Never thought I’d see a Fox News contributor quit over false claims peddled by their colleague, much less their erstwhile Dictator-in-Chief.
Kudos to Mr. Wallace and others for having the temerity to do the right thing for a change.
118
As an outsider, I was sort of intrigued by the word of 'DOMESTIC' in the Oath to Defend the US Constitution.
'I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.'
The event of January 6, roughly foreshadowed by a 38-page PowerPoint, enacted by a cabal of the like of Mark Meadows, Jeffrey Clark, John Eastman, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell among others; mouthpieces at Fox News and those willing participants in the riot make it perfectly clear to me what the words 'DOMESTIC enemies' mean in the oath.
It's safe to put aside Russia, China, Iraq or other countries for the time being. For the most danger for America as a country, at present, is from within.
177
Cut to the chase, subpoena Trump, and record every lie (under oath) he adds to his 35,000 lies already tallied by the Washington Post.
99
Kind of ironic that Tucker Carlson claims that January 6 is being used as a pretext to strip millions of Americans of their core constitutional rights when, in reality, Trump’s lies about massive voter fraud are being used to do just that through new restrictive voting laws.
169
Let’s see… Trump loses on turning over his tax records… Mark Meadows, et Al, are being indicted for contempt of Congress… The New York AG and the fed prosecutors are zeroing in on the Trump Org and its alleged misdeeds…Fox News’ troika has been outed — finally. Don’t forget the Georgia vote tampering investigation…And 70 million “Americans” still love this guy? Please.
131
The FCC should be on this, questioning Fox News personalities, holding hearings and trying to determine whether Faux News should be stripped of its broadcasting license.
123
Fox News and Trump were running a tv serial seen by millions. Literally “The TrumpShow”. The ratings were great, and the star kept feeding the scripts. Only thing, it was canceled because many viewers saw Trump was just a C list actor with poor make up and a greedy vicious camera profile. Fox News covered or praised him, but in reality they were used just like his base.
He brought in the money, but their souls? Tsk tsk tsk, gone.
48
Didn’t a journalist just lose his job for interfering in the story they were reporting?
36
Why wouldn’t the Committee subpoena these three and make them testify publicly, under oath?
59
Isn’t it time for tv providers to have standards for what they air? Like Twitter and Facebook, they need to replay form bad actors.
27
Chris Cuomo lost his job and book deal because he, a newsperson, used information he had gained as a newsperson to try to help his brother out politically, thus crossing the line that is supposed to separate covering the news and shaping or making it.
And Fox “news” people (Hannity, Kilmeade and Ingraham) did the same thing regarding Jan. 6. Interesting, too, that the messages they sent to Meadows about the Jan. 6 riot clearly show how dangerous they knew the riot’s potential to have been.
But apparently Fox didn’t report their actions, and its coverage certainly did not reflect the danger its own personnel clearly understood the riot posed.
70
Fox never was a “news” organization, but it has now evolved into a propaganda machine that rivals propaganda media in countries ruled by autocrats: China, Russia, Turkey, etc. Rather than supporting democratic ideals, Fox is undermining democracy with the implied intent of fomenting a civil war. If that happens the Fox bloviators are not going to be protected anymore.
102
If Trump truly thought antifa and the left were responsible for the Jan. 6th insurrection, he would have done the same thing he did for his photo op in front of St. John's Church and called in forces complete with tear gas. He knew who was out there and why, and that he had put it into motion.
As for Fox News, didn't they realize there was a 99% chance Trump was watching them? Why didn't they try to appeal directly to him on the air? Oh, right, they had their image to think of, not the country.
124
Now that it has been revealed that the loyal Fox troika of Hannity, Ingraham and Kilmeade were desperately trying to get Mark Meadows to convince President Trump to call off the violent mob once they breached the Capitol, two things are brought into a clear field of vision:
1) It is now proven that these three Fox hosts have mislead and lied countless times since January 6th, as they seek to rewrite history; and
2) It is now proven that much of Fox News views itself as having a vital disinformation and propaganda function of Mr. Trump's envisioned royal court, rather than a serious, independent journalistic enterprise providing an important oversight of a democracy.
150
@Mark Keller
3) None of this will matter one whit to the people that put their loyalty to Trump over their loyalty to their country.
35
@Mark Keller
How does the FCC continue to allow Fox "Views" to operate as a legitimate news organization? They long ago abandoned all journalistic integrity (if they ever had any).
47
If you think Fox news is bad, wait until Trumps new media organization gets on air.
39
Investigating Committee should subpoena Fox “news” blowhards Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham.
73
The Fox News hosts saw what the vast majority of people I know saw on January 6: Trump-prompted insurrectionists violently attacking the Capitol. For a moment I felt reassured knowing these Fox hosts saw the truth of what was happening on January 6. Then I saw how quickly they changed their tune, churning out on-air falsehoods about the nature and instigator of the attack on the Capital. Yet another dereliction of duty by Fox News.
