Fox News Desperately Searches for a 'Tan Suit' for Harris/Walz But Comes up Empty
A condensed overview of 15 hours of Fox News for the week ending 9/1/24
Last week marked the 10-year anniversary of the day President Barack Obama wore a tan suit for a live press conference where he discussed the prospect of escalating U.S. military response to the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria.
Although the suit was beautifully tailored Fox Business host Lou Dobbs referred to Obama’s choice in clothing as “shocking to a lot of people.” The rest of right-wing media followed Dobbs lead and the outrage mill went into overdrive.
Other news outlets even brought up instances where former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton had also worn tan suits, but the right-wing media would not absolve Obama of the grave offense of wearing a khaki-colored garment.
The term “tan suit” has come to mean a scandal about nothing of substance. Vice President Kamala Harris wore a tan suit on the first day of the Democratic National Convention which may have been a call out to the ridiculous controversy.
Last week the folks at Fox appeared desperate to turn things around for the Trump campaign or pin some type of controversy to the Harris/Walz ticket. They were searching for the next “tan suit.”
On Monday the network hoped that RFK Jr.’s endorsement of Donald J. Trump would tip the scales in the former president’s favor. After the polls didn’t budge, they moved on to Mark Zuckerberg’s letter to Congress about social media censorship and then an interview Harris shared with her running mate Minnesota governor Tim Walz.
Fox News personalities even blamed Vice President Harris for Boeing’s disastrous first crewed space mission that has left two astronauts stranded in the International Space Station for weeks.
Anyone watching Fox exclusively last week might not know that U.S. economic growth was revised up last quarter to 3% or that the green energy sector produced twice as many new jobs as the rest of the overall economy.
Shows I covered last week:
Fox & Friends
The Five
The Ingraham Angle
RFK Jr. and the Bounce That Didn’t Happen
On Monday the producers at “Fox & Friends,” tried desperately to whip up excitement about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to suspend his campaign and endorse Donald J. Trump for president.
The network included three segments about RFK Jr. in the first hour of “Fox & Friends.” Rachel Campos-Duffy was invited on as a guest to talk about it.
“But yes, I do think it's going to help Donald Trump. And I think this is an amazing moment. Maybe it's happened so quickly that we haven't really grasped how monumental this is. This is really a unity ticket. This is a bipartisan and populist ticket, that I think, you know, you've got Elon Musk, you got Tulsi Gabbard, you got RFK Jr. What's the other side? It's a globalist ticket, with these mystery puppet masters running it,” said Campos-Duffy.
The Fox & Friends Weekend host used two antisemitic tropes in her brief statement. The term ‘globalist’ is often used as a code word for Jewish person.
According to the American Jewish Committee (AJC) The idea of a Jewish globalist was embedded in the core ideology of Nazism. Hitler often portrayed Jews as “international elements” who “conduct their business everywhere,” posing a threat to all people who are “bounded to their soil, to the Fatherland.”
Jewish people have also been maligned for centuries as being wicked puppet-masters intent on ruling the world. The concept of a puppet master is also weaved into the Great Replacement theory which Fox News heavily promotes - the idea that the population of the United States is purposefully being manipulated to destabilize the white race.
Later the same day on “The Five,” Judge Jeanine Pirro opened a segment claiming the media was plotting against RFK Jr.
“The liberal press is doing everything they can to destroy the reputation of RFK Jr,” said Pirro.
Her co-host Jesse Watters even tried to compare Trump to RFK Jr.’s uncle John F. Kennedy.
Later on “The Ingraham Angle,” Lara Trump, RNC co-chair and daughter-in-law to Donald J. Trump, celebrated Kennedy’s endorsement.
“I actually don't think you can overstate how monumental it was to receive this RFK Jr. endorsement on Friday for Donald Trump. No question. This could be huge. It is huge.”
By Thursday Fox News completely dropped the story. Normally when the network starts the week aggressively pushing a narrative they stick with it through Friday.
