(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) The premiere of the highly-produced J6 Tribunal TV mini-series was not received as was likely anticipated by the House Committee in charge of the project, with one critic calling the opening hearing “anemic.”
Dominic Patten, a “Legal & TV Critic” for Deadline, published a review of the trial’s primetime premiere, railing against it as “a somber stumble” and saying the committee “failed to read the national room.”
“If tonight’s primetime debut of the House January 6 committee investigating the MAGA-fueled murderous attack on the U.S. Capitol last year was any indication of how the democracy-protecting politicians plan on making their pitch to the American public, they fell short,” Patten opened, with an obvious leftist tilt and misguided view of the J6 events.
“The fact is Thursday’s hearings led by chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss) and vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) was not effective.”
Patten goes on to explain why he believes the hearings are important, and expresses the opinion that the politicians in charge of this dog and pony show are attempting to “alert [citizens] to the fragile state of American democracy.”
According to Patten, and several other critics, they failed miserably in whatever they were attempting to say.
It took 9 minutes for the hearing to show something other than a politician delivering a teleprompter speech.
That’s too long.
I have 10 students watching with me… And they aren’t watching anymore. They’re more interested in talking to each other than watching the screen.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) June 10, 2022
Patten roasted the introduction made by Cheney as too long and rambling, failing to capture the attention of American citizens. It was also rife with lies and distortions.
“Leaning into history and not the immediacy, what the hearing did mainly show in its first vital hour was a stream of talking points and underwhelming clips,” Patten said.
He then moved on to criticizing Fox News for refusing to air the hearings, reporting many instances of politicians levying criticism against the network.
However, Patten did agree that the hearings are “political theater.”
“The Fox hosts were right in their assessment,” Patten agreed.
“What they failed to state is that the hearing wasn’t produced that well and may actually only harden the MAGA/GOP opposition in this year of midterm elections.”
