Fox News: A Festival of Biden Bashing, some Border Crisis Hysteria and More Hunter Nonsense.
A condensed overview of 15 hours of Fox News for the week ending 9/10/23
Fox News went from briefly ignoring the former President Donald J. Trump to obsessing about polls that showed Trump beating Biden in any number of metrics. The network shaped the presidential race as a beleaguered genius who was beloved by the American people who would solve every problem if he just got four more years in office.
Fox News personalities largely ignored the 91 criminal charges the former president is facing along with the civil trials that will likely distract him as his campaign progresses. Hunter Biden’s legal problems and the border crisis were also major topics on the network last week.
As usual Fox News failed to inform its viewers about various climate disasters, new Biden administration policies that could help nursing home residents and various developments in the war in Ukraine along with the growing humanitarian crisis that could lead to a genocide in Sudan and Darfur.
Shows I covered last week
Fox & Friends
The Five
Hannity
Hannity: “Biden’s Leadership Failures”
Sean Hannity took ‘Biden bashing,’ to a whole other level when he dedicated and entire hour-long program on Friday to a review of every misstep the president had taken.
“Welcome to this Friday special edition of “Hannity: Biden's Leadership Failures.” Now we begin with a very simple question and every American needs to ask this question. Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” asked Hannity as he trashed the president for his failures with the U.S. economy.
Hannity left out that inflation has been a global problem for months and the U.S. is actually performing better than most G20 countries. The Fox host also downplayed a several month streak of positive jobs reports and historic low unemployment along with a rise in construction jobs and steep increase in the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Hannity transitioned to the president’s troubled son.
“But there is real evidence of bribery, corruption, tax fraud, FARA violations, and money laundering. So that's why I called the Joe Biden money laundering and bribery scandal allegations. You have pictures, you have tax year videos, you have emails, bank statements, eyewitness testimony, the FBI, 1023 form government whistleblowers and so much more. And the DOJ simply doesn't even seem to care,” said Hannity.
Most of the evidence against Hunter Biden is piecemeal, circumstantial, or unverified.
Hunter Biden was an untreated addict who accidentally supplied his father’s many detractors with a plethora of embarrassing homemade porn videos and images of him smoking crack cocaine. Republican lawmakers pounced expecting to find proof of various crimes but so far haven’t turned up much of anything.
Hannity moved on to the border crisis, and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan then abruptly pivoted to the train disaster in East Palestine and the wildfires in Maui.
He included a Republican congressman from Hawaii along with the mayor of East Palestine in the same segment. This was misleading as the train derailment in Ohio was caused by corporate malfeasance not a natural disaster.
The federal government should not have the same role in cleaning up the mess created by a highly profitable corporation as it would in helping people after a natural disaster. Hannity ended his Biden bashing episode by claiming the president is on some sort of crusade against the oil and gas industry.
“It's no secret that Joe Biden hates fossil fuels. He pledged to ban them during the campaign. Cancel the Keystone XL pipeline pipeline on day one . . . Now he's canceling oil and gas leases in Alaska's Anwar that Donald Trump just opened up,” said Hannity.
Fox News promotes the idea that the U.S. oil and gas industry is near bankruptcy when in reality the U.S. has been the single largest producer of crude oil since 2013 and according to the Energy Information Administration is on track to beat the previous record set under the Trump administration by the end of 2023.
Trump Will Beat Biden! We have the Polls to Prove it!
On Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” the network dedicated nearly ten minutes to a discussion about various polls and how they show Trump could beat Biden in the next election.
“Why would so many of the Republicans be supporting Donald Trump? Because he is the clear cut winner. He's saying the majority of Republicans. I disagree with that. If you look at the polls, the majority of Republicans want Donald Trump,” said Ainsley Earhardt.
Her co-host Griff Jenkins agreed.
“Those voters said that Trump with 51% compared to 41% for Biden, had a record of accomplishment, had done things. And you just heard a few moments ago Biden talking about that last guy didn't do anything. Well, 51 to 40 says he did.”