Jessica Tarlov Threw Some Cold Water on the RFK Jr. Hoopla
On Wednesday on “The Five,” Jessica Tarlov, the lone liberal on the program, cast some doubt that RFK Jr. could help Trump’s campaign.
“Have you checked in with any conservatives about the RFK endorsement and the impact of Tulsi Gabbard being on the campaign? Because I don't think it's good for your side,” said Tarlov as her co-hosts openly mocked talked over her.
Trump has had an uneven history with RFK Jr. In April Trump made a video about Kennedy in which he labeled him as ‘the most radical left candidate,” while also calling Democrats ‘vicious communists.’
“RFK Jr is, as you know, the most radical left candidate in the race. He's more so than the Green Party. He's more so than even Crooked Joe Biden. But he's, got some nice things about him. I happen to like him. Unfortunately, he is about the Green new scam because he believes in that . . .Kennedy is a radical left Democrat and always will be. But he's a better man than Joe Biden that I can tell you. It's great for MAGA. I hope he continues to run, but the communists will make it very hard on him to get on the ballot, as they did for him as a Democrat. . .RFK Jr. But the fact is that the Democrats are vicious communists. Fascists are horrible people,” said Trump.
A quick breakdown of Trump’s logic:
Kennedy is more leftwing than President Biden
President Biden and other Democrats are vicious communists
Therefore Kennedy is even further left than a communist.
Kennedy is a super communist!
Trump also doesn’t seem to know what the word fascist means.
The definition of fascism according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Fascism - a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition.
When fascist political parties rose to power in Western Europe after World War One and during World War Two they were vehemently opposed to Marxists, socialists and communists.
Mussolini unleashed his paramilitary Blackshirts to smash up socialist meeting halls and printing presses. Fascist Blackshirts also violently attacked striking peasants and workers.
As the Nazi Party grew in Germany Hitler’s Brownshirts frequently engaged in violent street fights with leftists. When the Nazis came to power hundreds of Marxists, socialists, and communists were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
Fascists in Spain, Finland, Portugal, Japan, France, and other nations also viewed communists, socialists, Marxists and leftists as their primary enemies and political rivals.
Tim Walz the “Emotional Support” Animal
Last week the folks at Fox News along with a couple of guests used a similar phrase to describe Governor Tim Walz.
On Thursday Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz sat down for their first interview as the Democratic ticket on CNN.
Hosts on the Murdoch media empire acted as if Harris was breaking some type of protocol by appearing for a televised interview alongside her pick for vice president. She wasn’t.
Donald J. Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, also had a joint interview after the Republican National Convention.
On Wednesday, while a guest on “The Ingraham Angle,” Will Cain was the first person on Fox to use the phrase “emotional support,” to describe Walz.
“Tim will be there as her emotional life support, and it will go well for Kamala Harris.”
Later Pete Hegseth repeated a version of the phrase in the same program.
“She's going to have her emotional support coach right there with him. with her.”
The next morning on “Fox & Friends,” guest host Rachel Campos-Duffy had a slight variation.
“Do you believe Tim Wallace is her emotional support animal?”
Then the same night on “The Five,” Judge Pirro added a new twist.
“Donald Trump mocking Kamala for bringing her emotional support running mate to the interview.”
That evening, RNC co-chair, Lara Trump brought the phrase back to “support animal.”
“Look, she had to have her emotional support animal of Tim Wallace with her for this interview.”
Greg Gutfeld - Volume Doesn’t Make You Right
On Tuesday Jessica Tarlov was every liberal when her co-host Greg Gutfeld repeatedly yelled over her insisting her was correct about Black unemployment.
He wasn’t. Anyone left of center has lived this exact scenario with a relative, co-worker, neighbor, friend, or fellow student. Some folks think if they are louder than the person, they are arguing with they are correct by default.
Tarlov had just run through a list of things that have improved for Black Americans during the Biden administration. Judge Pirro asked Greg Gutfeld what he thought, and he decided to berate Tarlov.
“Greg, do you agree with that?” asked Pirro.
“No, I mean, I don't believe it. I mean, all that stuff you just said,” said Gutfeld.
