Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:19 pm
This column is being compiled in a secret lair in suburban Detroit while Friday Fox Follies is midway through a 3,000 mile road trip disguised as a Fox Fact Finding Mission.
Nope. Fox “News” is still relatively fact free.
For example: Fox Invites Disgraced Oliver North To Claim His Iran-Contra Scandal Was Better Deal Than Obama’s Iran Deal, while Fox’s Regan And Bolton Promote Right-Wing ‘Iran Ransom’ Baloney. Wait! What? Stop the Presses! Did Donald Trump Just Admit He Was — Gasp — Wrong?! This as Cable News (Except Fox) Increasingly Using On-Air Graphics To Combat Trump’s Lies.
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However, the story that Trump’s wife facing questions about her own immigration history is getting a YUGE pass at Fox as Megyn Kelly, Howard Kurtz gawk at ‘totally overblown’ Melania Trump nude-photos-visa-fraud allegations. We’ve learned Melania Trump May Have Committed Visa Fraud, Now She’s Flat Out Lying About It, which must be why — once again — Trump Attacks Immigrants Not Married to or Working for Him: ‘We’re Dealing with Animals’. When Gary Johnson Hilariously Trolls Donald Trump By Offering Melania ‘A Path To Citizenship’, one wonders How immigrants like Melania Trump became white. Meanwhile, as the week ends as Trump Shattered As Legal Request Made For Melania Trump’s Immigration Records, as Jason Easley writes:
If it turns out that Mr. Tough on Immigrants Build The Wall’s wife was an illegal immigrant, it will kill what is left of Trump’s wilting presidential campaign. It was telling that Trump rambled on for nearly an hour in Maine today, but he did not utter a single word about his wife’s immigration status.
Just like Donald Trump’s tax returns, it [sic] Melania Trump’s immigration records are made public; the world will see that Donald Trump is a hypocrite and a fraud.
You’ll hear a lot more about this story in the coming week. Just not on Fox. That might explain why Donald Trump Blames CNN For His Hiding From All Media But Fox News and What’s Behind Donald Trump’s New Local TV Interview Strategy.
THE TRUMPET SECTION: As Donald Trump appears to meltdown before our very eyes it gets harder and harder for Fox “News” to find ways to defend him. But the English language is malleable if you’re looking to avoid truth. Hence:
Media Left Stunned By The Stupidity Of Fox News Watching Zombie Trump Supporters • Fox News On Cleanup Duty In Trump Aisle ‘Purple Heart†• On Fox, Trump Economic Advisor Steve Moore Defends Tax Reductions For Top One Percent • Fox’s Trish Regan Attacks Moody’s After It Slams Trump’s Economic Plan • Trump Just Flipped Out On Fox And Claimed He Knows More About Foreign Policy Than Obama • Mike Huckabee Revives Obama Birtherism: “Why Don’t We Talk About Obama’s College Transcript?” • Fox Analyst And Trump Adviser Has Confidence In Trump’s Foreign Policy Expertise Because “We Looked At Maps”
None of that is from The Onion.
KHAN JOB: Donald Trump can’t stop shooting himself in the foot. His attack on a Gold Star family reverberated for days on end, so naturally Fox Hilariously Asks Why Benghazi Wasn’t Covered Like Khan Speech. What’s so funny about Fox’s Fumbled Response To Khan Speech: Why Wasn’t Benghazi Covered Like This? is that it demonstrates the fact that if Fox didn’t have False Equivalency they’d have none at all.
Even tho’ Donald Trump’s “Repulsive†Attacks On The Khan Family Condemned Across The Spectrum, White Nationalists Love Trump’s Attacks On The Khan Family: “God Bless Donald Trump,†Deport The Khans. Here are some more of The Right-Wing Figures Defending Trump’s Attacks On The Khan Family.
Trump vs. Khan: How Smearing Everyday Americans Became A Right-Wing Media Tradition, so it’s a bit of a surprise that Donald Trump’s “Repulsive†Attacks On The Khan Family Condemned Across The Spectrum, while the Media Slam The Republican Leaders Disavowing Trump’s Feud With Khans But Not Rescinding Their Endorsements, as Politico Magazine [says]: Trump’s Attacks On Khan Family May Be His “McCarthy Moment,†From Which He May Not Recover.