Steve Doocy was a bit of a wet blanket citing polling that wasn’t positive for Trump.
“So there are legal issues that hang over Donald Trump. And in the Wall Street Journal poll, a majority of the people who responded view Donald Trump's actions after the 2020 election as an illegal effort to stop Congress from declaring Joe the winner. So a majority said, yes, that's bad,” said Doocy.
Later that night on “The Five,” the cast pushed the same narrative.
“I like how they were shocked. They were shocked that Trump is still able to be tied with Biden. No, they should be shocked that Biden is able to be tied with Trump. Sure, you can keep throwing January 6th out there, but all in all, Trump is still cogent. He's still a human being. He still can use his brain. What you have there is not workable. Biden is barely a figurehead . . .and nobody seems to care that nothing is getting done,” said Greg Gutfeld.
Biden has gotten quite a bit of legislation passed as well as navigated a number of diplomatic gestures such as the pending agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel and the recent summit with South Korea and Japan.
Dana Perino also discussed the recent polling and how it made Biden look bad.
“So it's not same poll that Greg and you mentioned by an eight point margin, more voters said Trump has a vision for the future and elections are about the future. And there was also people saying that they want change. Last week, the poll said 77% of Americans think he's too old. This week at 73%. So I'm pretty sure that's not an outlier,” said Perino.
Jessica Tarlov, the liberal on “The Five,” was the only person besides Steve Doocy to discount the polls.
“So Democrats keep wetting your pants. We got an election. But at this time, when Obama was running for reelection, Romney was up. And look how that turn out. I mean, we're 14 months out,” said Tarlov.
Judge Jeanine Pirro echoed a sentiment she’s said before.
“The Democrats so hate Donald Trump their hatred of him outweighs their love for this country,” said Pirro.
Jessica Tarlov Fact Checks Judge Jeanine in Real Time.
During the same discussion Judge Jeanine Pirro made a couple of errors when she touted Trump’s jobs numbers.
“Joe Biden comes out and he has the unmitigated gall to say that Donald Trump didn't build anything. And so what I did was I went in and started looking at all the things that Donald Trump did and built before he became president . . .Whether it's in the beginning of his career or right until he ran for president. It is it is unparalleled what he did from Mumbai to Dubai, etc., etc., from Scotland. And then when he was in the White House . . . he rebuilt the economy. You talk about one or two percent of the African Americans. They got jobs more than they've ever had under any other president,” said Pirro.
After Pirro was finished with her statement Jessica Tarlov plainly said the following.
“The Black unemployment rate on the Hispanic unemployment rate is the lowest it has ever been. And that's under President Joe Biden, not Donald J. Trump.”
Doocy Facts Don’t Agree with Hannity’s Facts
The border crisis was also a major issue last week as Fox News pounced on a media clip were New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared that the influx of asylum-seeking migrants will destroy his city.
On Thursday on “Hannity” the Fox News portrayed New York as a city on the brink of a disaster.
“Queens, New York. Well, residents there got a little preview of the coming disaster today. Local schools were completely overwhelmed and inundated by the children of illegal immigrants, forcing some students to move into overflow spaces. Now, apparently schools were even handing out free backpacks, school supplies paid for courtesy of New York taxpayers to illegal immigrants children,” said Hannity.
Earlier that same day on “Fox & Friends,” Steve Doocy presented a very different scenario.
“They say, according to The Post, the overwhelming majority of the kids who are going to show up in school today are asylum seekers, and an overwhelming majority of the kids were in class last year. So, in other words, I mean, these kids were in school in May and June. So, they know these kids, they know exactly what they need, and that's why they hired about 200 teachers to teach English in the last year and 175 who are bilingual,” said Doocy.
Mayor Eric Adams also confirmed that many the students were in the NYC school last year during an interview about the crisis on the PBS NewsHour.
