Col. Ralph Peters quit as a Fox News contributor because he has become alarmed by the network’s shift away from conservatism and into Trump propaganda.
Buzzfeed obtained the email that Peters sent to colleagues explaining why he quit.
Peters wrote in part:
I feel compelled to explain why I have to leave. Four decades ago, I took an oath as a newly commissioned officer. I swore to “support and defend the Constitution,” and that oath did not expire when I took off my uniform. Today, I feel that Fox News is assaulting our constitutional order and the rule of law, while fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers. Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association. Now I am ashamed.
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In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration. When prime-time hosts–who have never served our country in any capacity–dismiss facts and empirical reality to launch profoundly dishonest assaults on the FBI, the Justice Department, the courts, the intelligence community (in which I served) and, not least, a model public servant and genuine war hero such as Robert Mueller–all the while scaremongering with lurid warnings of “deep-state” machinations– I cannot be part of the same organization, even at a remove. To me, Fox News is now wittingly harming our system of government for profit.
As a Russia analyst for many years, it also has appalled me that hosts who made their reputations as super-patriots and who, justifiably, savaged President Obama for his duplicitous folly with Putin, now advance Putin’s agenda by making light of Russian penetration of our elections and the Trump campaign. Despite increasingly pathetic denials, it turns out that the “nothing-burger” has been covered with Russian dressing all along. And by the way: As an intelligence professional, I can tell you that the Steele dossier rings true–that’s how the Russians do things.. The result is that we have an American president who is terrified of his counterpart in Moscow.
Fox News responded to Peters’ claims with a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, “Ralph Peters is entitled to his opinion despite the fact that he’s choosing to use it as a weapon in order to gain attention. We are extremely proud of our top-rated primetime hosts and all of our opinion programing.â€
One can disagree with Ralph Peters’ description of Fox News’ role in the Obama years, but everything he wrote about the shift at Fox News is true. The network has abandoned conservatism and is part of a self-reinforcing Trump feedback loop. The president is a Fox News junkie who watches the network day and night, so Fox is now the channel that plays to Trump’s ego and repeats his propaganda 24/7.
Ralph Peters had it right. Fox News is harming the country for profit. There is no ideology at work at Fox anymore. Fox News no longer pushes their fantasy conservative version of America. Instead, Fox is the home of Sean Hannity and Fox and Friends the two biggest Trump propaganda programs on US television.
MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show has become the number one program on cable news because it discusses the facts of the Russia scandal and the Trump presidency. Fox News has fallen behind Maddow and MSNBC because, at a time when Americans are craving truth, Fox decided to become Trump propaganda.
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