“Like, all the all the facts,” said Tarlov.
“No, it's like you talked about, like the historical low unemployment. That's that was under Trump. You talk about these jobs,” said Gutfeld.
“Yes, it was lower under Biden than Trump,” said Tarlov
“Yeah. Well no it wasn't,” said Gutfeld.
This discussion went back and forth with Gutfeld getting louder and louder with each exchange.
Being loud doesn’t make you correct.
According to FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Black Unemployment
Trump - 5.3% - August 2019
Biden - 4.8% - April 2023
Tarlov was correct. Gutfeld was wrong.
If you ever find yourself in a situation like Tarlov was on “The Five,” I suggest referring to FRED. It’s an easy way to show the Trump administration next to the Biden administration.
Mark Zuckerberg and Social Media Censorship
Another nothingburger that Fox tried to make into a big deal was Meta CEO and Chairman, Mark Zuckerberg’s, letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee.
In the letter Zuckerberg alleges that government officials, including those from the White House, “repeatedly pressured” Facebook for months to take down “certain COVID-19 content including humor and satire.”
“I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” Zuckerberg wrote in the letter dated Aug. 26 and posted on the committee's Facebook page and to its account on X (Twitter).
Fox News hosts used the letter as an opportunity to attack President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Tuesday on “Fox & Friends,” Steve Doocy broke it down.
“Well, now Mark Zuckerberg has sent a letter to Jim Jordan, who regards this as a big win for free speech. And essentially what he says is he regrets that Meta bowed to administration pressure from the Biden White House to censor content and said that the interference was wrong, but he says it was all Meta’s his decision. But he won't let it happen again.”
Then Brian Kilmeade brought up the Hunter Biden laptop story.
“Right. He also talked about the laptop story, which is bizarre because President Trump was the president at the time. So, you're kowtowing to pressure from the challenger from the party? A lot of power for the most part.”
Kilmeade was making a leap as there is no evidence that Joe Biden had any pull or influence over the Department of Justice when Trump was president. Zuckerberg also didn’t mention Biden when he brought up the Hunter Biden laptop story in his letter to Rep. Jordan.
Later on in the same segment Lawrence Jones brought up the letter written by 51 former senior intelligence officers that also warned that the Hunter Biden laptop story might be part of a Russian disinformation scheme.
“There was no back and forth to anything. It was just their experience that made them feel this way,” said Jones.
Zuckerberg didn’t bring up the letter written by former intelligence officials in his statement to Rep. Jordan.
Steve Doocy went against the Fox narrative when he pointed out that Zuckerberg could have contacted Jordan for a political purpose.
“And, Brian, you know, I'm with you on your theory on what's going on. But ultimately, it's about they don't want to get regulated.”
Late the same day on “The Five,” the Fox hosts dedicated 10 minutes to the story. Jesse Watters opened the segment.
“Mark Zuckerberg's coming clean on Joe and Kamala's censorship regime. The Meta CEO revealing in a damning letter to Congress on how he caved to White House demands to censor the free speech of millions of Americans . . . Mark also cops to election interference, censoring the bombshell New York Post Hunter Biden laptop story by demoting it.”
Watters didn’t mention that it was Trump’s DOJ that warned social media platforms about the laptop story.
Later the same night on “The Ingraham Angle,” guest host Judge Jeanine Pirro tied the story to Trump’s running mate.
“Tonight, are Mark Zuckerberg and J.D. Vance in agreement?”
The show’s producers then cut to a quick media clip of Vance.
“These companies are too big and too powerful, especially these big tech companies that censor American citizens,” said Vance to a Fox News correspondent in the undated clip.
I doubt Zuckerberg would be in agreement that his company is too big or too powerful.
“It seems Zuckerberg is coming around to the truth on big tech censorship. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg comes clean on the Biden/Harris censorship scheme,” said Pirro.
Pirro also failed to mention that Zuckerberg letter included interactions with Trump’s DOJ.
Jessica Tarlov Calls Zuckerberg Out
On Wednesday on “The Five,” Tarlov shared her thoughts on Zuckerberg’s letter.
