Pay No Attention to the Rise of Kamala Harris There Were Drag Queens at the Olympics

A condensed overview of 19 hours of Fox News for the week ending 8/4/24

Last week the folks at Fox were desperately trying to create distractions from behind their curtain of deception and propaganda with stories about a transgender boxer who wasn't transgender, an Olympic opening ceremony that was anti-Christian that wasn’t about Christianity, and a Black journalist conference where a crowd cheered Trump when in reality he was heckled and booed.

Meanwhile Kamala Harris was surging in the polls and raking in huge fundraising hauls from first time small donors all over the country. Trump was dodging requests to debate her while she was filling auditoriums in the South.

Instead of accepting the new reality of a younger more formidable Democratic competitor for the presidential race Fox News created its own reality of a scary world full of Christian persecution, men infiltrating women’s sports and Trump fighting an oppressive biased media.

Last week anyone watching Fox News exclusively might have missed out on stories about dangerous mudslides in India, a famine in Sudan and North Darfur, as well as the Biden administration’s plans to curb the flow of fentanyl into the United States.

Shows I covered last week:

• Fox & Friends - all three hours on Monday

• The Five

• Hannity

• The Ingraham Angle - Monday and Tuesday

The Christian Parody that had Nothing to Do with Christianity

The week started off with an excessive number of segments about the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics that featured drag performers in a tableau that centered around a performer covered in blue body paint who resembled Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and pleasure.

Fox News hosts whipped up the outrage surrounding the performance by claiming it was a depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper, the scene of Jesus Christ surrounded by his apostles the night before his crucifixion.

There were several clues that the performance had nothing to do with the da Vinci painting but that wasn’t going to stop Fox from getting its audience whipped to a frenzy. The term ‘Last Supper’ appeared 20 times in the transcripts from last week while ‘Christain/Christianity’ showed up 35 times.

According to reporting by ArtNet.com, Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony, adamantly denied that the scene was intended as a “mockery” of The Last Supper or Christian values. Jolly intended it to represent a pagan-style party inspired by the God of Mount Olympus.

Art historians drew comparisons of the opening ceremony with The Feast of the Gods (1635) a painting by Jan Harmensz van Biljert which is displayed in a French museum in the town of Dijon.

Fox News hosts seemed to know the opening ceremony wasn’t about The Last Supper either as both Sandra Smith and Jesse Watters mentioned that the performance might have been about the Greek god Dionysus.

Voters Only Care About Kamala Harris Because of White Guilt

On Tuesday, on “The Five,” the cast spewed angry vitriol over a “White Dudes for Harris,” fundraiser.

Dana Perino started the segment,

“I can imagine if Kamala Harris had rejected the segregation of these different groups. I understand the outreach, but to say I'm for everybody like that would have been so refreshing.”

Judge Jeanine Pirro called Harris’ meteoric rise as the Democratic nominee a reincarnation.

“I think it would have been refreshing. But I don't think that's who Kamala Harris is. You know, Kamala Harris is working on the white guilt, the white privilege and all that. I mean, I heard some of those men, too, Jessica. And there was one guy who said, when Hillary Clinton lost, I cried over my twin daughter’s bunk bed. You know that I didn't do enough. And, you know, I mean, whatever. But I don't believe, honestly, that these men, these white men who apparently feel that they have redemption now that they're coming out for Kamala, you know, they're ridding themselves of whatever guilt they might have believe in her policies. You know, with the economy, with immigration, with a foreign policy and with crime, you worry about your daughters, you worry about Kamala Harris wanting to defund ICE, defund the police, etc., etc.. but it's almost like they reincarnated her and she's now the female Barack Obama. And this is what I still can’t get in my head. I was away for eight days. She went from the most unpopular candidate below Joe Biden to now she's been reincarnated. I don't get it. But, you know, politics by segregation. I don't think is a good thing. But in the end, it's what they think they need to do to win.”

Sean Hannity Mislead His Viewers About Black Unemployment.

Sean Hannity tried to promote Donald J. Trump’s record when he claimed that Black unemployment hit a record low during his administration.

“Under President Trump's administration. Well, Black unemployment in America hit a record low,”

As he spoke a graphic appeared on the screen of a headline from CNBC that read “Black and Hispanic Unemployment is at a Record Low.” At the bottom of the screen was the name of the journalist who wrote the article, Maggie Fitzgerald, along with the date, October 4, 2019.

Hannity neglected to tell his viewers that the record for the lowest level of Black unemployment was beaten during the Biden administration in March 2023 and April 2023. The lowest rate was in April 2023 when Black unemployment hit 4.8%.

According to FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data) the lowest rate for Black unemployment was first hit during the Trump administration in August 2019 at 5.3%.