So, who at Fox defended Trump? Step right up, Milkshake Buddy:
O’Reilly: ‘I Don’t Think Trump Meant Any Malice’ When He Smeared Khizr And Ghazala Khan • O’Reilly Floats Conspiracy Theory That Khan Was “Obviously Hired By the Clinton Campaign†• Bill O’Reilly: Khizr Khan’s Convention Speech Was “Contrived,” And “Orchestrated” • O’Reilly Sympathizes With Trump Over Khan Backlash Because He’s A ‘Well-Fed Slaves’ Media Victim, Too:
Trump began by calling President Obama, “the worst president maybe in the history of our country.” He added, “I believe I know far more about foreign policy than he knows.†Trump actually cited Ukraine as an example – which was another of Trump’s major gaffes of late.
O’Reilly thoughtfully didn’t mention it.
Nor did O’Reilly have a question about what Trump was getting at when he said, “Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing, frankly if we actually got along with Russia?†Trump went on to say that he wanted to get together with Russia to “knock the hell out of ISIS.†But there are plenty of reasons his statement should concern most Americans, coming as it does in the wake of Trump’s traitorous “joke” urging Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s email server and questions about his murky connections to the country.
But O’Reilly let that one go, too.
Because he’s not objective when it comes to Trump.
Who else defended Trump? Oh, lookie here, it’s Scammity who never revealed where all the money went for his Freedom Concerts to raise money for veterans went:
Fox’s Hannity Suggests Trump Is Being “Targeted” By Khan Family Because They Want Sharia • Sean Hannity Attacks Father Of Fallen U.S. Soldier After Speaking At Democratic National Convention • Hannity Tries To Defend Trump By Suggesting Khan Family Are Radical Islamicists • Hannity Makes His Own Bigoted Attack On Gold Star Father Khizr Khan
Who else? On Fox, Trump Chairman Goes Unchallenged Pushing False Claim That Clinton And Obama Are To Blame For Capt. Khan’s Death • Trump Ally Roger Stone Promotes Double Agent Smears Against Deceased Capt. Khan And His Family
Make no mistake, the lower Trump goes into the gutter, the more backbreaking it will be for Fox to bend over and pull him out.
A CURVY COUCH CORRECTION: When Fox & Friends Criticizes Other Networks for Not Covering Pat Smith RNC Speech. There’s Just One Problem. Which is why Fox Host Admits Fox Didn’t Carry Benghazi Convention Speech Live After Blaming Other Networks. Who had Egg on Face: Brian Kilmeade Admits Fox News Didn’t Carry Benghazi or Khan Speech. Read-a-long:
This is typical of Fox News, inventing news, demanding to know why nobody is talking about a problem they invented, and then dismissing the fuss they created without an apology.
Instead of simply admitting his network carried neither speech, Kilmeade should have shame-faced apologized for creating a firestorm about nothing. This is just another example why the word “news†does not belong in Fox News.
Yet, Fox and Friends Refuses to Apologize for Getting Khizr Khan Speech Story Completely Wrong, as opposed to that mild correction.
Don’t know where else to put this:
Death of San Diego police officer
brings a smile to Steve Doocy’s face
I GOTCHER VOTER FRAUD RIGHT HERE: It’s been proven that Voter Fraud is a myth, but to Donald Trump a myth ith ath good ath a mile.
Days After Conspiracy Theorist
Asked Him To, Trump Worries
“The Election Is Going To Be Riggedâ€
On O’Reilly, Trump Pushes Debunked
Right-Wing Media Voter Fraud
Myth To Support Voter ID Laws
Trump’s Allies Already Blaming
Republican Establishment For His Defeat
Donald Trump Denounced After Saying
“The Election’s Going To Be Riggedâ€
President Obama Calls Trump’s Theory
That Elections Will Be Rigged “Ridiculous”
This kind of talk is par for the gold-plated golf course owner, but it’s dangerous all the same. For Fox “News” to help Trump delegitimize the election is nothing short of journalistic treason. If there is violence when (not if) Trump loses, it’ll hang around the Fox “News” neck.
BULLY BOY BOLLING: I used to make fun of Eric Bolling almost daily. It was so easy it got boring.
Fox’s Bolling: “Where Are The Reparations
For The Officers Who Are Killed?”
Fox Host: Trump Needed To Call Clinton
“The Devil” To Get Off Of Khan Issue
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE (CO-HOST): New nickname, sort of doubling down on the “Crooked Hillary.” What do you think? Is the messaging working?
