Fox News: When in Doubt Punch Down - Migrants and Homeless People Are Destroying America!
A condensed overview of 15 hours of Fox News for the week ending 9/18/22
A typical Fox News viewer might think that every city in the United States was being torn apart by migrants and homeless people. They might also believe the Biden administration was hunting down and persecuting its political enemies. In between segments filled with fear mongering and paranoia they might have seen Fox’s extensive coverage of mourners waiting in lines to catch a glimpse of the Queen’ s casket.
A person who watched Fox News exclusively might not realize former President Donald J. Trump is facing multiple investigations in more than one state including an extensive investigation by the Department of Justice. They could also miss out on news that Ukraine has liberated large portions of land formally under Russian control or that parts of California experienced mudslides.
Martha’s Vineyard - Owning the Libs by Using Migrants as Props
One of the most covered stories last week involved a pair of private planes that dropped off 50 migrants at Martha’s Vineyard with no advance notice.
The desperate passengers were part of a publicity stunt waged by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The group was made up of asylum seekers mostly from Venezuela who managed to get to Texas who were then transported to Florida.
It was the DeSantis administration that decided to convince them to get on planes to the small resort area. When they arrived they told attorneys that they had been promised jobs and immigration support when they landed.
According to reporting by Cape Cod Times,
The migrants only learned they were being flown to Martha’s Vineyard rather than Boston, as many had been told, when the flight was mid-air, according to Lawyers for Civil Rights. They were targeted based on “race and national origin in order to make the political point they wanted,” wrote the legal group.
Tucker Carlson focused nearly 43 minutes over two nights to the story. On Thursday night he concocted a tale where the migrants were ignored by indifferent liberals. He even included a shot of a Main Street clothed in darkness with the sound effect of crickets chirping in the background.
This was blatantly misleading.
Local news reporters from both Massachusetts and Florida had already aired segments about what actually happened. The migrants walked three miles to the closest town from the airport where local residents quickly scrambled to find housing and food for their unexpected guests.
Some of them were temporarily housed in a homeless shelter that had a 10-bed capacity while the rest slept on cots and air mattresses crammed in the attic space of a local church. Residents even set up a play area for the children.
After two nights the migrants voluntarily went to Joint Base Cape Cod where they could get proper accommodations and support to help them relocate where they might have friends or family.
The asylum seekers have also gotten support from a local church in the area.
The following clip is an edited portion of Tucker Carlson’s rant spliced with local coverage from an CBS affiliate in Miami that covered the story.
Some Basic Data about Martha’s Vineyard.
Martha’s Vineyard is an island off the coast of Massachusetts, south of Cape Cod and northwest of the island of Nantucket. The area is part of Duke’s County, MA which also includes other smaller islands in the Elizabeth Islands Archipelago.
The community is seven miles from the Cape and only accessible by boat or airplane. There are no bridges connecting it to mainland Massachusetts. It’s a small area with limited resources.
Martha’s Vineyard isn’t as white as Tucker Carlson claimed it was.
Tucker Carlson claimed the population of the island was 89% white. According to the last Census the year-round population is only 78% white. Carlson might have been referencing the peak season population of vacationers and tourists, but in this instance the population that received the migrants were the folks who live in the area year-round.
By comparison, Vermont, Maine, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho all have populations that are 90% white or higher.
The year-round population of Martha’s Vineyard swelled by 24% from 2010 to 2020 growing from 16,535 in 2010 to 20,600 in 2020.
The Island’s black population jumped 67%, from 477 people in 2010 to 798 people in 2020. This was triple the rate of the population growth of the white population.
Latino and American Indian population increases also outpaced white population growth although at a slower rate.
The largest population increase was in the multi-racial category. According to officials with the Census Bureau this number might be blurry as it probably includes a portion of the Island’s Brazilian population that does not identify as white.
Martha’s Vineyard is a collection of small towns and the increase in diversity happened across the entire island not just one area.
Martha’s Vineyard really does have a housing crisis.
Although the year-round population has increased new housing has not kept up.
The Island added 342 new housing units from 2010 to 2020, an increase of 2%. The population increased 24%.
The Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce estimates that 63% of the homes on the island belong to people who live there only seasonally.
Martha’s Vineyard is not nearly as wealthy as Tucker Carlson claimed it was.
The median household income on Martha's Vineyard was $77,370 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The average median household income in the U.S. is $64,994.
San Francisco, California had the highest household median income at $119,136 according to the 2020 U.S. Census.
If Governor Ron DeSantis really wanted to send these migrants to one of the wealthiest areas in the country he could look no further than his own state. Naples, Florida has a median household income of $118,141.
The poverty rate for Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts was 7.5% in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Since the island is only accessible via boat or plane the costs of every day items would be higher than they would be on mainland Massachusetts.
Border Towns get Additional Federal Funding.
One of the arguments that both Gov. Abbott and Gov. DeSantis have made is that their states are stuck shouldering the costs of the influx of migrants.
The DHS Appropriations Act, 2022, appropriated $280 million to the Emergency Food and Shelter Program. This includes $130 million for local social service organizations aiding our nation’s hungry and homeless and $150 million for organizations providing humanitarian assistance to migrant families and individuals encountered by DHS.
The National Board will award these funds to eligible local nonprofit and governmental organizations and state governmental facilities that have aided, or will aid, individuals and families encountered by the Department of Homeland Security at the Southern U.S. border.
According to an investigation by the Washington Post, Gov. DeSantis got funding for his Martha’s Vineyard stunt from the American Rescue Plan. The approx. $1.9 trillion law adopted by Congress last year included about $350 billion for cities and states to help them respond to the many challenges caused by the pandemic.