Trump at the NABJ - A Fiasco of Epic Proportions

On Wednesday Donald J. Trump appeared at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention and Career Fair in Chicago, IL.

According to reporting by The New Republic, Trump’s conversation with three journalists started over an hour late partly due to problems with the audio setup but also his attempt to remove a fact checker from the event.

The NABJ coordinated with Politifact to have real time online fact checking of Trump’s statements. Trump’s team requested the removal of any fact checking online or onstage during his appearance.

The NABJ would not relent and was willing to drop Trump all together if he didn’t agree to their terms.

Trump’s spokesperson disputes NABJ’s explanation and has blamed the delay solely on problems with the audio equipment.

When Trump did appear, he was immediately asked a tough question by Rachel Scott of ABC News.

“Mr. President, we so appreciate you giving us an hour of your time. I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today. You have made false claims about some of your rivals, from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama, saying they were not born in the United States, which is not true. You have told congresswomen of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like animals and rabid to describe Black district attorneys. You have attacked Black journalists, calling them losers, saying their questions are stupid, and racist. You have had dinner with a white supremacist at your resort. My question, now that you are asking Black supporters to vote for you — why should Black voters trust you have you have used language like that?”

Trump predictably reacted with personal attacks towards Scott and complained about the question. From there his appearance spiraled into racially based attacks on Vice President Harris where he claimed she only recently identified as Black.

The audience reacted with a mixture of boos, laughs and heckling. It was an unmitigated disaster for Trump.

Harris Faulkner Claimed the Audience at NABJ Loved Trump

On Wednesday after the NABJ event Harris Faulkner appeared remotely on “Hannity,” to discuss Trump’s appearance.

“Tell us from your perspective because it seemed hostile. But on the others, on the other hand, maybe they didn't hear the crowd right. And you can bring us in the room. I heard a lot of people cheering for Donald Trump. Am I wrong?” asked Hannity.

“No, you're not wrong. I mean, there were people who were, you know, he's funny. So, there were people who were listening closely enough to catch some of his humor and to laugh at that. There were a couple of times when people didn't like what he said, but at one point when he was talking about inflation and how he would try to turn things around with ‘drill, baby, drill’ and energy and really going after that sector and making things cheaper in that sector. We're in heat waves, we're in cold spells, we're in all those things, making living, you know, cheaper to do, with quality reserved. When he was going into all of that. Apparently, somebody's in the front row. I couldn't see this woman, but apparently, she was smiling, waving, doing something you said. Oh, okay. So, you know what I'm talking about, right?”

The only positive interaction Trump had at the event was between the unseen woman Harris described. It was hard to tell what she said or did but Trump did briefly interact with her.

During his 35-minute appearance that was supposed to be an hour long Trump said the following things:

• Insulted the panel of journalists

• Complained about the audio at NABJ

• Blamed the NABJ for the delay of his segment

• Claimed a journalist couldn’t define what DEI meant even though she defined it for him as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

• Made misleading claims about his history supporting funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s)

• Lied about the rate of inflation in the United States

• Lied about after birth abortions

• Claimed undocumented immigrants can vote in the United States

• Said he was the greatest president for Black Americans since Abraham Lincoln

• Claimed Kamala Harris only recently identified as a Black woman

• Said undocumented immigrants are taking ‘Black jobs,’ which he defined as “anyone who has a job.”

• Seemed to defend the police when asked about the Sonya Massey killing at the hands of a Sheriff’s deputy.

• Falsely claimed that the U.S. has the largest oil reserves (untapped oil) in the world. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves followed by Saudi Arabia.

• Said he would pardon rioters who were convicted of various crimes for the roles in the January 6th riot on the U.S. Capitol.

The Five Thought Trump was Spectacular at NABJ

On Wednesday Judge Jeanine Pirro started a segment about Trump’s appearance at the NABJ’s convention on “The Five.”

She asked, retired professional wrestler, Tyrus how he thought Trump did at the event.

“Phenomenal. you know what? He showed up. He was insulted. But here's the thing that I don't judge by. She was there. For what? That reporter. I'm not calling her a journalist. I was there for one reason. To get talking soundbites for the Democrats, trying to get him to be mean and nasty. And literally within a minute, that's all they came out with talking about. But here's the thing. He called her out on it. But the crowd they were expecting when she said that there'd be huge cheers and boos and all this stuff, and they were listening to what he had to say. And there was a few times that people yelled out like, yeah, until. So, their narrative does not match the American people, no matter what color the crowd is,” said Tyrus.

Jesse Watters also thought the former president performed well.

