Friday during the opening monologue of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” host Tucker Carlson sounded off on the effect of former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee a day earlier.

Carlson argued Comey’s testimony did not further the Trump-Russia conspiracy narrative, which many had hoped would bring the beginning of the end to the Donald Trump presidency.

“[H]ere is what is true – as of 8 p.m. Eastern time tonight, Donald Trump is still the president of the U.S., and that means on the most basic level, Comey’s testimony failed to achieve its goal. Make no mistake, removing Trump from office was the goal. ‘There was collusion, Russia hacked our election, assault to our democracy, imperils our way of life!’ You hear those all the time. You hear them every night on this show but nobody in D.C. actually believes any of that, and that’s why nobody ever explains how exactly it happened or what specifically the effects of it were. Because they have no idea. And in fact, they don’t really care. They just want Trump gone along with anyone who is in the way. Russia is just a means.”

Carlson also noted one the latest targets of this effort is Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who is under further scrutiny for having met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak for an undisclosed third time.

Nonetheless, the ultimate goal of this “hoax” according to the Fox News Channel host was to topple “a democratically elected government” that people in Washington, D.C. did not like.

“[A]gain, this is not about truth or fairness, much less protecting this country from foreign threats,” he added. “It’s about toppling – let’s not lie about it – a democratically elected government that the permanent class in Washington does not like. Now again, collusion with a foreign government against the interest of the United States is tantamount to treason. It is definitely a moral crime, and we would never defend it. We would attack it, of course. There is just no evidence it actually happened. This whole story is a hoax. It’s a lie that those who tell it they tell it are beginning to believe. That is the definition of mass hysteria. It is deeply hurting our country, and yet otherwise smart people press forward as if it is all entirely real despite mounting evidence it is not real at all.”

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