Fox News: Election Night Meltdowns, Hunter Biden Nothingness and The Worst War Coverage
A Condensed overview of 15 hours of Fox News for the week ending 11/12/23
Last week Fox News continued to give heavily biased coverage of the Israel-Hamas war while lamenting Republican losses in an off-year election and re-hashing the increasingly uneventful Hunter Biden investigation and impeachment inquiry involving President Biden.
On Monday Doocy and his “Fox & Friends,” co-hosts assumed that Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin would win a Republican majority in both state houses and ride the momentum to a possible 2024 presidential campaign.
Tuesday morning started out with Steve Doocy being celebrated by throngs of white baby boomers in a Virginia 1950’s themed Diner as he boldly encouraged them to get out and vote in the state legislature race. As he darted from table to table with a coffee pot they shouted “Steve, Steve, Steve.”
By the time “Hannity,” was broadcasting the election results the Fox host and his guests were discussing the topic of abortion endlessly while trying to strategize new ways they could convince American voters that bans on reproductive care weren’t so terrible.
After three lackluster Republican debates and an ever-shrinking field of challengers in the GOP primary Fox News also began to pivot back to heavily promoting Donald J. Trump for president.
Meanwhile the network ignored stories about climate disasters in France, Pakistan, and East Africa, along with a migrant crisis in Germany and a few pending Supreme Court decisions.
Shows I analyzed last week
Fox & Friends
The Five
Hannity
Dana Perino had a Rare Honest Moment on Fox
On Wednesday on “The Five,” Dana Perino was open and frank about the many reasons why Republicans did so poorly in the off-year elections.
She didn’t promote conspiracy theories or even hint at any election shenanigans or fraud. She almost sounded like a left-leaning pundit on CNN.
“Let's just take Beshear in Kentucky, for example. A young governor, a pretty popular had a pretty good approval rating. Abortion was an issue early on. And I think Daniel Cameron, who is a great candidate, is attorney general of Kentucky. He had Trump's backing. That's a state that Trump won by like 35 points or something like that.
But incumbents are hard to beat. Abortion is an issue that's hard to beat. And get out the vote is difficult. You mentioned in the commercial break about fundraising. I don’t know the details in terms of how much was spent in Kentucky versus others, but overall, yesterday, Republicans were outspent by a lot. One of the things that happened is that small dollar donors are really strong in the Democratic Party. Then you basically they have this is called ActBlue and you just it's like throwing seeds into a field with lots of fertilizer that you saw out in California. And all of a sudden like, on here everybody's sending their money in,” said Perino.
In terms of the success of Democratic fundraising Perino was spot on.
In the case of the Virginia State Senate race, for the election cycle 2020-2023 , where Democrats raised $62.1 million while Republicans raised $41.9 million. In the Virginia House of Delegates for the election cycle 2022-2023 delegates Democrats raised $48.2 million and Republicans raised $38.6 million.
In Ohio groups that supported the ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution raised $28.7 million. Groups opposing the measure only raised $10 million in the same time frame
In Kentucky, according to the website FollowTheMoney.org, the incumbent governor Andy Beshear raised $23.1 million for his campaign while his Republican challenger Daniel Cameron only raised $6.5 million.
Perino also pointed out former President Donald J. Trump and the other candidates in the Republican primary race were attracting donors while candidates in smaller state battles were not.
“On the Republican side of things, the GOP primary is taking a lot of small dollar donations, right? Also, President Trump's PACs take a lot. And some of these campaigns didn't have enough. And Republicans are getting swamped by Planned Parenthood. It’s not only the money that Planned Parenthood has, but the organization is superb. So the Democrats are trying to get abortion referendums on several different states that will matter greatly in the 2024 general election, and that includes Nevada, for example, Florida, where you would have to get a 60% turnout or approval in order for it to pass.
What kind of a turnout motivator is that for Democrats? Also pay attention to the young vote? They are organized. We saw this in Wisconsin when they did that special Supreme Court election that was also about abortion. You had an 88% turnout rate in the county where the school, the main campuses are in Wisconsin. What do you think that's going to look like in Florida or in Nevada or if they get one in Georgia? So, it's a serious problem that Republicans need to wrestle with,” said Perino.
Hannity Lied About Abortion
Sean Hannity was in rare form as the election results came in on Tuesday night. He had the gall to say that Democrats were using abortion as a political weapon.
Republicans promised voters that they would overturn Roe v. Wade for nearly 50 years. For Hannity to suggest that the Democratic Party was suddenly “weaponizing” abortion access was next level gaslighting.
“Democrats now are using abortion as a political weapon. Not only do they accuse Republicans every two and four years of being racist, sexist, misogynist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, wanting dirty air warning, dirty water and wanting to kill grandma and grandpa. Now they're saying that Republicans will end all abortions, which is a lie,” said Hannity.