Republicans Hate Democracy - Mayor in Exile.
Curtis Sliwa is an activist, radio show host and the founder of the Guardian Angels an unarmed, anti-crime, non-profit organization he founded in 1979. Sliwa was also the Republican candidate for New York City mayor in 2021 where he received 27% of the vote in a low turnout election.
On Thursday Sliwa appeared on “Hannity” to express his frustration about the migrant crisis in New York.
“Imagine if you happen to be those illegals and you're looking at this. See, I can't believe the borders are open. I get to stay in a hotel, three squares, iPhone, smartphone. Oh, culturally appropriate food, with ‘a chuleta’ a pork chop on top. And if I'm not happy, they send GrubHub. If you're an illegal alien, you join in the invasion and they are going to overwhelm us. I will not allow that. I am the mayor in exile. Like Napoleon on the island of Elba. I will block the bridges. I will stop the busses. We will turn them around. Go back to where you came from. You don't belong here. You are illegal,” said Sliwa.
Hannity asked,
“You have held a number of demonstrations. You are now threatening to shut down the bridges in New York City. How real is that threat?”
Sliwa responded,
“Oh, very real. You've seen this before. And it's truckers who are the most patriotic, the most American. The independent truckers 18 wheeled tractor trailer drivers are willing to risk their rigs. They will block every entrance and exit. They will take the keys out, walk away and say, tough guys, you are not coming in to our city, our state and our country anymore. If the politicians won't do it, the people will do it,” said Silwa.
Biden’s Alias Emails - The Latest Chapter in the Hunter Biden Saga
On Tuesday Stephen Miller, a former top advisor to President Trump, appeared on Hannity to discuss the latest invented scandal surrounding President Biden and his son Hunter.
“You have 5000 plus emails through a series of pseudonyms. This is what James Comer is going to hopefully be able to get. So, we're running these parallel investigations with what I'm doing with James Comer is doing. But it is my supposition that you will find in those pseudonym emails an elaborate foreign bribery scheme that will be game, set, match for Joe Biden,” said Miller.
Joe Biden most likely used pseudonyms for privacy reasons. Several top government officials have used similar methods in multiple administrations. The National Archives has the emails as Biden made no attempt to hide or destroy them.
Rep. Comer and members of the House Oversight Committee act as if these emails are proof of something but so far, they haven’t been linked to any criminal activity.
Stories Fox News Ignored
Every week I compare the hours I watch on Fox News with five hours of the PBS News Hour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not.
Climate disasters
PBS invited Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist who has worked with NASA, to talk about extreme weather events and the threat humanity faces from climate change.
Schools across the mid-Atlantic and Northeast temporarily shut down due extreme heat and the lack of adequate air conditioning
The heat index reached near 100 degrees in Boston. The National Weather Service warned residents about the risk of heat exhaustion.
After a summer of record breaking wildfires Greece experienced extreme rainfall and flooding. Eleven people have died due to the floods and six people are still missing.
Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in Southern China and Hong Kong. The area had the heaviest rainfall since the country started keeping meteorological records in 1952.
Updates in the war in Ukraine
Russia refused to comment if Vladimir Putin will meet with King Jong un from North Korea.
A Russian missile strike in Eastern Ukraine killed 17 people in broad daylight. It appeared that civilians were intentionally targeted.
Russian drone parts fell in Romanian territory. Romania is a member of NATO.
A Russian drone struck Izmail, a port in Ukraine used for grain exports.
Moscow said it shot down three Ukrainian ‘attack drones’ in Southern Russia.
Voting began for local elections in Russian occupied districts of Ukraine.
Trump’s legal problems
A federal judge ruled that E. Jean Carroll does not have to prove that former President Donald J. Trump defamed her, she only has to prove any damages Trump’s defamatory statements caused her.
A special grand jury in Georgia recommended charges for 21 additional people in addition to the 19 who were ultimately indicted for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency Iran has slowed down its efforts to enrich uranium to 60% purity.
