Trump's Guilty Verdict - The Immediate Aftermath

A condensed overview of 22 hours of Fox News for the week ending 6/2/24

Jun 05, 2024

Last week a jury found that Donald J. Trump was guilty on all 34 criminal charges he was facing in a case involving falsifying business records in Manhattan. The case involved paying a pornographic film actress $130,000 to stay quiet about a sexual encounter she had with Donald J. Trump.

I’ve dedicated a newsletter and a podcast to the night that the verdict was announced.

While the opinion-based hosts mislead their audience about basic aspects of the case Eric Shaw, a reporter from the legitimate news team, boldly said that Trump made false statements about the trial.

Predictably both Fox News hosts and guests ramped up dangerous rhetoric about revolutions, uprisings and conspiracy theories. Jesse Watters openly attempted to intimidate two jurors.

Anyone watching a lot of Fox News last week might have missed out on stories about record breaking heat waves around the world, challenges to restrictive abortion laws in Texas, and updates to the Israel-Hamas War as well as the war in Ukraine.

Shows I covered last week:

Fox & Friends
The Five
Hannity
Jesse Watters Primetime, Bret Baier and The Ingraham Angle - Thursday only
Fox & Friends Sunday - all four hours

A Train Wreck of a Trump Interview

On Sunday on “Fox & Friends,” the hosts boasted of their 90-minute interview with Donald J. Trump. In the first hour they featured a few short clips while blaming technical problems for why they couldn’t show more.

For each one hour segment the producers included about 10 minutes of the interview. I could quickly tell they were recycling the same clips.

The hosts kept insisting that more footage was coming but at the end of the four-hour broadcast they had only shared about 15 minutes of the interview.

When I went to unravel the clips I could tell that some portions of it were repeated as much as five times.

The portion that was repeated the most was about “bad people.”

“These are bad people. These people are sick, and they do things that are so destructive of I mean, look what they did from the from the day because these are bad people. . . If it weren't me, they'd be going after somebody else. And I know a lot of the competition. They wouldn't they wouldn't do so well. They wouldn't be doing so well right now. They'd be saying, mommy, take me home. . . These are bad people. I know everything they're doing. I know every move they make, I get it. But a lot of people don't.”

Will Cain - Trump Fan Boy

Will Cain was basically a fan boy for the entire sycophantic mess.

“People ask you, why do you do this? How can you do this? I mean, not to mention the rally after rally, the energy. But maybe the question isn't how do you do this? But how does your family do this?” he asked Trump.

Rachel Campos-Duffy is From Arizona not Argentina

Trump also appeared to assume that Rachel Campos-Duffy was from South America.

“Maybe they're doing me a big favor. Who knows? But I'm not allowed to talk. I'm gagged. Nobody's ever heard of that. It's all coming out. It's weaponization. And it's a very dangerous thing. We've never had that in this country. They do have it in other countries. In South American countries. You know a little bit about it, right? Well, that actually leads me to my question,” said Trump as he gestured towards Campos-Duffy.

Rachel Campos-Duffy’s grandparents on her father’s side emigrated from Mexico. Her mother is from Spain. Her parents met in Spain when her father was deployed with the U.S. Air Force.

Campos-Duffy grew up in Arizona.

Will Cain proudly announced that the full unedited 90-minute interview would appear on his podcast.

I am not even sure how to access his podcast yet but it was telling that they didn’t want to showcase the interview on television.

Eric Shawn Calls Out Trump Again

On Tuesday, on “Fox & Friends,” Eric Shawn, a journalist with the legitimate news team, called out Trump for making false statements about his criminal hush money trial while standing outside the Manhattan Criminal Court.

Steve Doocy started the discussion.

“Hey, Eric, before you go. I think it was on Truth Social in the last 24 hours. The former president seems, upset that his lawyer, when it comes to closing arguments, his lawyer has to go first, and then the prosecution goes second. doesn't the state always go last? That's what he's upset about,” said Doocy.

Eric Shawn blinked looked directly into the camera and explained what Trump had gotten wrong.

“Yeah, that's New York law. Different states are different. He gave that posting, and that's not the case. Under the law the defense goes first, then the prosecution goes. He's also claiming that the election expert, Brad Smith, was not allowed to testify. That is not true. Smith's testimony was restricted by the judge, but it was Trump's defense attorneys. Trump's own side decided not to call Smith the president, claiming something that is, again, false.”

Jesse Watters Tried to Intimidate the Jurors Again

On Wednesday, the day before the verdict was reached, Jesse Watters made a comment on “The Five,” that could be easily interpreted as a threat to at least two of the jurors.

Dana Perino brought up the two jurors who are lawyers.

“And as a lawyer. And you wonder if he had. He or she had, it’s a he had a similar reaction to what the judge is saying, that what we've heard from our legal analysts all day,” said Perino.

Jesse Watters made a number of assumptions about the two jurors.

