Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:48 pm
It was disorientating hearing my former-colleague John Roberts making dick jokes this morning because of That Time In The Fox Debate That Donald Trump Bragged About His Penis Size. Truth be told, it was totally expected that Donald Trump would eventually get around to assuring voters his penis is everything he wishes it to be. Isn’t that what these testosterone-laden GOP debates have been leading towards all along?
Without a hint of irony Roberts made reference to fact-checking Pinochios. I’m sure it’s not Trump’s nose that grows when he gets away with another lie.
It seems like such a small thing (no pun intended), but what elevates this episode to the Freudian is how Trump used the penis reference to cover up the biggest lie he told at the debate last night. Trump falsely claimed no one had ever attacked his hands before.
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Tell that to Graydon Carter, former editor of Spy Magazine and current editor of Vanity Fair, who dinged Trump’s freakishly small hands more than 2 decades ago. Read Why Donald Trump Will Always Be a “Short-Fingered Vulgarian†for a brand new way to laugh at Donald Trump’s falsehoods and insecurities. *
It’s probably a good thing that there are ‘Some Things You Just Can’t Fact-Check’: Twitter Collectively Loses Its Mind Over Trump’s Dick Joke because there’s nothing new for Fox “News” to say about Donald Trump. Or is there?
Trump Blames Fox’s Chris Wallace For His Own Ethnic Slurs Against Trump U Judge • Donald Trump Was Considering Skipping The Fox Debate Tomorrow • Sheriff Joe Arpaio: Trump Will Get A Lot Of The Hispanic Vote • Van Susteren Gives Melania Trump A Pass On Her Nude Photo • On Fox & Friends: Trump Son Mocks Black Celebrities Who Don’t Support His Father As “Greatest Endorsement Ever”
GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS: First the good news: The split that’s rending the Fox “News” viewing audience is beginning to show with the on air personalities. The bad news? Despite the good news, it’s the same old Fox “News” trying to influence the election. Last week it appeared the FAIR & BALANCED network had tipped to Marco Rubio, but suddenly More Bad News for Marco Rubio: He Just Lost the Support of Fox News. NYMag’s Gabriel Sherman reports:
In his role as the donor class’s darling, Marco Rubio has enjoyed support from the Republicans’ media arm, Fox News. Throughout the primary, Fox provided Rubio with friendly interviews and key bookings, including the first prime-time response to Barack Obama’s Oval Office address on ISIS. Many of the network’s top pundits, including Stephen Hayes and Charles Krauthammer, have been enthusiastic boosters. Bill Sammon, Fox’s Washington managing editor, is the father of Rubio’s communications director, Brooke Sammon.
But this alliance now seems to be over. According to three Fox sources, Fox chief Roger Ailes has told people he’s lost confidence in Rubio’s ability to win. “We’re finished with Rubio,” Ailes recently told a Fox host. “We can’t do the Rubio thing anymore.”
[…]
Ailes was already concerned about Rubio’s lackluster performance in GOP primaries and caucuses, winning only one contest among the 15 that have been held. But the more proximate cause for the flip was an embarrassing New York Times article revealing that Rubio and Ailes had a secret dinner meeting in 2013 during which the Florida senator successfully lobbied the Fox News chief to throw his support behind the “Gang of 8” comprehensive immigration-reform bill. “Roger hates seeing his name in print,” a longtime Ailes associate told me. “He was appalled the dinner was reported,” the source said.
No sooner is it reported that Fox News chief Roger Ailes says network is ‘finished with Rubio’: report, than Geraldo Rivera Attacks ‘Little Snotnose’ Marco Rubio For His Onslaught Against Donald Trump, and Reporter Quotes Rubio Staffer Trashing ‘P-ssy’ Hannity, So Hannity Attacks “Asshole’ Reporter, while Fox News Commentators Blame Rubio’s Super Tuesday Loss In Virginia On Kasich.
Then the Big Boss tweeted . . .
Rupert Murdoch: GOP Candidates Should
“Cool It” And Focus On The “Real Enemy”
Rupert Murdoch: GOP “Would Be
Mad Not To Unify” Around Donald
Trump If He Becomes Inevitable
MITT ME YET: Earlier in the week Fox’s Chris Wallace Slams The GOP Debate As An ‘Embarrassment’ For The Party, but that was last week’s debate before we learned about Little Donald and before Mitt Romney Gives [his] ‘State of the Race’ Speech on ‘Phony and Fraud’ Trump. While it was fun to watch as Romney Lays Out String of Failed Trump Ventures: ‘A Business Genius He Is Not’, Fox forgave fellatio jokes. Trump: Romney Wanted My Endorsement So Badly, I Could Have Said ‘Drop to Your Knees’, so — of course — Fox’s Bolling Defends Trump’s Crass Romney Line: ‘When I Go to Church, I Pray on My Knees’.