PBS produced three segments related to the ongoing civil conflict in Sudan and neighboring Darfur. The RSF (Rapid Support Forces) has specifically targeted and killed non-Arabs in a form of ethnic cleansing that many experts believe could develop into a full blown genocide. Since the conflict began over 3.3 million people have been displaced, thousands have died and over 20 million are approaching a crisis level for food insecurity.
Leaders from Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda, the U.S. and the E.U. held the first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. Although African nations only produce about 2-3% of total carbon emissions the continent is the most vulnerable to climate change.
Steve Harwell the singer of the band Smashmouth died at the age of 56 of acute liver failure.
Multiple school districts across the country are experiencing a shortage of bus drivers due to drivers retiring and low pay.
PBS produced a segment about the shortage of pulmonary specialists in many rural communities.
A new law in Illinois protects earnings minors make from work on social media.
China's largest real estate developer managed to stave off a default.
Three federal judges shut down Alabama’s last redistricting plan finding it did not fix a likely violation of civil rights law. The federal court assigned a special master to draw new districts. The SCOTUS previously ruled that Alabama’s district lines likely diluted the electoral power of Black voters
Sixty-one people were charged in Georgia with racketeering charges related to protests over a planned police and firefighter training facility in the Atlanta area critics have called ‘Cop City.’
PBS produced a segment about the rise of domestic violent extremists in the U.S. many of which are based in anti-government and or white nationalist ideology.
As the U.N. World Food Program has faced a funding shortfall Afghanistan will lose much needed food assistance. The Taliban takeover prompted the U.S. and other countries to freeze an estimated $7 billion of the country’s foreign reserves.
PBS produced a segment that featured the career of tennis superstar Billie Jean King and her fight for equal pay in the sport.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has fired Jorge Vilda, the coach of its Women’s World Cup team. Jenni Hermoso, a player on the team, along with Spanish prosecutors accused RFEF President Luis Rubiales of sexual assault over a nonconsensual kiss he forced on her after a winning game.
Israel and Saudi Arabia continue to work on a deal brokered by the U.S. that will improve relations between the two countries. One major demand by the Saudi kingdom is significant Israeli concessions to the Palestinians including transferring parts of the West Bank to Palestinian control.
Mexico decriminalized abortion in all 32 states.
Two workers have been detained after they used an excavator to widen an existing gap in the Great Wall of China as a shortcut. The government has said the damage was beyond repair.
In a review of FAA reports and a NASA database, the New York Times found an increase of near misses of commercial airlines.
Researchers found an increased role of churches and religious groups in the abuse and neglect of Native American children housed in boarding schools for over a century.
Peter Navarro, a former advisor to President Donald J. Trump, was found guilty of criminal contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States.
The ruling party in Mexico selected Claudia Sheinbaum as its nominee for the next presidential election in 2024.
Microsoft researchers have reported that China is using A.I. to make fake profiles on social media in an attempt to influence U.S. elections.
Japan launched an umanned rocket carrying a ‘Moon Sniper’ lunar lander that should reach the moon by February.
Democracy is under threat in Tunisia as the Kais Saied the president of the Northern African country has persecuted and jailed his political rivals, wrecked the economy and caused many to flee the country.
PBS produced a segment about how many schools are losing free lunch programs for needy children as federal funding from COVID-19 programs run out.
The IRS has said that it will pursue cases involving 1600 millionaires who owe back taxes along with 75 large business partnerships.
The Biden administration proposed new rules for nursing homes that would increase the amount of time each patient spends with a nurse and nursing staff.
Four Black American tennis players, Coco Gauff, Frances Tiafoe, Madison Keys and Ben Shelton reached the quarter finals in the U.S. Open. It’s the first time that has happened in the sport's open era, which began in 1968.
Thanks to a glutton for punishment.
Another good one! ❤️