Fox News: Illegal Alien Babies and Ultra MAGA outrage.

A condensed overview of 15 hours of Fox News for the week ending 5/15/22

Viewers of Fox News last week would believe that illegal alien babies were hoarding infant formula, that ultra MAGA is the worst insult in the world and that Democrats are lying when they say abortion access is at risk if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

Before I get into the stories featured on Fox last week I want to address the mass shooting in Buffalo, NY where 10 people were gunned down in a supermarket in broad daylight. The alleged shooter was an 18-year-old named Payton Gendron, who posted a live stream of his crime on social media along with a 180-page manifesto. In his hate-filled rambling document he claimed a conspiracy theory known as “The Great Replacement” was part of his inspiration to murder Black Americans.

As I have reported before, multiple anchors at Fox News have echoed themes of The Great Replacement when they’ve referred to migrants at our Southern border as invaders. Some Fox personalities have even equated migrants crossing our border with the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.

In March Laura Ingraham said two statements in her extended monologues that promoted the same themes promoted in The Great Replacement,

“They had to dump Trump because he showed that informed nationalism, patriotic nationalism can lead to more prosperity and more freedom.”

“An America that was economically strong and culturally cohesive.”

The worst offender by far is Tucker Carlson who regularly equates immigration with an invasion and defiantly used the term “replacement.”

In this example I spliced Tucker Carlson defiantly defending his statements regarding immigration with clips from “America First” a streaming show hosted by Nicholas J. Fuentes a white nationalist. Fuentes is known for his extreme antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, misogyny and hate and has pretty much been banned on every social media platform.

The main topic last week was a nationwide shortage of baby formula. Fox News blamed Biden for the shortage but they’d also blame him for temperatures not staying exactly 72 degree Fahrenheit every day if the could. Fox loves to blame President Joe Biden for absolutely everything.

Nationwide there is a 43% decrease in stock for all types of formula. Parents are driving long distances and chasing down canisters of formula wherever they can get it. Retailers have put caps on the amount consumers can buy to try to cut down on price gouging and to serve as many customers as possible.

The reasons behind the shortage are varied. The pandemic caused parents to hoard baby formulas as most consumers stocked up on essentials like toilet paper and shelf stable food. When things calmed down and the panic buying stopped parents went through their stockpiles.

This caused a lag in demand which threw off producers.

Then a few infants got sick and two died from a rare infection caused by the pathogen Cronobacter sakazakii. After the Food and Drug Administration investigated Abbott, a major producer of infant formula, and discovered traces of the bacteria in a Michigan plant.

As a result, the FDA recalled several brands of formula, and parents were advised to not buy or use some formula tied to the plant. The plant was also temporarily shutdown. Normally one plant wouldn’t cause that much disruption but over 90% of all formula sold in the U.S. is produced by only four companies.

The FDA also has incredibly strict restrictions on the type of formula that can be sold in the U.S. To make thing even worse the Trump administration increased tariffs and restrictions on baby formula imports from Canada. Tump entered into a new North American Free Trade agreement with Canada that increased the tariff on baby formula to a rate that can exceed 17%.

Fox News didn’t include any of that detail. Instead they interviewed Republican Rep. Kat Cammack, (FL-03) who ranted about a photo she was sent from a whistleblower at a migrant detention center that seemingly showed an entire palette of infant formula.

The pallet contained a powered milk product intended for toddlers (age 1-3) called NIDO. The New York Post also used the exact photograph. NIDO is not infant formula.

Since 1997 the U.S. is legally obligated to provide food and water for migrants via the Flores Settlement.

The supplies were most likely purchased in bulk months ago before there was a shortage and the overall amount of infant formula slated for migrants would be a tiny fraction infant formula market.

Today Abbott labs announced it had reached an agreement with the FDA and would resume production of baby formula immediately.

Sources

A perfect storm hits baby formula - CNN

What’s Behind America’s Shocking Baby-Formula Shortage? - The Atlantic

U.S. to boost baby formula imports to ease nationwide shortage after Abbott Nutrition recall - CNBC

U.S. baby formula shortage is worrying parents. Here’s what to know. - Washington Post

F.D.A. and Abbott Reach Agreement on Baby Formula to Try to Ease Shortage - New York Times

Ultra MAGA

In addition to baby formula every Fox personality expressed great outrage over a speech where President Joe Biden coined the phrase, “Ultra MAGA.”