80
@Margaret Yeah, and in real life, they are all also quietly vaccinated - even though you wouldn't know it from what they say on air.
43
The Right side fumbled and the Left side is fumbling.
Is there some way to get a good pass down the Middle?
13
@john Must be the same, trying to overthrow the government and protecting it. Let´s play football, I guess
4
@Hermès --If only both sides could play by the rules.
5
Exactly how is the left side fumbling? The right side is lying and the left side is trying to implement solutions, despite enormous challenges- like the pandemic and right- wing corruption.
76
The “Propaganda Arm” (Fox “News”) of the Republican Party, Trump, and Republicans in general weren’t really concerned with the safety of others or preserving our long held sacred Democracy, they were more concerned about revealing to the United States citizens the true nature and under-pinnings of modern day Republicans.
24
Fox knew who had the influence over the insurrectionists. that is why they called the White House. the police could not stop it. the guards in the Capitol could not stop it. Fox knew who had the influence over the insurrectionists.
41
@john boeger Fox knew who had influence over the insurrectionists and called the White House--because they also knew who had influence over the president. He was sitting there watching their station at the time. Scary.
18
This channel should be forced to remove the noun, ‘news’ from its name. It isn’t, nor are the bobbleheads who appear on it.
61
Fox was also promoting the false theory that the people attacking the capital were actually Antifa. They have proven to be utterly shameless. And it is working for them.
45
My goodness they are hero’s, telling Trump’s chief of staff to get Trump to stop the riot and save American democracy while lying about the riots at the same time and spending four years encouraging his base’s hatred through false conspiracy theories.
36
The GOP won't pay for the insurrection just as they won't pay for the potential destruction of all civilized life on earth. Republicans don't get called out for their efforts to undermine the common good to secure their power for the same reason the old Seattle Seahawk legion of boom did not get called for a foul on every play. The referees have to let the game go on at some point. The GOP's shift to over the top unethical power seeking for its own sake, and we don't give Dick Cheney enough credit for how far our country has fallen, was not covered because mainstream reporters can't explain in simple terms what the republicans are up to. They can't describe the real intents and outcomes of their policies. They will sound like they are writing for a socialist weekly if they accurately describe Mitch McConnell's policies' effects on his working class constituents. So instead for 30 years they covered the horse race and the personalities. Now we are all shocked to find out the time to stop the climate crisis was twenty years ago. If only someone would have told us.
21
I wonder if Chris Wallace saw this revelation coming when he abruptly announced his decision to resign two days ago? The timing couldn't be more suspicious...
25
Or auspicious….
10
Fox personalities tried to sell a narrative that they knew was false. I feel sorry for people that continue to listen to them, they are being grossly misled.
24
Just checked Fox News website...crickets on these text messages. After all the coverage of Chris Cuomo "helping" his brother, there is no mention of their hosts attempting to help Trump. Journalistic standards are for others. Fox is a dangerous echo chamber for our country and democracy.
80
“Destroying his legacy “? Ha!
45
If Fox 'News' isn't really News, that's false advertising, isn't it? Shouldn't legitimate news organizations be able to sue them? False Advertising. Unfair Competition.
28
@Allan YES!
15
@Allan
I believe they all claim to be entertainers.
8
If media personalities are advising Trump or others, can’t they also be subpoenaed to testify? Free press covers reporting and investigating public events, but what is the standard when the media are part of the planning and execution of a strategy. I’d love to hear from the NYT on this question.
22
Just because Fox News is entertainment and not a real news station doesn’t mean they have no culpability for the chaos they promote.
56
@Deirdre
SCOTUS will disagree with that.
2
"“This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”
Nope….he was cementing it.
84
Fox is not a news organization. It's state TV for the right, and especially for Trump (same
goes for Newsmax, OAN, Sinclair, etc.).
Congress has to pass laws that regulate propaganda networks posing as news outlets. They're responsible for the mess we're in.
Lies and obfuscation are no substitute for truth and news.
83
@L, True on all counts. That said, it takes two to tango. Fox News is pushing those junks because its audience wants it - no, its audience LOVES it - that's why they keep saying more and more outrageous things for a crazed crowd.
It says something about how foolish and dangerous a good half of this country has been, in their ardent support of the likes of Trump and Hannity and Limbaugh (thank goodness he's six feet under now, even if it's bad form to speak ill of the dead, Limbaugh would not have it any other way, no doubt).
19
@L Fox is not for the "right". it is for the "wrong".
13
No, Ms. Ingraham. He is not destroying his legacy. trump was burnishing his legacy to the world as a macho strong man in the mold of Putin, Xi, Erdogan and Kim - is favorite.