“I think it's a little bit more complicated than the way that Mark Zuckerberg was explaining this or the way that your question implies. So. All governments, Republican and Democrat, have relationships with social media companies and ask them to take down information that they feel is a risk to the public. And that happened before 2021. And I don't know why Mark Zuckerberg only wanted to single out the Biden Harris administration because there was Covid disinformation out there. Like when Trump said it as an airborne, it was airborne, for instance. I'm not going to get into the bleach hoax, Greg. But when Trump talked about disinfectant, what we talked about bleach hoax a couple weeks ago when he said disinfectant and some UV light treatment, that was something that people had to tell the public. No, actually, don't do that and ended up getting censored,” said Tarlov.
Poison control centers across the country did see a spike in accidental poisonings from bleach and disinfectants after Trump’s confusing and inaccurate statements about treating COVID-19 during a press briefing in April 2020.
Tarlov also brought up that the Hunter Biden story was suppressed during the Trump administration.
“And the timeline on the Hunter Biden story continues to be completely wonky. So that story happened under the Trump administration, right? It was taken out for 24 hours. Everybody knew about it. It went right back up. And there is no legitimate reason to think that this election would have swung in a different direction had everyone seen the contents of Hunter Biden's laptop . . . And Mark Zuckerberg clearly thinks that Trump is going to win, and he's trying to curry favor with him, and he's not being above board without the censor censorship works,” said Tarlov.
Kamala Harris Stranded the Astronauts
On Tuesday on “The Ingraham Angle,” Fox News correspondent, Kevin Corke, made an enormous leap when he blamed Boeing’s Starliner fiasco on Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Now it's going to take a while. The two astronauts will have to wait another six months for the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft to carry them home safely, and they have plenty of work to do. We're told, and sufficient supplies. Interestingly, this is happening despite the fact that Elon Musk is the subject of numerous federal investigations into his company and companies. That means you're putting country over your political and personal preferences. Now, as if this story couldn't get any more interesting. I thought it noteworthy to point out that the chair of the National Space Council is none other than Vice President Kamala Harris. Who knew?”
Later on in the same program Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the house, made the same accusation.
“So, that's very hard for her to get away from the reality that she is a key player in a failed administration. It's failed on prices. It's failed on the border. I mean, she was chair of the National Space Council. They just left two astronauts in space because Boeing failed on its contract. So they're now going from an eight day trip to eight month trip. She doesn't have a clue. But she was in charge of the National Space Council.”
Gingrich’s logic doesn’t make a ton of sense here as SpaceX has had successful launches since it started working with NASA.
If Harris is responsible for Boeing’s failures, then she’s also responsible for SpaceX’s successes.
The Boeing Starliner project started in 2014 when it signed a $4.2 billion contract with NASA under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Boeing began working as a partner with NASA in 1988 with Work Package 4 on the U.S. Space Station Freedom, which later was merged with the Russian Mir 2 program to become the International Space Station.
Also in 2014 NASA agreed to work with SpaceX which won a $2.6 billion contract to develop its Crew Dragon capsule. NASA’s relationship with SpaceX goes as far back as 2006 when the company won one of two Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contracts.
Kennedy the Former VJ - A Ban on Food Dyes Will Lead To Forced Sterilizations!
On Friday on “The Five,” during a discussion about a California bill that would ban foods containing synthetic dyes that have been tied to neurobehavioral problems in some children the Fox News host simply known as Kennedy linked the pending legislation to eugenics.
Eugenics was a scientifically erroneous theory promoted in the early 20th century that promoted the idea that humans could be improved through planned breeding and eliminating negative traits from the gene pool.
People deemed genetically unfit were sometimes sterilized against their will or murdered as the Nazi regime fully embraced the twisted ideology.
