Deadline issued an editor’s note after legal and TV critic Dominic Patten took shots at the January 6 committee hearings Thursday.
Patten initially wrote a review piece titled, “January 6 Primetime Hearing Proves A Slow Start At Unraveling A Dreadful Day In American History,” which the editorial team reclassified as a commentary and edited to “better reflect the author’s point of view.”
“This post on the Jan 6 committee hearings by our TV critic Dominic Patten has been reclassified from a review to a commentary, and has been edited to better reflect the author’s point of view,” the note said. “In trying to opine that the presentation of evidence about a horrific day in American history did not rise to the occasion, the author did not mean to denigrate or belittle the loss of life and shocking violence that happened that day.”
In the article, Patten initially said the hearing was “NPR when it should have been UFC,” CNN senior media reporter Oliver Darcy reported. It appears the line was cut in an updated version of the piece.
—@DeadlineDominic: “Despite the praise from TV talking heads as the hearing was in recess and right after it ended, this was NPR when it should have been UFC.” https://t.co/r1EwpcIQV8
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 10, 2022
The critic argued that the hearings and witness testimonies “unveiled no smoking gun” by only providing “talking points and underwhelming clips,” saying the footage played from that night had little impact on viewers. (RELATED: Poll Numbers Don’t Look Good For Democrats’ Prime Time Capitol Riot Theater)
Patten agreed with Fox News hosts that the hearings are “political theater.” He then said the hearings “were not produced that well” and may increase support among conservatives and Republicans in the midterm elections.
“The Fox hosts were right in their assessment. 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,” Patten wrote.
Democrats admitted in a Tuesday New York Times piece that the hearings could boost their support in the midterms by presenting Republicans as “irresponsibly complicit.”
“When these hearings are over, voters will know how irresponsibly complicit Republicans were in attempting to toss out their vote and just how far Republicans will go to gain power for themselves,” Democratic New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney said.