You could feel the station turning away from Rubio and back to Trump by the following headlines:
Sean Hannity’s 30 Minute Trump Interview Ignores KKK Controversy • Fox Hosts Offer Helpful Tips For Donald Trump To Counter Mitt Romney • “Take It And Shove It”: Conservative Pundits Pan Mitt Romney’s Anti-Trump Speech • Fox’s Dobbs: Romney, Paul Ryan Are Despicable ‘Twosome from Hell’ Betraying the GOP • Watch Mike Huckabee Stumble As He Tries To Defend Donald Trump’s KKK Controversy • Huckabee Defends Trump’s KKK Wavering • After Juan Williams Criticizes Trump’s KKK Comments, Fox Hosts Freak Out • Fox’s The Five Defend Donald Trump’s Refusal To Disavow David Duke And The KKK • Fox Co-Hosts Defend Trump For Not Disavowing KKK • Fox Hosts Defend Trump on KKK Flap: ‘Making Something Out of Nothing’ • Fox’s Dobbs: There Is “Collusion Between The Republican Party, The New York Times And Buzzfeed” To “Take Trump Down” • Fox’s Lou Dobbs Attacks ‘Sop’ Paul Ryan For Condemning Trump’s Refusal To Disavow David Duke And The KKK • African American Fox Guest Assures Viewers Donald Trump Is ‘Not A Racist’
Then there’s this hold out: Megyn Kelly Takes Down Trump Spokesperson And Bill O’Reilly In One Segment.
GO HOME, LOOFAH LAD, YOU’RE DRUNK: Patton Oswalt thinks Bill O’Reilly was drunk after the #GOPdebate — and Twitter agrees with him, but Was Bill O’Reilly Drunk During His Post-Debate Show? and, if so, who could blame him if he was? The schadenfreude hung heavy on the Left this week:
Bill O’Reilly Loses Custody of Children In New York Court Ruling • Bill O’Reilly Loses Custody Of His Children • Fox Host Bill O’Reilly Loses Full Custody Of His Two Children In Embarrassing Court Defeat • “Family Values†Hypocrite Bill O’Reilly Loses Custody Of Kids After Choking His Wife • Fox’s Bill O’Reilly loses custody of teen children after New York appeals court ruling • Amid his own troubles, Bill O’Reilly denounces dissolution of black families
When the story of his life is filmed this will be the exact moment when any pathos you may have felt for Loofah Lad becomes bathos: He bagged the first interview with Trump — right on the stage — after last night’s debate. From that triumph to this laughable exchange from O’Reilly [says] to Trump: Why Do So Many Republicans Absolutely Loathe You?
At one point, O’Reilly asked, “You get mad at guys like me when I ask you the negative questions?†Trump said, “I think you’ve become very negative.â€
O’Reilly asked why. Trump said, “Who knows? You’ll have to ask your psychiatrist.â€
Because it would take a Freudian psychiatrist to understand why Culture Warrior Bill O’Reilly Defends Donald Trump’s Dick Joke:
Yes, Bill O’Reilly––who has criticized Hollywood and recording artists many time over for being crude and crass and not setting a good examples for America’s children––was not at all bothered by Trump talking about the size of his penis at a presidential debate watched by tens of millions of people.
He said, “I didn’t take offense to it. I think Trump is doing what he always does, appealing to regular people, playing off the Rubio thing.â€
O’Reilly dismissively told an amazed Goldberg that “it was done in a jocular way.†Goldberg cried, “He’s running for president.†O’Reilly countered, “It’s a different era.â€
Goldberg asked why someone who’s concerned about the “coarsening of the culture†is so dismissive of this. O’Reilly just said it wasn’t a big deal.
I’d drink too if I were reduced to telling lies on the air to cover up for a friend:
O’Reilly: “Billionaire” Donald
Trump Is “A Blue Collar Guy”
O’Reilly Doesn’t Think Hillary Will
Show Up to a Debate with Trump
You’d be drinking too after Ted Koppel raps Bill O’Reilly: Interviewing Trump is ‘irrelevant’ now because of you:
“I’ve interviewed him a number of times,†O’Reilly said of the Republican front-runner. “Not an easy interview. How would you do it?â€
“You and I have talked about this general subject many times over the years. It’s irrelevant how I would do it,†Koppel replied. “You know who made it irrelevant? You did. You have changed the television landscape over the past 20 years — you took it from being objective and dull to subjective and entertaining. And in this current climate, it doesn’t matter what the interviewer asks him; Mr. Trump is gonna say whatever he wants to say, as outrageous as it may be.â€
Trump inspires gloomy Ted Koppel to scold Bill
O’Reilly over the state of TV news • Watch Ted
Koppel shred Bill O’Reilly for making journalism
“irrelevant†when it comes to Donald Trump
O’Reilly even defended his vanilla milkshake BFF over the KKK gaffe:
Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity rescue Donald Trump on racism • O’Reilly: Media Using “David Duke Stuff” To Run Down Donald Trump • Bill O’Reilly Gives Donald Trump A Pass On The ‘Complete Non-Story’ Of David Duke •
No wonder he’s drinking.
