American author and former Bill Clinton advisor Naomi Wolf issued a formal apology to conservatives and those who stand for “America first.”
Wolf apologized for being “duped,” making “mistakes in judgement,” and believing a “farrago of lies.”
“And, as a result of these lies, and my credulity — and the credulity of people similarly situated to me – many conservatives’ reputations are being tarnished, on false bases,” Wolf stated in her substack newsletter.
Tucker Carlson’s J6 surveillance footage expose, which destroyed the fake news narrative of a ‘violent insurrection,’ sparked Wolf’s apology letter.
“My ‘Team’ was taken in by full-spectrum propaganda,” Wolf writes.
New J6 Footage Shows Capitol Police Escorted “QAnon Shaman” to US Senate Chamber
Wolf cites the J6 committee using millions of taxpayer dollars to smear President Trump and his supporters as 'insurrectionists.'
The author also mentions Nancy Pelosi's responsibility to oversee U.S. Capitol Police, the lies surrounding Officer Brian Sicknick's tragic death, and reactions from Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell saying it was "shameful" or "a mistake" to show the footage to the public.
My letter of apology. https://t.co/tZqglhoQTj
— Dr Naomi Wolf (@naomirwolf) March 9, 2023
Although Wolf disagrees with Tucker Carlson's interpretation of the surveillance footage, she firmly states the American people deserve to see the footage.
Wolf said Carlson "engaged in valuable journalism" by airing the footage on his show.
From Outspoken with Dr. Naomi Wolf:
You don’t have to agree with Carlson’s interpretation of the videos, to notice the latest hypocrisy by the Left. My acquaintance and personal hero Daniel Ellsberg was rightly lionized by the Left for having illegally leaked the Pentagon Papers. The New York Times was rightly applauded for having run this leaked material in 1971. [https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1435/daniel-ellsberg].
I do not see how Mr Carlson’s airing of video material of national significance that the current government would prefer to keep hidden, or Fox News’ support for its disclosure to the public, is any different from that famous case of disclosure of inside information of public importance.
You don’t have to agree with Mr Carlson’s interpretation of the videos, to conclude that the Democrats in leadership, for their own part, have cherry-picked, hyped, spun, and in some ways appear to have lied about, aspects of January 6, turning a tragedy for the nation into a politicized talking point aimed at discrediting half of our electorate.
From the start, there have been things about the dominant, Democrats’ and legacy media’s, narrative of Jan 6, that seemed off, or contradictory, to me. (That does not mean I agree with the interpretation of these events in general on the right. Bear with me).
There is no way to un-hear the interview that Mr Carlson did with former Capitol police office Tarik Johnson, who said that he received no guidance when he called his superiors, terrified, as the Capitol was breached, to ask for direction. [https://www.foxnews.com/media/tucker-carlson-talks-exclusively-key-capitol-police-officer-ignored-by-jan-6-panel-amid-footage-release]
That situation is anomalous.
There is always a security chain of command in the Capitol, at the Rayburn Building, at the White House of course, and so on, which is part of a rock-solid “security plan.” [https://www.dhs.gov/news/2014/09/30/written-testimony-usss-director-house-committee-oversight-and-government-reform].
There are usually, indeed, multiple snipers standing on the steps of the Capitol, facing outward. I made note of this when I was researching and writing The End of America. There is never improvisation, or any confusion in security practices or in what is expected of “the security plan”, involving “principals” such as Members of Congress, or staff at the White House. I know this as a former political consultant and former White House spouse.
The reason for a tightly scripted chain of command and an absolutely ironclad security plan in these buildings, is so that security crises such as the events of Jan 6 can never happen.
The fact that so much confusion in security practice took place on Jan 6, is hard to understand.