“He stole the news cycle. Kamala has gotten great press over the last week and a half, and he just ripped it right back and put it right on his camp. I mean, this is a big moment for the campaign. This was a big confrontation in the summer, and he handled it classy. It could have been much more nasty. It was fine the way he handled it . . . most of us wouldn't have gone in there and gone, ‘Who is Kamala Harris?’ Is she Indian? Well, she's Jamaican too. Not something I would have done, but he went in there and he peeled back the curtain and a lot of times, I think early in her career, she identified as South Asian. That might have been effective in California. Now she is considered an African-American woman. You don't hear about that . . .how this is going to play with the black community. But I do know they're going to be talking about Donald Trump and this moment for days and days and days,” said Watters.

Later on that night on “Hannity,” Horace Cooper the chairman of Project 21, National Center for Public Policy Research, a nonprofit on the advisory board for Project 2025, gave his opinion on Trump’s appearance at the NABJ convention.

“Let me give a few observations. I'm not sure tonight is Kamala Harris’ night. Donald Trump broke the internet. . .Former President Donald Trump stood up like a boss and went in with his message,” said Cooper.

Fox News Decided a Boxer Was Trans Even Though She Wasn’t

Last week a female Algerian boxer, Imane Khelif, defeated her Italian opponent in an Olympic boxing match in less than minute. Controversy followed as it was revealed that a boxing association (IBA) banned by the International Olympic Committee, had disqualified Khelif claiming she had tested positive for XY chromosomes.

Anti-trans activists such as the author J.K. Rowling accused Khelif of being transgender or a biological male on X (Twitter). An avalanche of unproven accusations against Khelif followed across right-wing media and on social media platforms.

Rowling and others didn’t bother to check that the IBA didn’t have any actual evidence that Khelif had XY chromosomes. The IBA didn’t specify what test they used and have kept any proof of Khelif’s gender confidential.

Fox News jumped on the bandwagon with several hosts trashing the Olympics and Khelif personally.

On Thursday, the cast of “The Five,” assumed Khelif was male.

“Are you going for gold at the Olympics? After a boxer who failed a gender eligibility test brutally beat a female opponent in just 46 seconds,” Jesse Watters.

“I feel I don't get enraged very easily, but this one did it for me. That young woman from Italy. She had practiced her entire life for this moment, for her to be able to go to the Olympics, and she got punched in the face by a guy,” said Dana Perino.

“I mean, if I was a lawyer judge, I'd probably try to try this person for assault,” said Watters.

“Well, look, I personally am sick and tired of, you know, making it okay for men to beat women,” said Judge Jeanine Pirro.

Later on, that night on “Hannity,” Gov. Kristi Noem criticized Vice President Harris for not issuing a statement about the international athletic competition.

“What's interesting to me is that Kamala Harris has been silent all day long on this issue. We had a man beat up a woman on international TV and people celebrated it, and she never once spoke out. She's celebrating men beating up women. It's wrong. And we need to have our leaders call it out,” said Noem.

It wasn’t until the next day on “Fox & Friends,” that anyone at Fox attempt to partially correct the story. Fox News correspondent, Chanley Painter, added the following statement after a short segment about the controversy surrounding Imane Khelif and a female Taiwanese boxer who was also accused of having XY chromosomes.

“The Algerian boxer has always competed as a female, including during the Tokyo Olympics, but has also been barred from female events in the past over high levels of testosterone and for a failing gender eligibility tests, including the same 2023 Women's World Championships tournament. Now, both fighters do not identify as transgender and were assigned female at birth based on observations of genitalia, and were officially noted as female on their birth certificates,” said Painter.

Some Background on the IBA and the Olympics

The International Boxing Association (IBA) was banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2023. The two groups had been at odds for years over the IBA defying advice and instructions by the IOC.

The dispute was centered on the management of IBA with leadership from Russia and Uzbekistan. The finances of the IBA were backed by a Russian state energy firm and the IOC questioned the integrity of bouts and judging in the IBA.

Imane Khelif was only disqualified by the IBA after she won an early round bout against Azalia Amineva, a previously undefeated Russian boxer. Khelif’s disqualification negated her win and Amineva regained her undefeated status.

The IBA claimed the Khelif and a Taiwanese fighter failed unspecified eligibility tests which remain confidential.

Khelif was assigned female at birth and has lived as a woman her entire life. She has never identified as intersex or transgender.

Dana Perino Trump and Project 2025

On Wednesday Dana Perino brought up Project 2025 when discussing the presidential race on “The Five.”

“Thinking today about how the media has treated. Democrats have tried to super glue that Project 2025 project to Donald Trump, even though he says he didn't have anything to do with it. It doesn't meet the people. It doesn't like them. He's disavowed it.”

According to my research 28 of the 37 people listed as either an author or editor for “Mandate for Leadership a Conservative Promise Project 2025,” worked in the Trump administration.