“I worry about the two lawyers because they're both at Manhattan corporate law firms, and if they are in a jury that votes to not convict Donald Trump, they have to go and see their boss and they have to go see their colleagues. And there's a lot of social pressure. There's a lot of peer pressure there. Dana, to not bring back to your liberal law firm in Manhattan a conviction.”

I’m not sure which law firms are liberal in New York City as many lawyers work for financial firms or corporations. The lawyers on the jury also aren’t “bringing back a conviction,” as Watters stated.

The jurors are anonymous, and no law firm will boast that one of its lawyers help convict Trump. A lawyer sitting on a jury is not acting like a lawyer they are fulfilling their civic duty like any citizen. They don’t’ cross examine witnesses, submit evidence or file motions.

A juror who happens to be a lawyer is treated like any juror would. They examine the evidence and testimony in the case and follow the judge’s instructions.

William Brangham Breaks Down the Hush Money Case in One Minute

When I started this project I decided I would compare Fox News to a legitimate non-partisan news source. I choose the PBS NewsHour because it’s the opposite of Fox News in many ways.

I sometimes get questions about why I also include data from PBS NewsHour every week when this project is dedicated to breaking down disinformation, misinformation and misleading stories on Fox.

I’ve treated PBS like a control to the outlandish propaganda on Fox.

The NewsHour is part of the nonprofit Corporation for Public Broadcasting that gets a small portion of its funding from public sources. It also receives revenue from private foundations, corporate grants, member station dues and pledges from individual viewers.

The NewsHour is not sensational, partisan or driven by ratings. The program offers comprehensive coverage on national and international stories.

The producers also go out of their way to include both sides to most issues. They sometimes will include opposing voices in the same segment, or they will give them equal time in separate segments about the same topic.

Comparing Fox News to PBS has given me incredible insight into the depth of the propaganda on Fox. I’ve used examples from PBS to directly compare segments from Fox News.

This is how William Brangham, a correspondent on the PBS NewsHour, broke down Trump’s criminal hush money trial in about one minute.

“In some ways, because the jury this morning heard two different things at their request. They wanted to hear jury instructions, and they wanted to hear a certain type of testimony re-read to them. And both of those. Now, looking back in hindsight, give some clues as to what they were thinking, because both of those things that they were read today go right to the heart of this case.
The first one was jury instructions, which detailed whether a defendant can be found guilty if they orchestrated acts that other people did criminal acts that other people did. And Donald Trump, clearly they seem to believe, is guilty of that. The testimony that they asked to re-listen to today centered on this famous 2015 Trump Tower meeting that many people have pointed to as this sort of original moment when the entire scheme that eventually undid the president in this case was concocted.
This is where David Pecker of the National Enquirer, Michael Cohen, his lawyer, and Donald Trump met and created this scheme to become the eyes and ears of the Trump campaign, to look for any negative stories, to pay people to stay quiet. And that's what eventually led to today's guilty verdict.”

Fox News has spent an inordinate amount of airtime on this criminal case but Brangham explained it better in one minute than anyone on Fox News has in weeks.

It’s a Revolution! Be Prepared to Fight!

On Friday North Dakota Governor, Doug Burgum appeared on “Fox & Friends,” to discuss the case. Although his demeanor was calm and his delivery unemotional the words, he used to describe Trump’s conviction were alarming.

“You know, Alvin Bragg yesterday said, hey, I did my job. And he said, I'm doing my job. He was really talking and I did my job. He's talking to Joe Biden and all the people that were driving this law fair. But now we get to do our job, the American people. And what I the reaction I've seen the phone, the phones, the text, the calls last night, people are rising up because the thing is, the prosecution of Donald Trump began in November of 16 when he won that election, when he wasn't supposed to win the election. Whether it's in Russian interference was it Steele dossier, whether it's impeachment, the American people go, this has been going on. This is old news. This thing yesterday is not new news. It's old news. So this verdict changes nothing for them. But then the same group is like we've got him now. It's like the American people are like, no, they're going to rise up and fight.”

Burgum implied that the 2016 might not have been legitimate as he made air quotes as he said, "he wasn’t supposed to win the election.” He also used the phrase “rise up and fight,” which is problematic for several reasons.

Later on, that same day on “The Five,” Jesse Watters took things much further when he used the word revolution.

“He’s 70 something. He's a former president. He's got no track record. These are nonviolent misdemeanors frankensteined into a felony. If this judge tries this, it's going be a revolution in this country.”

Greg Gutfeld was reckless and irresponsible with his language but that’s not surprising given he once made a hideous comment about the Holocaust which he never clarified or corrected.

“There's no doubt about that. But if so, everything is going to be looked at with a large measure of suspicion. We're going to presume everything is rigged. Sorry, but we have four years of watching this happen. So if Trump, who's 77, suddenly drops dead from a cardiac arrest on the golf course and it's real, do you think anybody's going to believe that after everything we've been through, they better hope that Trump stays healthy and is well protected because if anything happens to him, you're just going to assume the Democrats are behind it. And if Trump is way ahead and still loses, oh boy.”

According to Gutfeld’s logic Trump must win the next election or we might have violent riots across the country.