There is no way to not see that among the violent and terrifying scenes of that day, as revealed by Mr Carlson, there were also scenes of officers with the United States Capitol Police accompanying one protester who would become iconic, the “Q-Anon Shaman”, Jacob Chansley - and escorting him peaceably through the hallways of our nation’s legislative center. [https://www.foxnews.com/media/former-lawyer-qanon-shaman-says-jan-6-footage-wasnt-shown-client-calls-prison-sentence-tragedy].
I was oddly unsurprised to see the “Q-Anon Shaman” being ushered through the hallways by Capitol Police; he was ready for the cameras in full makeup, horned fur hat, his tattooed chest bare (on a freezing day), and adorned in other highly cinematic regalia. I don’t know what Mr Chansley thought he was doing there that day, but so many subsequent legacy media images of the event put him so dramatically front and center — and the barbaric nature of his appearance was so illustrative of exactly the message that Democrats in leadership wished to send about the event — that I am not surprised to see that his path to the center of events was not blocked but was apparently facilitated by Capitol Police.
A point I have made over and over since 9/11 is that many events in history are both real and hyped. Many actors in historic events have their agendas, but are also at times used by other people with their own agendas, in ways of which the former are unaware. Terrorists and terrorism in the Bush era are one example. This issue was both real and hyped.
“Patriots” or “insurgents” (depending on who you are) entering the Capitol can be part of a real event that is also exploited or manipulated by others. We don’t know yet if this is the case in relation to the events of Jan 6, or to what extent it may be the case. That is where a real investigation must come in.
But as someone who has studied history, and the theatrics of history, for decades, I was not at all surprised to see, on Mr Carlson’s security camera footage, the person who was to become the most memorable ‘face’ of the ‘insurrection’ (or the riot, or the Capitol breach) — escorted to the beating heart of the action, where his image could be memorialized by a battery of cameras forever.
Twitter users thanked Dr. Naomi Wolf for her letter.
It takes a lot of courage and character to admit when you are wrong and rectify it, especially in today’s divisive political landscape. You have both.
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) March 10, 2023
This is pretty courageous.
— Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) March 10, 2023
This took HUGE courage on your part.
It is also very detailed and well-written, with several links to evidence.
Thank you.
(Low bow to you)
— Mark Jeffrey (@markjeffrey) March 13, 2023
I am one of the people who was targeted and brutalized in all of this horrific dishonesty. I still am.
This helps.
— Brandon Straka (@BrandonStraka) March 10, 2023
All we can ask is that this be what happens for all of those who were lied to by the institutions we are *supposed* to be able to trust, as they work FOR US. You have the bravery to put own to paper, and for that we are so grateful. We can’t begin to fix this until more join you…
— Tracy Beanz (@tracybeanz) March 10, 2023
Dr. Wolf concludes her apology letter by stating:
Because of lies such as these in legacy media — lies which I and millions of others believed — half of our nation’s electorate was smeared and delegitimized, and I myself was misled.
It damages our nation when legacy media put words in the mouths of Presidents and former Presidents, and call them traitors or criminals without evidence.
It damages our country when we cannot tell truth from lies. This is exactly what tyrants seek — an electorate that cannot know what is truth and what is falsehood.
Through lies, half of the electorate was denied a fair run for its preferred candidate.
I don’t like violence. I do believe our nation’s capitol must be treated as a sacred space.
I don’t like President Trump (Do I not? Who knows? I have been lied to about him so much for so long, I can‘t tell whether my instinctive aversion is simply the habituated residue of years of being on the receiving end of lies).
But I like the liars who are our current gatekeepers, even less.
The gatekeepers who lie to the public about the most consequential events of our time — and who thus damage our nation, distort our history, and deprive half of our citizenry of their right to speak, champion and choose, without being tarred as would-be violent traitors - deserve our disgust.
I am sorry the nation was damaged by so much untruth issued by those with whom I identified at the time.
I am sorry my former “tribe” is angry at a journalist for engaging in —- journalism.
I am sorry I believed so much nonsense.
Though it is no doubt too little, too late —
Conservatives, Republicans, MAGA:
I am so sorry.
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