Out of the 277 people listed as contributors on Project 2025 I found 150 who either worked in the Trump administration or worked on his campaign.

• 76% of the authors worked for Trump

• 54% of the contributors worked for Trump

• The word ‘Trump’ appears on 194 pages of the 900+ page document

Stories Fox News Ignored

Every week I compare the hours I’ve watched 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 Vermont experienced flash floods due to heavy rains that washed away roads, pushed homes off their foundations and destroyed vehicles. Some areas got more than 8 inches of rain.

  • Dozens were killed in southern India after excessive rain caused landslides in the hilly villages in Kerala state’s Wayanad district. Rescue efforts were hampered by blocked roads and unstable terrain.

• Updates in the Israel-Hamas War

  • Thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Tel Aviv to call for the release of hostages held by Hamas and to mark 300 days since the October 7th massacre in southern Israel. Similar protests were held across the country as many Israelis remain angry that their government hasn’t done enough to release the hostages.

• A New York judge has not appointed an outside monitor to oversee the operations at the NRA (National Rifle Association) but he did ban Wayne LaPierre, the former head of the organization, from holding a paid position with the organization for the next 10 years. A Manhattan jury found LaPierre and another deputy liable for misspending the nonprofit’s funds on their own lavish lifestyles.

• The FDA approved the first blood test to detect colorectal cancer. Research found the blood test detected colorectal cancer in 83% of people who had it, but colonoscopy is still considered the gold-standard for screening.

• PBS produced a segment about the mental health of athletes competing at the Olympics. Athletes such as Simone Biles and Apolo Ohno have brought more awareness to the struggles many athletes face.

• In Venezuela the Attorney General announced that 2000 people have been arrested following protests over the legitimacy of the last presidential election. Some of those arrested will face terrorism charges.

• A federal investigation into U.S. government run Native American boarding schools revealed deaths of children were twice as high as previously reported. At least 973 indigenous children died in schools operated or supported by the federal government.

• The Biden administration announced new steps to cut down on the flow of fentanyl. The steps include issuing a national security memorandum and calling on congress to pass new legislation to address the crisis. The proposed legislation would establish a national pill press and tabletting registry, impose new penalties on drug smugglers and traffickers; permanately make fentanyl-related substances schedule one drugs, and require importers to provide more information to Customs and Border Protection to better identify packages containing fentanyl precursor chemicals. 

• The Department of Justice indicted, Jordan Goudreau, a former U.S. Green Beret who organized a failed cross border raid of Venezuelan army deserters to remove President Nicolás Maduro. Goudreau was charged with conspiracy to violate export laws, smuggling goods from the United States, violating the Arms Export Control Act, and violating the Export Control Reform Act.

• The South Carolina State Supreme Court ruled that death by firing squad was not cruel or unusual punishment. Inmates who face the death penalty can also be executed by lethal injection or the electric chair. South Carolina hasn’t put an inmate to death since 2011.

• The deadly Osprey crash last November off the coast of Japan was caused by cracks in metal gear and pilot error according to an U.S. Air Force investigation. The CV-22B Osprey crash killed eight Air Force Special Operations Command service members. There have been four fatal Osprey crashes in the past two years.

• Senate Republicans blocked legislation that would have expanded Child Tax Credit. The $79 billion bill would have expanded eligibility for the Child Tax Credit among the lowest-income families and adjusted payments for inflation for the 2024 and 2025 filing years.

• A U.S. appeals court upheld the gag order in the criminal hush money case that Trump was convicted of earlier this year.

• In Venezuela the Biden administration, along with the governments of Argentina, Ecuador and Costa Rica, declared opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia as the true winner of the last presidential election. Fox News reported on the controversy in the election but left out this crucial update.

• The U.N.’s World Food Program (WFP), the leading authority on food insecurity, officially declared a famine in Sudan and North Darfur. The region has been embroiled in a civil war between two warring factions for over two years.

• The DOJ filed a lawsuit against TikTok for violating the online privacy of children under the age of 13

• Alma Powell, civic leader and widow of Colin Powell, dies at 86. Powell was also a children’s book author and served on the board of America’s Promise Alliance, which focuses on civic engagement, education and workforce development.

• William Calley, a former U.S. Army officer, died at 80. He was the only person convicted in connection to the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. According to the Vietnamese government 504 civilians were killed during the massacre. The crime wasn’t uncovered until over a year later. Calley was convicted and sentenced to life in prison but only served three days behind bars after then-President Richard Nixon ordered his release under house arrest. Calley insisted that he was just following orders. In 2009 he expressed remorse for the attack at the Kiwanis Club of Greater Columbus.

By the Numbers