A host on the right-wing Newsmax channel branded a Capitol police officer who gave evidence at the January 6 hearing “self-aggrandising” and “an attractive blonde”.
Greg Kelly mocked Officer Caroline Edwards and claimed that her evidence to the panel was that she “fell down” during the violent attack by Donald Trump’s supporters.
Officer Edwards in fact described to the committee how she had slipped in blood and had seen a “ghostly pale” Brian Sicknick, the officer who died days after the riot after suffering two strokes.
Mr Kelly told his viewers that Officer Edwards had only been picked for the hearing because of the way she looks.
“They think, well, we’ll bring in cops,” he said. “They can’t attack cops. Well, we’ll bring in an attractive blonde. I mean, It’s a woman.”
He then played a clip of Officer Edwards describing her work conditions and poked fun at her again.
“She comes off as somebody with a chip on her shoulder,” said Mr Kelly.
“This self-aggrandising, you know, ‘I worked holidays, weekends,’” he said. “Well, you had a job to do. Yeah, you got paid and you’re being used.”
Mr Kelly then mocked Officer Edwards over her testimony that she was tear-gassed during the insurrection.
“Tear-gassed by your own guys, by the way, the police were using the tear gas,” he said.
A total of nearly 20 million viewers tuned in to the first hearing when the major broadcast networks are factored in and the figure is expected to rise as streaming viewers are taken into account.
The January 6 committee will present more evidence into its investigation into the 2021 Capitol attack three times next week, as part of hearings on its findings.
The next hearing is scheduled for Monday at 10am, followed by Wednesday at 10am and Thursday at 1pm. The remaining four hearings have not yet been scheduled.
Representative Liz Cheney, a Republican, has said that Monday’s hearing will focus on Donald Trump knowing he had lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, but still engaging in a “massive effort to spread false and fraudulent information.”
