Fox News: Xi Jinping in San Fran, Protest Paranoia and TikTok Terrorist Stans
A condensed overview of 15 hours of Fox News for the week ending 11/19/23
Last week Fox shifted its focus from a foreign conflict in the Middle East to promote the idea that the United States is so deeply fractured that our biggest threats come from within - an aging president, progressive college students and naive TikTok users.
The network presented President Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other world leaders that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit as some form of submission or defeat.
Segments about Pro-Palestinian protests in the United States got more airtime and focus than the Israel-Hamas war. The network also pounced on an alarming trend on the social media app TikTok where young users appeared to sympathize with Osama bin Laden the terrorist behind the 9/11 attacks.
When Fox does cover the Israel-Hamas war it doesn’t include images of injured women and children, destroyed neighborhoods or stacks of body bags. Fox shows its audience a sanitized view of the conflict from the perspective of war correspondents imbedded with Israel Defense Force soldiers.
The network also ignored several climate disasters around the globe as well as positive news about the U.S. economy and wins for organized labor.
Shows I covered last week:
Fox & Friends
The Five
The Ingraham Angle
President Biden Met with Xi Jinping - Red Dawn is Happening!
Laura Ingraham dedicated nearly entire episodes to the diplomatic calamity of a United States president talking to the leader of one of our largest trading partners.
On Monday on “The Ingraham Angle,” Laura Ingraham appeared to take offense that Xi Jingping would even set foot on U.S. soil.
“The boss just touched down in San Francisco. Well, I'm talking, of course, about Chinese President Xi Jinping, who landed a little over an hour ago. He's agreed to give the American president an audience tomorrow,” said Ingraham as images of the Chinese present walking off a plan appeared on half the screen.
On Wednesday she took things even further.
“This is a live look where soon President Biden is going to try to convince the American people that his meeting today with communist dictators Xi Jinping is the beginning of something really beautiful.
Now think about it. President Xi rules over what, 1.3 billion Chinese through a relentless campaign of fear and oppression. But we're supposed to believe that he's actually someone we can trust as America gradually gives up her leverage. He's someone we can do business with. After all, China set the raw chemicals to Mexico that killed hundreds of thousands of Americans when it was turned into fentanyl.
But now, after spending some glorious moments with Joe Biden, he says that he's going to pull all that back. What a guy. It was all hammer and sickos in San Francisco. Since the arrival of China's dictators Xi Jinping, Americans desperate to honor and impress him decided to make him feel right at home. Now, that is a flag that represents subjugation, oppression and persecution, not just to the Chinese who fled, but for those who have no way out of China.
And for a second and watching this welcome that Xi received on our soil, I thought that I was watching my old favorite flicks in the mid-eighties, ‘Red Dawn’,” said Ingraham.
The plot of ‘Red Dawn,’ involved a Soviet ground invasion of the United States that is thwarted in part by teenaged civilian guerrilla soldiers who fight the foreign invaders with their personal stockpiles of weapons. The movie debuted in 1984 at the height of the Cold War.
It tapped into the fantasy of a scrappy impromptu militia being more effective than a professionally trained military.
Harold Ford Jr. - A Summit is Not a Defeat
On Wednesday on “The Five,” Harold Ford Jr., a former U.S. congressman, calmly explained how the APEC summit could benefit the U.S.
“I differ slightly here, I think the president, I got elected to Congress in 1996. That was 27 years ago. I think this is the first time our president has sat down with the leader of China. I think with the economic strength in our favor in a definitive way. COVID slowed down their economy in China in massive ways. In fact, there's enormous economic pressures there because they have high youth unemployment rates.
Driving that is a collapse in the real estate sector, too. We have derisked from China in huge ways. We've offshored where we're still manufacturing American items or importing American items in Asia. It's gone more to India, to Vietnam and to other places, putting even more pressure on their economy.
We invested heavily to build and manufacture chips in our own country, and we found ways to be more competitive and innovative. And as a result, I think when President Biden and I listen to that press conference, listen to both of them talk and they both were candidate was cordial, what they were candid about the disagreements. I think when I not be surprised if we don't hear that we had more leverage and got a better deal as relates to fentanyl, human rights, climate, Taiwan and even perhaps Ukraine and other things.
