Dan Rather Denounces Fox News For Being ‘State-run Media’

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather has denounced Fox News as “state-run media” according to a new article in The Daily Beast.

In the article Rather refused to say that Trump had done a worse job than George W. Bush, indicating that it was a tough call.

“I’m going to duck that question — and I’ll tell you straight-up, I’m ducking it — because I really haven’t thought of it in those terms,” Rather said, adding:

“I do agree that with the George W. Bush presidency, No. 1, going into Iraq was a strategic mistake of historic proportions, and that combined with the economic crash, those two things happening under his watch, drag heavily down his standing.”

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“But the reason I’m taking a pass on the question is because we’re not finished with the Trump presidency.”

“George W. Bush had two terms, and there were things you could point to — attacking AIDS in Africa, for example — that were good. President Trump has just passed two years of his first term, so we need to see the Trump years, however short or long they turn out to be, in their totality.”

Fox New Has Become State-run Media

Fox News helped Bush’s reputation among conservatives during his presidency, and supported him even as his approval rating plummeted among a majority of American voters. And now, Rather said, Fox News has gotten even more partisan and misleading during the Trump years.

“It’s a fact: This is the closest we have come to having state-run media,” Rather said. “If someone wants to argue, ‘Well, it’s not state-run media’ — which it virtually is — it’s certainly the closest we’ve ever come in this country to having a state-run media, a straight-up propaganda outlet.”

He said even though Fox did employ a few quality journalists, such as Chris Wallace, their opinion programs have served as vehicles for Trump’s propaganda. Especially egregious in terms of blindly supporting Trump and repeating his lies are Sean Hannity, Jeanine Pirro, and Tucker Carlson.

“If you look at it on the whole,” Rather said, “particularly their primetime programming, you have the beginnings of a state-run media. I think it’s beyond that. By any objective analysis, this is by far the closest we’ve come to Radio Moscow.”

Dan Rather is Correct: Fox News Is a Propaganda Channel for Trump

As Donald Trump tells more lies every day, he is backed up by Fox News and his obsequious anchors who spread his falsehoods and misinformation.

If we are to lose our democracy and become an autocratic state it will be due to the corrosive influence of media outlets such as Fox that are no better than Radio Moscow.

Donald Trump aspires to be a dictator like Vladimir Putin who has stolen his country’s assets for his personal enrichment.

Donald Trump presents a clear and present danger to American democracy, and so does his state-run media outlet, Fox News.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.