#OSCARSSOWHITE: But not nearly as White as the Fox “News” Channel, although they do have their tokens, which is why this meta-story still makes me laugh:
Chris Rock Invited Stacey Dash Onstage For
the Biggest, Weirdest Troll We’ve Ever Seen
Stacey Dash Made Things Very
Awkward At The Academy Awards
As Oscar Cameo Reaction Proves, Unrepentant
Stacey Dash Worth Every Penny Fox Pays Her
However, on ever level the Fox “News” reaction to the Academy Awards was both predicable and antiquated:
Leonardo DiCaprio Calls For Climate Action
At Oscars, Deniers At Fox News Quickly Object
Bill O’Reilly Agrees Oscars
Are ‘Way, Way Too White’
Fox News Hated Joe Biden at the Oscars,
Chris Rock’s Monologue and Leo’s Speech
Fox Guest: Blacks Are
‘Over-Represented’ In
Some Oscar Categories
BECAUSE HE’S TRUMPALICIOUS: Fox can’t help itself in promoting Donald Trump. Here’s more:
Fox & Friends Hosts Celebrate Donald Trump As Other Right-Wing Media Panic • Trump Jr. offers to pay for black celebrities to leave US when President Trump is elected • Trump Ally: Fox Judge And 9/11 Truther Andrew Napolitano Is “Probably Trump’s Number One Pick For” Supreme Court • Revealed: Stunning Thing Happened To Fox News As Soon As They Attacked Trump • Fox’s Dana Perino: Republican Funded Anti-Trump Super-PAC Is “A Day Late And A Dollar Short” • Fox Host Praises Senator Sessions’ Trump Endorsement As “Brave”
PHOX PHONY: FFF has reported on this previously, but more of the story has now been told:
The Plot to Take Down a Fox News Analyst
Fox News Apparently Ignored Warnings That
Fave Guest, Wayne Simmons, Was A Fraud
KURTZ THE MEDIA GUY: Why does he even exist if he’s going to dis the competition, but totally overlook all the malfeasance at his own network?
Fox’s Howard Kurtz Justifies MSNBC
Dropping Melissa Harris-Perry
Because She “Played The Race Card”
Fox’s Howard Kurtz Lets Frank
Luntz Praise Marco Rubio Without
Disclosing Past Financial Ties
Howard Kurtz is a media hack.
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT’S DUE: Or, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while:
Fox’s Gutfeld Calls Out Fox Hypocrisy
For Refusing To Mock Trump’s
Criticism Of The Network
GREG GUTFELD: By the way, we have to point out. We often mock President Obama for whining about Fox News. So isn’t that what Trump’s doing? Shouldn’t we be mocking him for doing the same thing? I know. It’s hypocritical if we don’t.
JUAN WILLIAMS: Don’t look at me. I would say the same thing.
Fox Hosts Clash Over Romney: Trump Attacks
Everyone and You’re Upset He’s Fighting Back?
Fox Host On Donald Trump: The Republican
Establishment “Created This Monster”
Fox’s Shep Smith shreds strategist:
Republican Party lies gave rise to Donald Trump
Shep Smith to GOP Strategist: Didn’t Trump
Rise Because You Made Empty Promises to Base?
Veteran Journalists And Historians Rip “Pathetic”
And “Fawning” Media Coverage Of Trump
SCAMMITY: This man is a mendacious moron onto himself.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox Schools Sean Hannity On Trump, Xenophobia, And White • Sean Hannity Calls Marco Rubio A “Pawn Of The Establishment” Trying To Take Down Trump • Sean Hannity: “I Suspect” Marco Rubio Is Being “Coached” To Attack Trump • ‘Rubio Duped You’: Coulter Feuds With Sean Hannity on Twitter • Marco Rubio Pushed for Immigration Reform With Conservative Media • Hannity Lets Trump Dis Fox: ‘You Got Some Bad People’
TRUSTed: After Fox’s Chris Wallace Demolishes Ted Cruz Over Supreme Court And Campaign Dirty Tricks, it’s only natural that Now Ted Cruz Is Feuding With Fox News. It worked so well for Donald Trump.
FOX BYTES: Fox’s MacCallum Shows Blatant Bias For Bakers Refusing To Bake Same-Sex Wedding Cake • Forget Mitt Romney. Megyn Kelly is the right’s best weapon against Trump • Megyn Kelly Talks Trump Feud Ahead of Debate Showdown: ‘I Didn’t Take It Personally’ • CNN Says “Take A Breath” On Clinton Aide Immunity While Fox Cries Indictment • Limbaugh Criticizes Fox News For Giving Impression “That Rubio Had One Hell Of A Night” On Super Tuesday
* FULL DISCLOSURE: Headly Westerfield was a big fan of Spy Magazine, which printed his Letter to the Editor in the April 1990 issue.