Stories Fox News Ignored

Every week I compare the hours I’ve watched on Fox to five hours of the PBS NewsHour. The following list are stories that PBS covered that Fox News did not.

A Fox News viewer would be less likely to know about negative stories about Trump, anything related to climate change, abortion laws across the country, police brutality and most international stories.

Climate disasters
- Temperatures in New Delhi, India, where 35 million people live, reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, leading to heat-related deaths and illnesses. In Mexico, howler monkeys have been dying off in 100-degree heat, and in the U.S., Miami just recorded its hottest May on record.
- Vermont is the first state to enact a law that would force oil and gas companies to pay a portion of the damage caused by climate change.
Updates in the Israel-Hamas War
- Benny Gantz’s centrist party proposed a vote to dissolve the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lack of a plan for postwar Gaza by June 8. The centrist party does not hold enough seats to bring down the ruling coalition.
- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also urged the Israeli government to come up with a postwar plan for Gaza that would include a pathway for an independent Palestinian state.
- The Slovenian government endorsed a motion to recognize an independent Palestinian state. This came days after Ireland, Spain and Norway recognized a Palestinian state which was condemned by Israel.
- Police in riot gear broke down tents and removed fencing while they arrested at least 12 pro-Palestine protesters at Wayne State University.
Updates in the war in Ukraine
- Spain committed to supplying Ukraine with more air defense missiles to combat Russian glide bombs.
- Belgium agreed to send 30 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine while Portugal also agreed to send 126 million euros ($137 million) more military aid.
- Germany gave Ukraine the green light to hit targets inside of Russia.
- Norway and Sweden pledged long-term security agreements with Ukraine. More aid and support is likely to come during the NATO summit in July.
- Russia and Ukraine each exchanged 75 prisoners of war in the first such swap in three months. At the same location both countries also handed over the bodies of fallen soldiers.
The U.S. Treasury Dept. is easing some restrictions on Cuba to help advance free market reforms in the county. The Cuban government legalized small and medium sized businesses in 2021 after a series of anti-government protests. About 1/3 of the population is employed in about 11,000 of these businesses.
The U.K. and E.U. criticized the decision to convict 14 pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. China, which authored the 2020 national security law used to prosecute the activists, backed Hong Kong authorities.
Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature passed changes that many Taiwanese say are favorable to China by diminishing the role of the president. After the vote protests erupted inside the legislature and outside in the streets.
The Pope apologized for using a derogatory Italian slur against gay men. Pope Francis used the term while a reaffirming his position against their admission to seminaries and priesthood. Reactions are divided over whether the slur was intentional or a linguistic gaffe.
PBS produced an extended segment about the growing humanitarian crisis and violence caused by the Sudan Civil War. The conflict has left tens of thousands dead, and displaced millions who also face famine.
At least 76 polling sites in four counties went offline during the primary election in Texas due to power outages caused by extreme storms.
The legal battle over the ownership of TikTok has been fast tracked by the Court of Appeals. A lawsuit initiated by a group of TikTok creators against the bill will be heard in September.
Giant Pandas will return to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. The zoo announced last week that a new agreement had been struck with the Chinese government, and a pair of adult pandas will be delivered to the zoo by the end of the year. Other pandas were returned to China due to diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China.
Nissan issued a recall on 80,000 vehicles over malfunctioning airbags. The company reported that one person has died and 85 were injured due to air bag inflator-related ruptures.
The ruling party in South Africa lost its 30-year majority in the last election. The once dominant ANC (African National Congress Party) only won 40% of the vote in the parliamentary election.
The Washington Post published its results of an investigation that looked into widespread physical and sexual abuse of Native American children who were forced to attend boarding schools, most of which were run by the Catholic Church. From 1819 to 1969, tens of thousands of children were sent to more than 500 boarding schools across the country in an effort to destroy Native American culture and seize Native lands.
Major League Baseball will add stats from the Negro leagues to its record books. The Negro leagues existed due to racism in the sport. Jackie Robinson, was the first Black player to play for an MLB team in 1947.
The GDP in the first quarter of 2024 was adjusted from 1.6% to 1.3% as consumer spending faltered. ‘
In a unanimous decision the Supreme Court of the United States sided with the NRA in a first amendment case against a New York government regulator who urged companies to distance themselves from the organization after a school shooting in Florida.
PBS interviewed Stacy Gilbert, a State Department employee who resigned in protest over the U.S. government policies in Gaza. At least half a dozen officials in the State, Defense, Education and Interior have also resigned since the war in Gaza began.
The Texas Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the state’s restrictive abortion law. The court ruled against 20 women who say they were denied medically necessary abortions due pregnancy complications and other health related issues.
A new study adds to the evidence that girls in America are reaching puberty earlier with potentially troubling implications for their long-term health. More girls are getting their first periods sooner than previous generations and experiencing longer periods of menstrual irregularity.
PBS produced an extended segment about how ranked choice voting in Alaska has helped more moderate candidates win office.