Tucker Carlson’s criticism of Janet Yellen backfired after he claimed a video of her comments was from 2007 when it was actually from 2017, leading commentators to accuse of lying.
“It’s not the first time she’s been wrong. She was there in 2007, a year before the Great Recession,” the Fox News host said, before playing a clip of the Treasury Secretary which clearly mentioned that it was from 2017.
“Our mistake was in 2017,” Carlson said as soon as the clip ended.
On social media, commenters lambasted the Fox anchor.
“How did Tucker realize it was 2017 and not 2007 while the music video was filming? He knew it was 2017 when he ran it and had to lie on purpose,” one user wrote.
“Tucker Carlson admits to lying to the public, I don’t understand how a conservative could believe anything this scammer says,” another user wrote.
“A decade of saving time,” another user joked.
The Treasury Secretary told the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday that the US banking system was ‘sound’ and that Americans could feel ‘confident’ about their deposits in the wake of the second banking meltdown in state history. United at the end of last week.
It was the first appearance by an administration official on Capitol Hill after Joe Biden said the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation would protect uninsured money from Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, a move that some observers have called it a “bailout”.
Speaking at the start of a hearing to consider Mr Biden’s budget request for the Treasury over the next fiscal year, Ms Yellen said the decision showed the administration’s “commitment” to maintaining American confidence in the country’s financial system.
“The government has taken decisive and aggressive action to build public confidence” in the US banking system, Ms Yellen said. “I can reassure Committee members that our banking system remains strong and that Americans can be confident that their deposits will be there when they need them.”