The federal government included some restrictions on how the money was spent but it did not include any rules on how the interest from unspent funds were used.
This allowed an opening for local Florida lawmakers to redirect the money “from the interest earnings associated” from the American Rescue Plan to go towards DeSantis’s immigration policies.
Texas pulled a similar move to free up funds for Operation Lone Star - it’s plan to manage and police the U.S.-Mexican border.
Greg Gutfeld Has a Solution to Homelessness
Greg Gutfeld offers his opinion about how he might end the homelessness epidemic in the U.S.
Fox tries to paint a picture that the only cities that experience homelessness are run by Democrats. This is simply not true. Although California and New York top the list of states with large homeless populations they are followed by Florida and Texas.
Homelessness peaked in New York City under the leadership of Mayor Bill deBlasio reaching its highest level since the Great Depression but has declined in the past two years.
With the exception of New York City, homelessness tends to be more of a problem in states that have moderate weather year-round which would include Texas, Florida and California.
The Government is out to get you.
The following video is a 1-minute condensed edit of a 20-minute paranoia filled screed by Tucker Carlson.
Tucker Carlson just can’t stop promoting white supremacy
The following clip is a condensed version of a much longer monologue. I took Carlson’s comment at the beginning and added it to Carlson’s conclusion. He is basically saying Martha’s Vineyard is idyllic because it’s dominated by white people. This is yet another example of Carlson promoting white supremacist themes.
A Fox Guest Goes Rogue
Every now and then a guest on Fox News doesn’t stick to the expected script.
In this example, Craig Johnson, Mayor of Elk Grove, IL manages to promote a number of talking points rarely heard on Fox News - migrants are human beings, they are legally in the U.S., they are healthy, he wants them to find work and be self-sufficient in his community.
Stories Fox Thought were Newsworthy that were NOT Newsworthy
Tucker Carlson actually dedicated a short segment on his program to the issue of a bulge on the back of Pennsylvania Senatorial candidate John Fetterman’s neck.
The cast of “Fox & Friends” also seemed mildly outraged that officials involved with funeral processions for Queen Elizabeth II asked that mourners remove plastic wrappings from only flowers they might leave at a memorial.
Stories Ignored by Fox News
Every week I compare 15 hours of Fox News to 5 hours of PBS News Hour. This represents all of the stories covered on PBS that Fox News didn’t mention.
PBS included a segment that went into depth about multiple investigations involving former President Donald J. Trump.
A new report by a nonprofit research group, Climate Central, warned of extreme sea level rises across the planet.
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows complied with a subpoena issued by the Justice Department regarding its investigation into events surrounding January 6th.
A bill to support existing laws that protect same sex marriage has stalled in the Senate.
An Iowa court sentenced, Piper Lewis, to five years of closely monitored probation and ordered her to pay $150,000 to the family of the man she killed after he repeatedly raped her forced her into underaged prostitution.
The Ukrainian armed forces take back large amounts of territory from the invading Russian army. Ukrainian officials have found countless mass graves and evidence of war crimes.
The Sweden Democrats, with roots in neo-Nazism, came in second in national elections. The Prime Minster, Magdalena Andersson, leader of the Swedish Social Democratic party conceded defeat and announced she would resign.
Free lunch waivers ending in public schools - During the crisis of the pandemic the program was expanded to cover all children regardless of need. Now in most states these programs have been cut.
Water crisis in Mississippi - The US Environmental Protection Agency is investigating the water crisis that has affected the roughly 150,000 residents of Jackson, Mississippi.
Mudslides in California damaged homes and carried away cars.
NBA Phoenix Sun owner, Robert Sarver, suspended for one year over workplace misconduct.
The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards - PBS did a brief segment on some of the winners.
The French filmmaker Emmanuel Godard died age 91.
Child poverty in the U.S. dropped during the pandemic - Child poverty, calculated by fell to its lowest recorded level in 2021, declining 46% from 9.7% in 2020 to 5.2% in 2021
Singer R. Kelly convicted on more charges involving child pornography and luring underage girls for sex.
Google lost an appeal in an anti-trust lawsuit in European Union court and will be forced to pay a record $4 billion fine.
European Union fossil fuel based companies might have to share excess profits to help European households and companies with soaring energy bills.
U.S. indicts, sanctions Iranians for allegedly cyber hacking U.S. firms.
Air traffic controllers in France staged a one day strike over pay and working conditions. The strike caused major delays and disruptions.
Tennis player Roger Federer announced his retirement at age 41.
The Biden administration met with the families of WNBA player Britney Griner and security consultant, Paul Whalen. There have been no new developments in either case but the Biden administration wanted to let the families know that they are still working on it.
By the Numbers
The category for January 6th conspiracy is all Tucker Carlson. He had a series of paranoid rambling monologues where he promoted the idea of an all knowing evil government that was hellbent on destroying Trump supporters and conservatives.
PBS had quite a bit of focus on how the Ukrainian armed forces have captured territory that has been held by Russian forces. You’d think a story this exciting and dramatic might get some coverage on Fox News but they largely ignored it. The word Ukraine was only used two times over 15 hours of Fox News programing.
PBS also included a segment that gave some detail on the many criminal and civil investigations Trump and his company are facing right now.
Coming up…
This week I’ll be focusing on my usual “Fox & Friends”, “The Five” and “The Ingraham Angle”. I should also have part 2 of my series on how Fox News is spinning the Hillary Clinton email scandal in regards to Trump. Tucker Carlson is always challenging to follow and I spent half my time last week just keeping up with his crazy.