So whether the press will see if the president is as good a negotiator as some suggest, but I know this America is in a stronger position in this conversation with China, as we've been in my adult life. And I hope the White House is able to capitalize on,” said Ford.
Laura Ingraham Claims a Protest at the DNC is an Insurrection
On Thursday on “The Ingraham Angle,” Laura Ingraham compared a pro-Palestinian protest at the DNC to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“Anti-Israel protesters who are out there demanding a ceasefire, by the way, are choosing violence as their best method to get their point across. Six U.S. Capitol Police officers were hurt during the clashes outside of the DNC headquarters in D.C. last night. There are reports of officers being pepper sprayed and punched. Now, out of that massive crowd, only one person was arrested.
I guess none of the cameras working. Again, police were violently attacked and there's just been one arrest. Now, let's compare that to how they went after the January 6th protesters,” said Ingraham as she cut to an old clip from a spokesman from the Department of Justice speaking about the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
Ingraham continued.
“A whole government approach, as they call it. Of course, as we said at the time, the Biden DOJ was sending a message with that nationwide dragnet, the draconian punishments, the solitary confinement, the pretrial detention.
To all of you people out there, Donald Trump supporters or conservatives don't even think about questioning the government ever again, certainly not in any large numbers. But last night's rampage by the violent leftists like the 2020 George Floyd riots, they don't fit their narrative. So the government and their media coconspirators will downplay it all,” said Ingraham.
Ingraham’s comparison of a relatively small protest to the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th is absolutely absurd.
The violent riot at the Capitol on January 6th was not a random protest about a government policy. It was meant to stop the process that would ultimately certify Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary an insurrection is defined as an act or instance of revolting against civil authority or an established government.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is not part of the federal government. It is one of many organizations affiliated with the Democratic Party.
The DNC begs for donations and does not have any power to write laws or create policy. The main purpose of the DNC is to get Democrats elected to various offices.
The protesters who were calling for a cease fire in the Israel-Hamas war at the DNC were also not trying to overthrow the organization.
There isn’t even evidence of any major property damage at the event. Some police were injured as were some protesters with both sides claiming the violence was unprovoked.
Fox News Covered a pro-Israel March Quite Differently than a Pro-Palestinian protest.
Hosts on Fox News label every pro-Palestinian demonstration as an ‘anti-Israel protest.’ The network also features footage of pro-Palestinian protests damaging property or tearing down U.S. flags.
Last week tens of thousands gathered on the National Mall in Washington DC to rally in support of Israel and against antisemitism.
Fox News sent Steve Doocy to talk to people in the crowd. During this segment a producer played calming music underneath the segment.
Although Doocy interviewed several people at the event, one unnamed woman multiple hyperbolic statements.
“There are no two sides here. This is between the right side, God side and savages who worship death . . .There's really everyone's war. There. This is not debatable. These are savages that I'm going to say something shocking. Worse than Nazis are savages. And they're living in our country with us. And anyone who doesn't speak out now, it's coming to your neighborhood right now,” said the woman as she held a pink sign above her head that read “God is on OUR Side!”
Another un-named man at the event praised Fox News.
“I don't think we hear enough about the hostages on the news. And we need to do everything we can to bring them home,” sad the man.
Doocy answered, “at Fox, we try to do a lot.”
“There's nothing better than listening to Fox News, to the one media that's showing what's really happening and getting the truth out,” said the man.
If Trump Doesn’t Win in 2024 There Will Be Riots
On Friday on “The Ingraham Angle,” during a discussion about a court battle to remove former President Donald J. Trump from the ballot in Colorado Laura Ingraham expressed her anger about the case.
“I've said this time and again, it's worth repeating tonight, is that the only way the left will stop if they're stopped, if they're stopped by either being in a judge's ruling and it has to be an emphatic ruling or a sweeping electoral victory by Americans who just say, you know, enough of this. This is this isn't even commonsense. Forget being a constitutional scholar. This makes no sense. But, you know, judges one after the other have come in and said, cannot do this,” said Ingraham.
Her guest, Mike Davis, the founder of the Article III Project, made some dire predictions.
“Yeah. I mean, I would say this is going to be a tactical retreat by the Democrats, like you said, or they will they play for keeps. They will do whatever it takes to win. If you thought that 2020 was bad with BLM riots. Brace ourselves for what they have in store in 2024 with their Hamas and BLM supporters,” said Davis.