ERIC BOLLING (CO-HOST): I think he needed to do that. He needed to get off the Khan issue and I think that’s a good way to do it — call her the devil.
GUILFOYLE: Who does it help him with?
BOLLING: Everyone. The media. Now we’re talking about this. We’re opening with this instead of talking about the back and forth with the Khan family, which I think spot-on is what he needed to do.
Fox’s Bolling: Presidential Debates
Overlap With NFL Games Because
Most Fans Are “Right-Wingers”
Fox’s Eric Bolling Reprimands GOP
Congressman For Not Supporting Trump
It’s still pretty easy.
JABBA THE AILES: FFF predicted last week this story would continue to drip, drip, drip . . .
Laurie Dhue’s Lawyer Slams Fox’s Probe
Into Roger Ailes Harassment Claims
Fox News Sexual Harassment Inquiry
Is Said to Look at What Others Knew
Five Lessons from FOX News and
Trump on Sexual Harassment
Is 21st Century Fox Trying To Cover Up The
Cover Up Of Fox News Sexual Harassment?
Bombshell Report Paints A Picture
Of Knowledge And Cover Up Of
Ailes Sexual Harassment At The Top
What’s Next at Fox News, With
Ailes Out and Murdoch In? Read:
Fox News’s raison d’être was to fill a void that conservative-leaning viewers sensed in the mainstream media. That guiding philosophy has provided a steady compass, and a lucrative revenue stream, as its competitors have struggled with their own paths.
That could provide a strong argument against drastic change, especially for the elder Mr. Murdoch, who is by all accounts enjoying his new role running the network and is saying he won’t rush into picking a successor to Mr. Ailes. It seems a near certainty that he will stay through the election.
With Mr. Murdoch at the helm, the network covered Hillary Clinton’s convention in Philadelphia with all the skepticism you’d expect. It didn’t show the speech of Khizr Khan, the Muslim father of a fallen American soldier. Then, there was Bill O’Reilly’s aside that the slaves who built the White House, whom Michelle Obama referred to in her prime-time address, were “well fed†and adequately housed.
That said, Fox News’s audience tends to be older, which is why executives there indicate that the family views its younger prime-time star, Megyn Kelly, as an important part of its future. Her appeal extends to the core Fox News viewer as well as to those with more mainstream news tastes.
Mr. And Mrs. Roger Ailes’ $500,000 Donation To A Senior Center Not Appreciated – And They Didn’t Take It Well • Roger Ailes And The Rampant Misogyny That Fuels Fox News • On CNN, Margaret Sullivan Says Sexual Harassment “Is Pervasive At Fox” And Requires “A Culture Change There” • Amid Ailes Scandal, Trump Tells Fox Contributor Women Harassed At Work Should Find “Another Career Or … Company†• Megyn Kelly’s Sigh Says It All In Response To Donald Trump Jr’s Claims about Sexual Harassment • Donald Trump says he hopes daughter ‘would find another career’ if sexually harassed
However, if you thought there would be any changes to the Right Wing Slant on Fox, have I got a candidate for you!
Murdochs say the positioning of Fox
News won’t change with new leadership
After Ailes, The Show Goes
On At Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel During The Conventions:
On-Air Success, Off-Air Crisis
What is feminist hero Susan Estrich
doing representing Roger Ailes?
This story ain’t going away any time soon.
CLINTON CONTEST: FFF is still trying to find a positive Hillary Clinton story on Fox:
Trump Advisor Gets A Friendly Fox Platform To
Repeat His Call For Hillary Clinton To Be Shot
Bolton did make a stab at fairness by adding, “But obviously there are many who would say ‘Listen, she went and she answered questions in front of Congress, and the matter is settled.’â€
But that was little more than a way for Bolton to feign balance when, in reality, she had opened the door for Baldasaro to repeat his call for murder without any pesky interruption from her.
BALDASARO: She’s above the law. The matter may be a settled with the FBI and the protection from Obama, and the attorney general, but the American people are smarter than you think. I hear it all the time in my district. They said “Al, you say things that I only wish I could say.†So, I stand by what I said. I never said she should be assassinated. What I said be—she should go in front of the firing squad for treason. What that means to the slow people is that you gotta be found guilty.
And how did Bolton respond to this inexcusable talk?
By saying, “Alright.†Bolton even gave an appreciative little laugh as she said it.
Our operators are standing by.
