.

«I think the footage that is available should be available to all networks and everyone should be able to see for themselves what kind of chaos we had that day.»

The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said the January 6 committee should be investigated, including why the panel did not focus much on the bombs that were planted at the National Committee headquarters. Democrat and the Republican National Committee. the night before the attack on the Capitol. But, he asserted, «we don’t want to whitewash on January 6.»

«I think the January 6 committee had a partisan view of things and I would like to know more about what happened on that day and the day before,» Graham added. «But I’m not interested in whitewashing the covid lab theory, and I’m not interested in whitewashing January 6.»

Carlson said his team is reviewing 44,000 hours of footage from Jan. 6 and will post segments on his show to show that the attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory was not violent, a claim that Democrats, many Republicans, police officers and others on Capitol Hill that day strongly reject it.

«Deadly insurrection: everything about that phrase is a lie,» Carlson said on his show Monday night. “Very little about January 6 was organized or violent. Surveillance video from inside the Capitol shows mostly peaceful chaos.»

What did not appear on Carlson’s show Monday night was a video showing police and rioters engaged in prolonged violent confrontations. Some 140 policemen were attacked that day.

Capitol Hill Police Chief Thomas Manger said in a letter to his officers that the Carlson show was «full of offensive and misleading conclusions about the January 6 attack,» adding that the show «never contacted the department to provide accurate context.

“The show conveniently selected from the quieter moments of our 41,000 hours of video,” Manger wrote in the letter, obtained by NBC News. «The comment provides no context for the chaos and violence that occurred before or during these less tense times.»

Reviewing what he called «false» and «disturbing» allegations, Manger wrote: «This department stands behind the officers in the video shown last night.»