About a month and a half before last year’s midterm elections Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced a bill in the U.S. Senate that would have created a federal ban on abortions at 15 weeks.
His bill did include exceptions for rape, incest, and the health of the mother but he didn’t have support from party leadership.
Former Vice President Mike Pence also said repeatedly throughout his failed 2024 presidential campaign that he would push for a federal ban on abortion at 15 weeks. He also pushed for a widely used drug, used in first trimester abortions, to be removed from the market.
Pence even wanted to ban abortions in cases where a pregnancy was not viable. This would force a woman to carry a doomed pregnancy to term that could result in a stillborn birth or a baby dying soon after birth. It could also put the mother’s life in grave danger if the fetus died during the pregnancy.
In terms of abortion access Americans face total or partial bans in nearly half the country. As of November 14, 2023:
21 states have either banned abortion completely or have severe restrictions
14 states have a total ban on the procedure
2 states have a ban at six weeks
2 states have a ban at 12 weeks
3 states have a ban at 15-18 weeks
According to research by the Guttmacher Institute 46% of abortions occur in the first six weeks of pregnancy and 92% occur in the first 13 weeks.
Greg Gutfeld Had Some Odd Thoughts on Abortion
On Wednesday on “The Five,” the day after the election Greg Gutfeld had some truly strange ideas about abortion.
“It's no longer a constitutional right. So you can have one and you can live with it. But we could still talk about it. It's a loss. It's a denial of transformational change. It's a decision for most people. I'm not talking about specifics, but for most people done out of fear. But we no longer have to pretend it's anything more than that.
We don't have to have political discussions about rights. Abortion is based on a fear that is greater than the actual reality. And if you don't believe me, talk to somebody who had a baby and then think about how they were before they had the baby. That's called a transformational change. Right. That woman becomes a different woman that she was before when abortion was an option.
And that drives the fear. Once you see that, you can't unsee it. Right. It's the best anti-abortion argument out there and no one is making it. People do have the reasons for abortions. You mentioned a very, very tragic and ugly one. But people make decisions out of their careers or maybe the relationship, the person they're dating is that the person they want to marry. But underneath all that is a fear of this transformational change. And if you admit that, that might actually move you to maybe a different stance than you have now,” said Gutfeld
Gutfeld made several assumptions about abortion based on his own life experience and not much else.
He is an overpaid stuffed shirt with a job in media. I doubt he knows many women who would fit the profile of the typical patient seeking an abortion.
According the latest research by the Guttmacher Institute roughly 60% of women (and non-binary and transgender people who can become pregnant) who seek abortion are already mothers. They’ve gone through the “ transformational change,” that Gutfeld rambled on about.
A typical abortion patient is unmarried, in their late twenties, poor, with some college education and is very early in pregnancy. Almost half or 49% of patients who got an abortion in 2014 lived below the poverty level.
The study also found that about 25% of American women will have an abortion before the end of their reproductive years. Abortion rates have also dramatically declined from a peak in the 1980s. Americans are having half as many abortions as they did 30 years ago as teenagers are having sex less and access to reliable birth control has increased.
Jesse Watters Brags that He Knows Nothing about Israel
During a discussion about the Israel-Hamas war on “The Five,” a quick dialog between Greg Gutfeld and Jesse Watters summed up the network’s coverage of the crisis.
Gutfeld appeared to try to make a war in the Middle East about New York City.
“You know, Jesse, when you see the continuing protests and this kind of unhinged behavior, even in D.C., our politicians, I'm wondering if river to the sea means the Hudson River to the Pacific Ocean,” said Gutfeld.
Jesse Watters proudly professed his ignorance.
“I did not even know what river to the sea meant, and I don't even think the binder knew until 24 hours ago. I'm learning a lot over the last couple of days about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and I think everybody is,” said Watters.
Watters openly admitted he didn’t know much about the region.
He wouldn’t learn much about the region from watching other programs on Fox. Pro-Palestinian marches are always labeled as “Anti-Israel” demonstrations even when they are prayer vigils or calls for a ceasefire.
Fox rarely features images of Palestinian women or children in any of its segments. Instead the network relies on clips of all male protests in the West Bank, teenage boys throwing rocks at Israeli police or armed members of Hamas clad in black uniforms that cover everything but their eyes.
Propaganda mixed with ignorance is the ideal combination for fueling hate. In the past month or so Watters has made a number of bigoted statements about the Middle East, Palestinians, and Arab Americans.
Senator Lindsey Graham Thinks Trump Would Be Great for Israel
On Wednesday on “Hannity,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News viewers why Donald J. Trump would be better for Israel than Biden. He also had some very hawkish ideas about Iran.
“Here's what President Trump did. He recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. He recognized Golan Heights as part of Israel. He got six Arab nations to recognize Israel as a legitimate one and only Jewish state.