“Let me tell you about this ultra MAGA agenda,” Biden said, using former president Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan — “Make America Great Again” — as a pejorative. “It’s extreme, as most MAGA things are.”

The anchors were so worked up over this slight that they uttered “ultra MAGA” 41 times in the 15 hours I surveyed. The collective indignation was a bit much considering how much they trash the President and Vice President on a daily basis.

It was also odd as I’m not sure how a term like “ultra MAGA” would be considered an insult if a person was truly proud of being part of the MAGA movement.

I was going to edit a supercut of Fox anchors saying the phrase but realized fairly quickly into the process that it would just be too long for Twitter or the podcast.

Clip of the Week

On Friday while a guest on "Fox & Friends" Rep. Kat Cammack (FL-03) said, "No one has been saying the pallets of baby formula going to the border are causing this shortage."

Then later on that day Jesse Watters did exactly that while on "The Five." In another clip Jesse Watters coined the phrase “illegal alien babies.”

The same network that claimed it championed the life of unborn babies was basically promoting the idea that babies in migrant detention centers should starve.

Stories Not Covered on Fox News

• Heat wave in India – India has had the hottest April and March in 122 years.

• Bird flu outbreak in the United States – The Avian flu has negatively affected the U.S. poultry industry.  Roughly 37 million birds have either died or been destroyed due to the virus.  The disease is spread from migratory birds like ducks and geese.  Hannity did an extended segment about inflation with a farmer, but this was never discussed.  The virus is not a danger to humans, but it has increased the cost of chicken, turkey and eggs.

• Journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by Israel forces in the West Bank - Israel won’t take direct responsibility for her death yet but has launched an investigation. Palestine has rejected the Israeli government’s offer for a joint investigation and insists Akleh was intentionally murdered. There were horrific clashes between Israeli police and mourners at her funeral where Israeli police beat pall bearers who almost dropped her casket. It’s extremely difficult footage to watch.

• Finland and Sweden are planning on joining NATO - In a move that is sure to upset President Vladimir Putin of Russia both Finland and Sweden are taking steps to join NATO.

• Brittney Griner – WNBA player detention in Russia extended - The Russian government extended her detention on what her lawyers are calling trumped up drug possession charges.

• The shameful history of indigenous children forced into boarding schools was exposed - A new Interior Department report on the legacy of boarding schools for Native Americans underscores how closely the U.S. government collaborated with religious groups to indoctrinate indigenous children into the Christian religion and strip them of their culture and faith.

• COVID-19 memorial for 1,000,000 deaths – PBS had a very touching extended segment that had mini-profiles of a diverse group of people who died from all over the country. According to Pew Research, from late last year on, COVID deaths in the most pro-Trump counties in America, were about 180% of what they were in the most pro-Biden counties.

Hannity desperately shills for Dr. Oz

Sean Hannity went tore into senatorial candidate Kathy Barnette after she recently surged in the polls for the U.S. senate race in Pennsylvania. Hannity has been aggressively promoting the same candidate Donald J. Trump has also endorsed - Dr. Mehmet Oz

Clutch Your Pearls - Lying Press Secretaries!

Sean Hannity and Geraldo Rivera spar in a spat over the Pres. Biden’s new White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. They seem to have a short memory when it comes to lying press secretaries.

Sen. Ted Cruz has No Spine

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) proved yet again that he seemingly doesn’t have a spinal column when he completely reversed his opinion on the Jan. 6th Capitol rioters.

Fox News lies about Abortion rights

Nearly every Fox News personality repeated the misconception that abortion will remain legal if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Of course abortion should remain legal in some states but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has hinted at a national ban, and even if that doesn’t happen women would be forced to travel several hundred miles across multiple states to terminate a pregnancy.

By the Numbers

This past week Fox News and PBS NewsHour were on completely different planets. I don’t think I’ve seen this much disparity since I started this project in mid-February. Fox News just hit the same three stories for the entire week for the most part while ignoring several major stories that were covered on PBS and elsewhere.

In By the Numbers I searched for Israel as I wanted to make 100% sure that I didn’t miss any mention of the death of the journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. There was none. Fox completely ignored the story. As usual Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-D) was mentioned again even though she wasn’t trending in the press last week. Biden’s overdose prevention program safe smoking kits warranted several “crack pipe” comments and of course “ultra MAGA” was a cause of great outrage.

This week I’ll be returning to Tucker Carlson Tonight because I want to see his reaction to the shooting in Buffalo. As usual I will also be covering the first hour of “Fox & Friends” and “The Five.”