Fox News: Pay No Attention to Biden's Great Week, The Country is Going to Hell and Tucker Almost Went Full Nazi
A condensed overview of 20 hours of Fox News for the week ending 8/7/22
A typical Fox News viewer would likely have no idea that last week, major legislation passed in both houses of Congress. They might also be confused on how to react to the Speaker of the House’s trip to Taiwan. They might have also missed out of the excellent jobs report that showed the U.S. economy added over half a million new jobs in July.
Pres. Joe Biden had probably the best week of his presidency last week. A bill that would help veterans suffering from toxic chemical exposure passed both houses, as did a bill that would support the domestic manufacture of semiconductor chips. Biden’s greatest recent achievement was the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act which garnered support from two conservative Democrats Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).
Biden also scored big on the international front when Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was killed by a CIA drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Gas prices also fell for fifty straight days and the U.S. economy added 528,000 new jobs in July despite a drop in GDP for the second quarter in a row.
On a hunch I decided to add Tucker Carlson Tonight to my lineup so this newsletter reflects 20 hours of Fox News Media, “Fox & Friends,” “The Five,” “Hannity,” and “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
Democrat Run Cities are Lawless Hellscapes!
Fox News responded by doing what they usually do when faced with news they’d rather not report on - they completely ignored it. The network continued to push the idea the major cities are overrun with violent crime.
Although this topic only received 6% of the total airtime for Fox News last week it was the third highest category and has been a major theme for months now on the network.
Any viewer of Fox News would believe that crime is worse in cities and states run by Democrats and that the rise in crime is due to criminal justice reform, changes in cash bail laws, the Defund the Police movement and so called “woke” district attorneys.
According to a report “Myths and Realities: Understanding Recent Trends in Violent Crime,” by the Brennen Center for Justice, the reasons for the rise in crime is far more complex.
Despite politicized claims that this rise was the result of criminal justice reform in liberal-leaning jurisdictions, murders rose roughly equally in cities run by Republicans and cities run by Democrats. So-called “red” states actually saw some of the highest murder rates of all. This data makes it difficult to pin recent trends on local policy shifts and reveals the basic inaccuracy of attempts to politicize a problem as complex as crime. Instead, the evidence points to broad national causes driving rising crime. - Brennan Center
Some forms of crime actually started to rise while Donald J. Trump was still president. In 2020 murder rates rose by 30% and assaults rose by 10% in 2020 as part of a larger surge in overall gun violence.
More than 75% of murder were committed with some form of firearm in 2020 with increases in gun violence across the United States in multiple cities.
As much as Fox News likes to terrify its viewers about the rise in some types of violent crime this chart from The NY Times shows how murder rates are actually much lower than they were three decades ago and are on a downward trend.
Experts have largely attributed the rise in crime to the chaos and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. People lost access to social services, were cramped inside for long stretches of time and many were out of work for months on end.
Sources
A Drop in Murder - New York Times
Myths and Realities: Understanding Recent Trends in Violent Crime - Brennan Center for Justice.
Clip of the Week - Tucker Carlson Nearly Goes Full Nazi
Tucker Carlson picked up on the panic of the out of control woke District Attorney’s when he did a nearly 13-minute monologue about the scheming billionaire George Soros and his dastardly plan to reshape the country through criminal justice reform.
In this extended rant Carlson brought up Soros 27 times. The Wall Street Journal recently published an op-ed penned by Soros where he defended his political activism.
George Soros is often used as an all-purpose boogey man of sorts in far-right circles. Soros is blamed for things he has absolutely no involvement in. At least some of the hatred towards Soros is rooted in centuries long antisemitic tropes of the puppet-master wealthy Jewish mastermind.
Carlson took a dark turn in his opening diatribe that gave me pause. I was going through the entire segment this weekend when I noticed some extremely heated language he used towards the recently deposed District Attorney in Tampa, Andrew Warren.
Governor Ron DeSantis used his power to oust Warren, partly because Warren pledged to not to prosecute individuals who seek or provide abortions. Warren joined 90 District Attorney’s across the country who made the same commitment.
Carlson referred to Warren’s use of a bible verse as “Disgusting” and said Waren “Didn’t like pastors,” but rather followed the lead of one of his donors, George Soros, rather than people of Tampa who had elected him.
I suspected that Warren might be Jewish himself so I did some digging and found that he was indeed raised in a Conservative Jewish family and has cited his faith has playing a large role in how it has shaped his career in government.
It seemed obvious to me that Carlson was sending a fairly obviously antisemitic dog whistle signal to his more extremist viewers.
Ironically the Bible verse that Warren quoted was in reference to a Christian pastor who refused to shutdown his mega church during the peak of the pandemic. The pastor was putting his parishioners health and safety at risk.
I’m not sure why Carlson would think Warren quoting, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” from the Gospel of Mark was so disgusting.
Will Cain completely changes his Opinion of Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip in Two Days.
I suspected the good will towards Speaker Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan wouldn’t last so I saved a segment from Wednesday’s broadcast of “Fox & Friends.” I wasn’t disappointed when Will Cain subbed for Tucker Carlson on Friday and seemingly had a completely different opinion about Pelosi’s visit.
Overall the opinion of most Fox personalities were critical of Pelosi’s visit. The day before Pelosi left for her trip the overwhelming consensus on Fox is that she absolutely had to go to Taiwan as a show of strength to the Chinese government.