That's not Adolf Hitler. That's the strongest supporter of Israel in modern American history. Donald Trump did more for Israel than any single president on Biden's watch. More Jews have been killed since the Holocaust. Hamas saw weakness. They acted. And I'll tell you this. If one American is killed by Shiite militia supported by Iran, if one of our soldiers is killed in Iraq and Syria, we should blow the Iranian oil refineries to smithereens. We should destroy their ability to fund terrorism. Let Iran know tonight that if you kill an American, we’re coming after you.” said Graham.
Harold Ford Jr. Shoots Down some Hunter Biden Nonsense
On Tuesday on “The Five,” Harold Ford Jr., the moderate voice on the program, pushed back on a theory about Hunter Biden.
Judge Jeanine Pirro was certain that Hunter Biden had committed a number of crimes that involved his father. Her proof was a personal check written by James Biden in the amount of $40,000 to his brother Joe. The check was marked as a loan repayment and dated September 3, 2017.
“So, you know, David Weiss is not an innocent player here. This is money laundering. And either Joe made a loan to the family, and they paid him back through Chinese funds that are connected to the Chinese. Come on,” said Jeanine.
Ford interjected.
“Can I ask you a question? I'm not gonna do business with China. But what would be wrong with that? What would be legally wrong with that,” asked Ford.
“If it's a Chinese connected Communist Party connected fuel company where they were the heads of the government are on the board. Then that's illegal,” said Pirro
“No. Tell me what to. I wouldn't do that. But there's. I don't know what's illegal about that. He was not in office. If you're saying if he did give the family a loan and they paid him back through this money, we're going to make some assumptions. I don't know what's illegal about that,” said Ford.
“Because they are they are promising something in return for that money. What did they give them in return for that? You know contract law,” said Pirro.
“So, you say you're saying that maybe they said we're going to give you help in the government. I'll just try to figure out how to figure out,” said Ford.
Greg Gutfeld joined in.
“Harold, as a confrontational legal expert I believe it's called quid pro quo, but which I phrase I just coined,” said Gutfeld.
“No, it was quid pro Joe,” said Pirro.
“But Joe wasn't in office. All I hear anybody say he was not in office. So, I get it. I get. I just want to get to get the law down,” said Ford.
“Well, here it is Harold, I mean they were paying him for what he did when he was in office. This came in right after he was in eight years in the White House,” said Watters.
“2017,” Pirro shouted over Watters.
“And he took action as vice president and then he took action favorable to China when he was president. So this doesn't take a genius to figure it out, Harold,” said Watters.
There is evidence that Joe Biden wired his brother James $40,000 six weeks before James wrote a check for the exact amount to Joe with note “loan repayment,” in the memo.
This is not evidence of any Chinese company sending money to Joe Biden. As Ford correctly stated in the segment Joe Biden was a retired politician in September 2017 and could not assume that he would win the presidency in 2020.
No one who contributed to the discussion on “The Five,” could offer a shred of evidence that Joe Biden did anything that might benefit a Chinese energy company.
Family Members are Off Limits!
On Thursday on “Fox & Friends,” Steve Doocy seemed disgusted that Vivek Ramaswamy brought up Nikki’s Haley’s daughter during the third Republican presidential debate.
“Here's the truth. You don't go after somebody's family. He had talked about TikTok. Her daughter is 25 years old. She can make up her own mind. Once they leave the house. They're on their own,” said Doocy during a segment about the debate.
Later on in the same program Doocy spoke to Lee Carter, a partner of the polling company Maslansky + Partners.
Carter discussed data she complied from audience members of the debate. The audience was given a device that they used to show when they liked or disliked a candidate.
Doocy asked Carter about how the audience reacted when Ramaswamy brought up Haley’s daughter.
“When Vivek Ramswamy went after Nikki Haley’s daughter what did they think?” asked Doocy.
“There were like three or four that liked it, but for the most part, people are like, that is going too far. Do not go after somebody's children,” said Carter.
It was interesting to see that anyone on Fox would acknowledge that politicians family members should be off limits considering the network has spent years accusing Hunter Biden of various crimes while ridiculing him for his drug addiction.
Stories Fox News Ignored
Every week I compare the hours I watch on Fox to five hours of the PBS NewsHour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not.
Climate disasters
In East Africa, heavy rains have caused the worst flooding in decades, with at least 40 people killed. The excessive rain in Kenya and Somalia has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
Across the globe, this October was the warmest on record. It marked the fifth month in a row to average a new high global temperature.
Smog in the country's second-largest city in Pakistan hit dangerous levels last week. The smog is largely due to farmers burning crop waste.
Parts of Northern France were hit by excessive rains that caused massive floods. Two hundred communities across the region have closed their schools.
