Tucker Carlson revealed that one of his children was in the Capitol during the January 6 riot

• Fox News host Tucker Carlson revealed that one of his children was in the Capitol during the riot.
• He said that although he "hated" what happened on January 6, he believed the media had exaggerated it.
• Carlson made the comments on a podcast while discussing his documentary series "Patriot Purge."

Fox News host Tucker Carlson revealed that one of his children was in the Capitol during the January 6 riot.

"I hated what happened on January 6. One of my kids was actually in the building when it happened. I was on the phone in real-time," Carlson said on the Fourth Watch Podcast on Thursday. 

Although Carlson did not specify which child was in the Capitol, it was likely his son Buckley, who works for Indiana Rep. Jim Banks's office, according to The Hill.

—Steve Krakauer (@SteveKrak) December 10, 2021

Carlson appeared on the podcast to discuss his "Patriot Purge" documentary, which gives an alternate telling of the events around the January 6 riot.

According to PolitiFact, the three-part series "white-washed" the storming of The Capitol. It focuses on various conspiracy theories, including that the violence outside was caused by left-wing instigators, and the FBI may have orchestrated the siege. 

The series has received mixed reactions, even from within Fox News. In November, two longtime Fox News contributors Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg resigned in protest.

Carlson comments about his child in response to podcast host Steve Krakauer asking why he felt inspired to make the documentary series.

The Fox News host went on to say that while he hates "disorder," he believes that the media exaggerated the events of January 6.

Carlson said that he would have "let it lie" if those covering January 6 had been "willing to roughly tell the truth" but claimed that the riot had now become a "partisan instrument to suspend civil liberties."

"People got all wound up. I get it. Some of them misbehaved, I am not going to defend that, but it has been used like so many events throughout history as a pretext for something else," he said.

Carlson said he mainly took issue with the fact that the event was called an "insurrection," as he said there was no evidence that it was an attempt to overthrow the US government.

"Anyone who calls January 6 an insurrection is a liar at this point," he said.

He also claimed he was "the opposite of a conspiracy theorist."