Back the Blue Unless The Blue is Backing a Biden
On Monday “The Five,” opened with a confusing segment about an attempted carjacking of a parked government vehicle. After three people smashed the window of a government SUV a Secret Service agent assigned to protect Naomi Biden, an adult granddaughter of the president, discharged a service weapon.
According to USSS chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi it was believed that no one was struck or injured.
The Fox segment was full of inaccuracies as they presented the story as an attempted carjacking of Naomi Biden.
Judge Jeanine had strong feelings about the Secret Service agents actions.
“If you're a Secret Service agent and someone's trying to steal an Escalade, are you allowed to shoot to kill? I am so glad you asked that question, Jesse, because I have with me today a copy of Homeland Security guidelines and Secret Service comes under them. And the answer is that law enforcement officers may use force only when reasonably effective, safe and feasible alternative appears to exist and may use only that level of force that is objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances of the law enforcement officer at the time.
That pretty much says no. And you certainly and I'm not going to waste a lot of time when you go to deadly physical force. A cop can only use deadly physical force, including a Secret Service officer, when it is objectively reasonable. And that is when he was is confronted with deadly physical force. Now, let's assume that this Secret Service agent, since he didn't hit anybody and may not have been to the to the training for his firearm for a while.
You can only in terms of the Secret Service are issue a warning shot when you have a special written permit from the chief of police in that jurisdiction who would be the chief of police in Maryland. So now we know that the Secret Service doesn't necessarily follow the rules that they're obligated to. We know that they're incapable of identifying fingerprints on cocaine found in the White House.
We know they love the Bidens because they extricated a gun that his girlfriend left in a garbage can near the school. So it's a it's a joke. The whole thing is a joke,” said Pirro.
Laura Ingraham Knows How to Reach Out to the Youth Vote
Last week several TikTok influencers posted videos about their reactions to Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America.”
The letter was written about a year after the September 11th attack which killed nearly 3,000 people. The statement was meant to address the reasons why bin Laden staged his attack against the U.S. and included criticism of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East along with homophobic and antisemitic language.
Some of the users said that they were not endorsing bin Laden or sympathizing with him in any way but others were more ambiguous.
According to reporting by NBC researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found 41 “Letter to America” videos on TikTok. A post on X, formally known as Twitter, about the videos by journalist Yashar Ali received 25.6 million views.
In its research, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue said references to bin Laden on X jumped more than 4,300%, from Tuesday to Thursday. References to “Letter to America” jumped more than 1,800%, with 719 million impressions across the platform.
TikTok ended up removing the hashtag #lettertoamerica.
Laura Ingraham brought up the controversy on Thursday while her show was broadcast from Nashville Tennessee as part of Fox Nation’s Patriot Award special.
Ingraham asked Lee Greenwood, an 81-year-old country singer best known for his hit song “God Bless the U.S.A.” what he thought about the TikTok trend.
“What do you think? What do we do to turn this around with young people amplifying bin Laden's propagandistic, hateful remarks?” asked Ingraham.
“Well, I've got an answer for you. It's family, God, and country,” said Greenwood.
“I mean, if you believe in that and of course, I have something special for you. I have a God Bless the USA Bible. And in it is the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Bill of Rights. Man, I've signed it for you, and I want you to have it as my gift,” said Greenwood as he handed her a copy of his book.
Stories Fox News Ignored
Every week I compare the hours I watch on Fox News to five hours of the PBS NewsHour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not.
Climate disasters
Parts of India were shrouded in a toxic cloud of air pollution caused by crop burning, auto exhaust and fireworks from the Diwali Hindu festival.
The U.N.’s weather agency warned that greenhouse gases hit a record high in 2022 with no end in sight. The new data showed increases in carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide.
According to a report by the National Climate Assessment the U.S. is warming 60% faster than the global average.
European Union negotiators agreed on a deal that would lower methane emissions. It still needs approval by the European Parliament and Executive Council.
A groundbreaking law in the EU that is meant to get countries to net zero might have been weakened according to a confidential report. The AP details a watered-down proposal that would drop the entire financial sector from the initial law.
Floods in eastern Africa have killed at least 130 people. Heavy rains since October have overwhelmed parts of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
Updates in the war in Ukraine
In Russia, state media issued, then withdrew alerts that Russian troops were retreating in Southern Ukraine. They blamed in on Ukrainian disinformation. Ukraine denied involvement.