Odesa, a southern port city in Ukraine, faced a barrage of Russian attacks. Several drones and at least one missile targeted grain warehouses and trucks. The art museum was also hit but the artwork was not damaged.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women’s rights advocate, Narges Mohammadi began a hunger strike in Iran. She’s in prison for allegedly spreading propaganda against the Islamic Republic. She claimed she was denied health treatments for refusing to wear a headscarf.
Humanitarian aid is slowly reaching areas in Northwest Nepal that were affected by an earthquake that killed more than 150 people.
A second Denver area police officer was acquitted of homicide and manslaughter in the death of Elijah McClain. McClain was killed after being put in a choke hold by one officer and then given a heavy sedative by a paramedic. A third officer has been convicted of homicide in an earlier trial.
Robert Crimo Jr., the father of a mass shooter in Highland Park, IL who killed seven people, pleaded guilty to reckless conduct for getting his troubled son a gun license. His son, Robert Crimo III, faces murder charges.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and 16 state governors reached an agreement to curb a surge of migrants into that country. Asylum applications have increased 70% from last year.
Bangladesh will increase the minimum wage for garment workers by 56% to $113 a month. This followed weeks of protests and clashes with law enforcement that killed two people and wounded dozens.
WeWork, the office sharing company, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The firm struggled during the pandemic as many employees worked from home.
Amna Nawaz interviewed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about his presidential run as an independent candidate. During the interview Kennedy was combative and repeatedly denied saying he was against vaccinations even though Nawaz pushed back with many specific documented examples.
The Supreme Court indicated last week that it is leaning towards upholding a law that would bar people under domestic violence restraining orders from owning firearms.
The Minnesota Supreme Court refused to remove former President Trump from the state’s primary ballot last year. A lawsuit was filed with the court on the grounds that he violated the 14th Amendment by inciting the Jan. 6th attack on the Capitol.
The FDA approved a new drug for weight loss that is a newer version of an existing drug used to treat diabetes. The drug will be marketed under the name Zepbound.
The Washington National Zoo shipped three giant pandas, in specially created crates, back to China. The pandas were on loan from China and the country declined to let them stay amid diplomatic tensions.
The CDC released a report that found Syphilis cases in newborns continue to increase: A 10-times increase over a decade. An increase with babies born with the disease is a sign that it is spreading in the adult population.
David DePape, the man accused of attacking former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, went on trial last week. DePape faces federal charges of assaulting Paul Pelosi and breaking into the family’s home last year.
The U.S. Senate held a hearing over airport safety. R epresentatives of U.S. airline pilots, air traffic controllers, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) discussed issues the government needed to address “near miss” incidents and boost safety in our nation’s airports.
More than two dozen labor unions are calling for an industry-wide investigation of driverless cars after a series of accidents and crashes.
Tracy Chapman's folk anthem "Fast Car" is a winner again 35 years after its release. A cover of the song by Luke Combs won ‘song of the year’ at the Country Music Awards. Chapman is the first Black woman ever to win a CMA Award.
Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, says there’s potential conflict of interest in selection the bureau’s new headquarters. A GSA executive selected land owned by a former employee.
The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee delayed a vote on issuing subpoenas to billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and conservative legal activist Leonard Leo as part of its investigation into alleged ethics lapses on the Supreme Court.
PBS produced a segment about the many challenges people with disabilities face during climate disasters. Disabled Americans are four times more likely to die in a disaster than the general population.
Vegas hotel workers reached a tentative agreement with Wynn Resorts last week averting a strike.
The Big Ten Conference has banned Michigan football coach, Jim Harbaugh, from coaching the remaining regular-season games over accusations that he used scouts to steal play calling signs from rivals.
PBS invited Jodie Ginsberg from the Committee to Protect Journalists to talk about the alarming amount of journalists who have been killed so far in the Israel-Hamas war. So far 35 Palestinian journalists have been killed along with five journalists from other countries.
PBS produced a segment about shortages of new drugs used to treat RSV in infants.
In an interview with Univision, former President Donald Trump threatened to weaponize the Justice Department against his opponents — if he's reelected
The National Toy Hall of Fame added the Fischer-Price Corn Popper along with baseball cards, Cabbage Patch Kids and NERF foam toys as new inductees. The Ken doll was a finalist but did not make the cut. Fans of the doll know he’s Kenough.
Fabulous as always!!! I still wish 'News' weren't be in the name but you make the point. Maybe: Fox 1/5 News, 3/5 Blithering, Yelling and a Drunk / Angry Former 'lawyer,' and 1/5 just yelling false info.
One of the few truthful investigator in corruption. She and Thom Hartman, Dean Obadiah, John Fugelson just to name a few. Bring light to the efforts totransform our democracy into a Neo Liberal Fascist oligarchy. I was a Nuclear power and weapons inspector with a Q clearance. I never lie.