Fox News Gets Desperate and Calls The Confederate Flag The Flag Of The Democratic Party

In a desperate attempt to hide their role in pushing the GOP’s racist rhetoric, Fox News is claiming that the Confederate flag is the flag of the Democratic Party.

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Fox News host Andrea Tantaros said, “You know what baffles the mind? This isn’t a Republican flag. Historically this was the flag of southern Democrats, remember that, fact? I find this flag offensive. This flag represents the fight in slavery, and it was a flag that the southern Democrats — Democrats — used to fly against Northern Republicans so I’m not sure why Republicans are getting peppered over this.”

Tantaros brought up an old time favorite misleading statement by the right. Southerners did support the Democratic Party, but what Fox News likes to leave out is that racist ideological strain left the Democratic Party and moved over to the Republicans during the Civil Rights movement.

It is ridiculous for anyone to claim that the Confederate flag is the flag of the party that is led by the nation’s first African-American president. It is even more absurd for Fox News to ignore the fact that it was Republicans who supported flying the Confederate flag over the state capitol.

Republicans are getting hammered for this because they are the party that pushed for the Confederate flag as a symbol of “Southern heritage.” The Confederate flag is not a Republican flag or a Democratic flag. It is a symbol of slavery, racism and hate.

There is only one political party in the United States that has been using racism to scare and divide the country, and that is the Republican Party.

Fox News is getting desperate and pulling out all of the stops to spin away the right’s trafficking in racial politics. Fox is even out of step with Republicans like South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is set to call for the flag to be taken down.

The years of Fox News supported racial hate are coming back to bite Republicans and their cable news network. Fox News embraced the racial dog whistles, so now they own the ugly symbolism of the Confederate flag.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association