Officials in Kyiv now say Ukrainian forces have established a critical beachhead in a bid to retake Russian-held Crimea.
The Ukranian military claims it is making gains in the Kherson region. The Marine Corps claimed they have destroyed dozens of Russian tanks, combat vehicles and artillery systems.
Maryanne Trump Barry, the older sister of Donald J. Trump, died overnight at her home in New York at the age of 86.
Hyundai announced a 25% hike in wages by 2028 at its non-union plants. The increase is an attempt to stay competitive with the UAW union contracts with the big three automakers.
PBS produced a segment about the rise of antisemitism in Europe. Fox produced several segments about antisemitism in the United States but has largely ignored Europe.
The Supreme Court issued a new ethics code of conduct for justices. Experts say the new guidelines don’t mean much since there is no mechanism for enforcement.
Inflation eased last month a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are working. Year over year, prices rose 3.2% in October.
Illegal border crossings from Mexico at the southern border have fallen 14% in October after three months of big increases.
A leading Mexican LGBTQ figure, Jesus Ociel Baena, was found dead at his home, along with his partner. His death touched off large-scale protests in support of the LGBTQ community. Baena had faced threats since becoming the first openly nonbinary magistrate. His cause of death is unknown.
The Senate Rules Committee adopted a resolution that would allow confirmation of groups of military promotions all at once. It’s meant to prevent Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) from holding up military promotions over his personal views on the Pentagon’s abortion policy.
PBS produced a segment that focused on how Jewish Americans view the Israel-Hamas war. Their views ranged from staunch supporters of the Israeli government to radical peace activists who want an immediate cease fire and the end of all occupied territory in the region. Fox News has also grappled with this issue but has only presented Jewish Americans who support the Israeli government’s actions.
Haitian gang members surrounded Fontaine Hospital in Port-au-Prince and took women, children and newborns hostage. The hostages were eventually rescued by police. Gang violence has soared in Haiti after the assassination of its president in 2021.
British leaders insisted they will keep trying to send asylum seekers back to Rwanda even after the Supreme Court ruled against the policy.
PBS produced a segment about the loss of manufacturing jobs in Ohio as part of its series America at a Crossroads.
The House Ethics Committee found overwhelming evidence that Rep. George Santos (R-NY) broke the law when he used campaign funds for personal expenses and lied on financial reports. Santos could be expelled from the House.
The United Nations’ top court ordered Syria to “take all measures within its powers” to stop the use of torture. Human Rights Watch welcomed the ruling. The court’s rulings are legally binding but are not always adhered to.
Although the Parliament of Kenya approved sending 1,000 police officers to Haiti to help quell gang violence in the Caribbean nation Kenya’s high court blocked the plan.
Globally deaths from measles spiked more than 40% last year to 136,000, mostly children. The World Health Organization and CDC said the new cases were caused by a drop in vaccinations during the pandemic. The areas most affected were in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The Major League Baseball team the Oakland Athletics will move its franchise to Las Vegas in a new stadium on the Las Vegas Strip which should be completed in 2028. It’s the first time since 2005 that a major league team has moved to a new city.
Members of the United Auto Workers have ratified a new contract with General Motors with 55% of the vote. Voting is still on going with Ford and Stellantis.
Starbucks employees staged a one-day walkout that involved 5,000 workers at more than 200 locations worldwide. Workers at the coffee chain have been trying to unionize for two years.
PBS produced a segment about a report by Report Global Witness that found how Russia is working around sanctions by having its oil refined in places like India then sold on the global market.
Honda is recalling more than 250,000 vehicles in the United States for potential crash risks. The models include Honda Pilot SUV’s, Odyssey minivans and Ridgeline pickup trucks along with two Acura models.
The official U.S. Capitol Christmas tree arrived in Washington DC. The tree is from West Virginia’s Monongahela National Park. Each year, a different national park provides the tree for the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
PBS produced a segment about how universities are managing mental health concerns on campus after student suicides. Yale settled a lawsuit following the death of a student in 2021 that will allow students to take a part-time course load if needed and keep their healthcare while on medical leave.
PBS produced another follow up story about the battles over fresh water rights in Maui. Control of water rights were one reason cited that led to the wildfire that destroyed parts of the island.