PASSAGES:
‘American Sniper’ Spouse Taya Kyle Named Fox News Contributor
WHITE ON BLACK CRIME:
Four White Women On Fox Refuse
To Consider Why #AllLivesMatter
Is Offensive To African Americans
MEN ON WOMEN CRIME:
Fox’s Olympics Preview Includes 2 Men
Discussing Makeup On Female Athletes
MARK SIMONE: The whole point of the Olympics, the whole reason for this training, for this work to get there is product endorsement. Cosmetic companies, you’re opening up a ton of revenue for product endorsement. It’ll be great for every athlete in the future.
BO DIETL: I think when you see an athlete, why should I have to look at some chicks zits or some guys zits on his face, why not a little blush on her lips and cover those zits. I like to see a person, wins that gold medal, go up there and look beautiful.
[…]
SIMONE: You put on makeup to be on television in front of a few million people, you’re going to be seen by a billion people. Put on some make up.
DIETL: Look how beautiful you are. You got make up. What do you look like when you crawl out of bed in the morning. I’d rather have you now.
SPIN ZONE: When Bill O’Reilly says he’s looking out for you, he means Trump.
Can You Think of Anything More Horrifying Than a Children’s Book by Bill O’Reilly? • Help this man call Bill O’Reilly a b***h by donating to his GoFundMe • Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly Analyzes Donald Trump’s Campaign Problems • Slavery was no Walk in the Park, Mr. Bill O’ Reilly! • O’Reilly: “Iran Wanted To Be Bribed, And I Believe We Did Bribe Them†• Bill O’Reilly: USA Today Is “On A Jihad” Against Donald Trump • Gawker Is Filing to Unseal the $10 Million Lawsuit Bill O’Reilly Wants to Keep Secret:
Judges routinely permit both plaintiffs and defendants to seal individual filings, often for reasons of protecting trade secrets or either party’s personal privacy. It is highly unusual, however, for a judge to order the sealing of civil case’s entire docket. Because Gawker’s own filings fall under Mahon’s sealing order, we cannot publish any of them.
Astonishingly, Mahon did not offer any legal reasoning, at least in any publicly available filing, for approving O’Reilly’s far-reaching sealing motion. In other words, he seems to have endorsed the logic of O’Reilly’s original petition. At best, that means he believes O’Reilly and McPhilmy’s private separation agreement overrides the public’s access to court records. At worst, that means he believes O’Reilly is entitled to sue a private citizen in total secrecy, simply because the lawsuit would invite attention to himself, and thus his children.
Fame does not grant a litigant the license to a closed courtroom, nor to bring a $10 million lawsuit against another person, famous or otherwise, within it. Accordingly, Gawker Media officially filed a motion to intervene and vacate Mahon’s order on July 26. O’Reilly’s attorneys have until August 17 to respond.
CHERRY-PICKING THE POLLS:
With Clinton Destroying Trump in Polls, Fox Finds a Silver Lining
Donald Trump Will Lose Because Of Donald
Trump – Not Nonexistent Voter Fraud
Republicans Devastated As Fox News Poll
Shows Hillary Clinton Leading Trump By 10
Pro-Trump Super PAC Co-Chair And
Fox Contributor Says Trump Is
“Making The Case Against Himself”
Fox’s Greta Van Susteren Questions
Her Own Networks’ Poll Showing
Hillary Clinton Beating Trump
SCAMMITY: Last week FFF had a report of an incoherent meltdown after someone told the truth about Sean Hannity. Well, it happened again:
Hannity Rips WSJ Journalist on Twitter
After Being Called Fox’s ‘Dumbest Anchor’
Scarborough & Hannity Can Run
From their Trump Boosterism, But
they Shouldn’t be Allowed to Hide
Hannity’s Advice to Trump: Stay Focused
and Stop Attacking Fellow Republicans
Hannity Suggests GOP Surrogates Should
Smear Khizr Khan On Trump’s Behalf
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT’S DUE:
Fox’s Kilmeade: Trump Made A
“Terrible Move†By Not Endorsing
Paul Ryan In His Primary Race
Karl Rove’s Response When Asked If He’s
Voting Trump: ‘I’m Just Not There Yet’
FOX BYTES: Hillary Clinton Tells Chris Wallace Her Mother ‘Was A Big Fox Viewer’
Headly Westerfield hopes he will be sleeping in his own bed before the next Friday Fox Follies is due.