“As an adult to go have a big soda. But that's where this stuff goes. You know, the more government involvement there is in our health care and health insurance, the more they're going to have a say in what we put in our own bodies. And there is no more intimate relationship than the one you have with yourself and what you ingest. And, you know, it starts with kids. And a lot of these bans are really condescending because they want to make sure they control the food that goes in to the lowest income schools, which in places like Los Angeles and New York are fully subsidized. So what they're saying is, oh, you're poor. You can't make good decisions for yourself. The government will make those decisions for you, and then we'll have better outcomes,” said Kennedy.
I guess Kennedy is expecting that parents become experts in synthetic food dyes and how they might affect their children.
“Well what's next? It starts with red dye number five. And then does it go to your genes. Because what could some of the other causes of ADHD be. So maybe if you're going to procreate and if you're going to have some, you know, government subsidized fertility treatments, maybe the government should test your genes to make sure that you are not passing anything on that could at some point be a big problem for the government if they have to take care of you long term. So if you have ADHD or schizophrenia or gout or diabetes in your family tree, well, maybe those branches need to be snipped and you shouldn't be having kids because it starts with stuff that's pretty innocuous, but it gets very condescending and controlling very, very quickly,” said Kennedy.
Since food dyes might cause harm for some children it would seem reasonable to remove the risk. Food manufacturers could easily produce their products without synthetic dyes and have another version for school lunch and breakfast programs.
Stories that Fox Ignored
Every week I compare the hours I’ve watched on Fox News to five hours of the PBS NewsHour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not. Due to space this week the list is slightly truncated.
Updates in the Israel-Hamas War
The Israeli military agreed to pause fighting for certain hours and designate humanitarian corridors to allow aid workers to vaccine 640,000 children for polio after a 11-month-old child was diagnosed with the disease last week. It was the first case of polio detected in the area in 25 years.
Updates in the war in Ukraine
Russia launched one of its largest aerial strikes against Ukraine last week. At least seven people were killed and dozens were wounded as roughly half of Ukraine was hit. Russia also struck Ukraine’s power grid causing widespread blackouts.
A Russian missile struck Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home city last Wednesday wounding eight. This followed a previous attack that killed four civilians in a hotel.
The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency condemned a drone strike on one of six nuclear reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack but the International Atomic Energy Agency didn’t attribute any blame.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his Air Force commander the day after a U.S. made F-16 fighter jet crashed killing a skilled pilot. Zelenskyy did not say that his decision to fire the commander was due to the crash.
Six people were killed in a Russian glide bomb attack in Kharkiv. Over 100 people were injured in the attack.
A separatist group claimed responsibility for attacks in southwestern Pakistan that killed over 40 people. The group warned its second wave of attacks would be “even more intense and widespread.”
Sarah Palin won her bid for a new defamation trial against the New York Times. If she loses the case Palin has vowed to challenge the landmark New York Times v. Sullivan case, the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that makes it difficult for public figures to win libel suits as they have to prove "actual malice."
PBS produced a segment about the escalating violence and humanitarian crisis due to the civil war in Sudan. More than 10.7 million people have fled the violence, according to the International Organization for Migration. Fox News has largely ignored the conflict.
A representative of the Trump presidential campaign allegedly had an altercation with an employee at Arlington Cemetery who claimed she was physically pushed aside when she tried "ensure adherence" to rules that prohibit political activities at the cemetery. She declined to press charges because she feared retaliation by Trump supporters.
The GDP in the last quarter was revised up 3% while fewer Americans than expected filed for unemployment last week.
Three members of the Georgia State Election Board approved new election rules less than three months before the Nov. 5 general election. The proposed rules include allowing county election board members to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results and requiring ballots be hand-counted to ensure their totals match the number of people who voted on Election Day. Georgia state Democrats have sued the state over the proposed changes.
The green energy sector added twice as many jobs than the rest of the economy last year. The Biden administration’s climate policies are the driving force behind the growth in the industry.
A Hong Kong court convicted Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam who were critical of the government. They were charged under a colonial-era sedition law used increasingly to crush dissidents.
A Justice Department watchdog report found that the FBI is failing to report some sexual abuse cases involving children. The case against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar prompted the report.
The Nebraska Supreme Court heard arguments last week about a recently passed law that would restore voting rights for felons who had completed their sentences.