Bogus Expert. of the Week
Tucker Carlson interviewed controversial meteorologist Joe Bastardi. He promoted the idea of cloud seeding hurricanes and named a bunch of historical hurricanes in an attempt to negate recent super storms. Cloud seeding was tried and didn't work. He also left out a lot of storms.
In this cast Bastardi is an actual expert in his field but is largely discredited.
Clutch Your Pearls
When Fox News has nothing else to complain about - they go after something stupid. While subbing for Sean Hannity, Tammy Bruce goes on a rant about President Joe Biden's sunglasses. Bruce thinks it's outrageous that Biden would wear his signature shades during an outdoor speech. He's likened to a dictator.
Biden’s sunglasses is the 2022 version of Obama’s tan suit.
Stories Fox News pushed that are NOT Newsworthy
The DUI arrest of Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelsoi - This story would be more newsworthy if Speaker Pelosi was caught driving under the influence. She was not with her husband when he was arrested. If this is Paul Pelosi’s first offense he will most likely receive a six month suspension of his driver’s license, pay a fine and attend alcohol awareness training. Fox News pushed this as a major story.
Minneapolis over two years after the murder of George Floyd and subsequent riots that followed. Laura Ingraham traveled to Minneapolis to visit the city and report how the city has changed since the riots. Tucker Carlson decided to piggyback on her reporting and featured a segment where he falsely claimed Floyd was not murdered by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is running for president. There is no evidence that the congresswoman known as AOC is planning to run for president in 2024.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is planning to run for president. As in the case of AOC there was no real evidence that Cheney is seriously considering running for president in 2024 but that didn’t stop Fox from promoting the idea that she was.
Tucker Carlson Claims George Floyd Wasn’t Murdered.
Tucker Carlson lies about the cause of death of George Floyd. In a truly confusing segment produced by Laura Ingraham Tucker Carlson makes the false claim that George Floyd died from a drug overdose. Ingraham later says Floyd was killed in the same segment only to have Carlson double down again and insist Floyd was not murdered.
Stories that Fox Ignored
Fighting in Gaza between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants in Palestine - The two sides agreed upon a cease-fire this weekend but like most cease-fires in the region it’s tenuous. Fox News has consistently ignored this conflict for as long as I’ve covered the network. They simply do not report on much of anything that happens with Israel/Palestine.
Protests in Iraq erupt after a popular cleric called for a revolution. - Supporters of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr occupy parliament to prevent the nomination of a new Prime Minister. This protest has stretched out for the past two weeks.
Four former and current Louisville police officers were arrested on federal charges for their involvement for the death of Breonna Taylor. This includes detectives who worked on the search warrant and the former officer who shot blindly into her home. Taylor died as a result of a botched no knock search warrant of the wrong residence and sloppy police practices.
The July Jobs Report - The overwhelmingly positive numbers surprised economists. The U.S. economy added 528,000 new jobs in July.
Heatwaves and extreme weather events across the United States - Fox did cover the flash floods in Kentucky, heatwaves in the Northeast, along with wildfires in California but the segments were reduced to short 30 second stories or as part of national weather reports on “Fox & Friends” Climate change is never discussed as contributing to flooding, droughts or wild fires.
Mortgage rates dropped rapidly - The average 30-year fixed rate dropped below 5% for the first time since early June. This is despite recent rate hikes at the Federal Reserve.
Former Governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vazquez Garced, was arrested for alleged bribery scheme.
Voters in Kansas overwhelming supported abortion access in their state - Fox did report on this but only in a short 30 second Headline News segment.
The PACT Act passed - PBS did an extended segment that featured the families of soldiers who died and soldiers who are suffering from serious health problems who will benefit from the bill. Fox News barely mentioned it.
The War in Ukraine - PBS reported on agreements between Russia and Ukraine that will help Ukraine export grain. The network also reported on how American weapons are helping Ukrainians turn the tide a bit in the war. Fox News largely ignored the war.
Deshaun Watson suspended for six games by disciplinary officer - Watson was after more than two dozen women filed lawsuits accusing Watson of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions.
Your Comic Relief Moment!
Tucker Carlson insults 59-year-old Jon Stewart for looking old, short and undatable. Stewart has been married for 22 years. Does Tucker Carlson want to date Jon Stewart? Tucker Carlson might be sore from Stewart's take down of Crossfire in 2004. The show was canceled soon after his appearance. Here are both segments.
By the Numbers
Fox News barely mentioned the PACT Act which seemed out of character as the network normally champions Veterans. Overall they couldn’t make up their mind if Speaker Pelosi was a hero or a villain in regards to her trip to Taiwan.
PBS put far more focus on the specifics of the legislation that passed both houses in Congress. The network also focused on the war in Ukraine whereas Fox News went back to ignoring the conflict.
Fox reduced the Inflation Reduction Act to a bill about expanding the IRS while they falsely claimed it would include tax increases for nearly every demographic. The heat waves, floods and wildfires breaking out across the country got some mention but not much. Hunter Biden remained a topic discussed as did their favorite Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Coming up…
For this upcoming week I plan to cover the first hour of “Fox & Friends”, “The Five” and I’ll be going back to “Primetime with Jesse Watters”. I might have another podcast this week depending on what happens in the news cycle.