"So how were officials not prepared?" - Good question Mr. Hannity. Could it be that it was planned that way - so the Capitol police were effectively disarmed, National Guard and the military held back until the coup take over complete?
67
When Ms. Ingraham said "This is making us look bad", it was clear she was referring to the combined efforts of Fox and the insurrectionists to overturn the election results.
49
As to the incestuous relationship between FOX News and the GOP?
There used to be the "Fairness Doctrine." To prevent a media conglomerate from using propaganda to espouse nakedly partisan content without an immediate rebuttal from the opposing view.
But, much to the delight and profit of FOX, other imitators and the GOP, it was suddenly deemed obsolete and unnecessary during the Presidency of the "Great Communicator" Ronald Reagan.
Don't expect to see any attempt to re institute any form of a "Fairness Doctrine."
Because the truth has a "liberal bias!"
And the GOP's strategy is to say what they like and go unchallenged in real time. Alternative facts. Alternative reality.
Bad for educating voters. Bad for our country. Good for the GOP.
44
If Trump really thought Antifa was causing the Capitol riot, why did he let them continue for over three hours? Why not send in troops to deal with them?
86
@Caroline A
Because he didn’t. He knew exactly who it was.
25
The tentacles of this violent coup twist and turn through our government, uniformed personnel, media and large segments of the white population. I was especially chilled by one email sent from some sort of elected official to the White House the day after the insurrection that said We tried, sorry it didn’t work.
40
Who might that have been? I suspect we will find out.
11
No different than a person who shouts "Fire, Fire, Fire" in a crowded theatre and claims no responsibility for deaths of individuals trampled to death or injured, FOX News' personalities can't have it both ways. FOX News has been joined to the hip, inseparable as a co-conspirator to every lie and mischaracterization of Trump and Republican policy and propaganda, and illegal act from Jan 2017.
It's time to name names, reveal who said what and when, and in what context lies and promulgation of sheer nonsense and utter falsehoods of the "The Big Lie" spread and repeated by vacuous talking heads of Murdoch's propaganda machine. The text messages have sending sources, names associated with sends, and date/time stamps.
FOX ruined the lives of many people of January 6, 2021. Their repetition of lies on air and refusal to challenge the "stolen election" mantra from Trump and his Administration's collection of grifters and criminal cabal. People died. Blood was shed. People were injured/psychologically damaged by Jan 6 seditious conduct by the rabble encouraged by Trump and associates. Our democratic institutions were threatened to an extent not seen heretofore since the Civil War.
FOX is responsible for their conduct. Spare them NO mercy.
66
@Peter Vander Arend Our democracy is STILL in grave danger. They are still attacking, albeit in Republican stronghold states. They are passing laws allowing elected or appointed INDIVIDUALS to simply change the election results if they don't like them.
30
@Peter Vander Arend
Sean Hannity was one of several friends and family members who were able to call Trump's White House phone line directly through the switchboard operator. The two reportedly talked every day more than once. Fox has been part of Trump's administration in various capacities, public relations aka lying to Americans, advisory and general supporter in chief.
17
Trump called into Hannity’s show often. As creepy as that was, this should be no surprise. What I (and 1/2 the country) would like to know is….who did Trump talk to and text during this infamous 187 minutes of nothingness while the Capitol was under seige?
32
Donald Trump doesn’t email and he doesn’t text- he talks on the phone live- he doesn’t leave voice mails.
The reason everything went through mark meadows is so Donald Trump could deny involvement. See - no fingerprints - no physical trace.
Donald Trump leaves no digital trail which cannot be said for every single person who worked for him.
36
Unfortunately, when the Fox News commentators give misinformation to their audience, there is no price to be paid for their misleading "opinions". If their audience wants to believe in flying pigs and unicorns, that's what they'll get.
17
@G. A. Buckman Let's be honest. This was not "misinformation," this was DISINFORMATION." The first is merely incorrect. The latter is done with malevolent intent.
48
@goldenskyhook I think most Fox personnel are in denial.Tyey live in a bubble. They make a lot of money and “figure the rubes can figure out I am only kidding.” One day something will happen and they will have to live with the repercussions.
9
@C A Simpson - As you wrote, "One day something will happen and they will have to live with the repercussions."
Correction #1: "One day..." should be "Many times..."
Correction #2: "...and WE will have to live with the repercussions."
4
For the life of me I cannot understand why Congress does not take advantage of its inherent contempt powers. There’s even a prison cell in the Capitol building. Using the referral system will only result in delays that will produce nothing and run out the clock until the republicans regain the House.
This is an extract of a summary of the three options available to Congress in dealing with one who ignores a subpoena: "The long dormant inherent contempt power permits congress to rely on its own constitutional authority to detain and imprison a contemnor until the individual complies with congressional demands".
We must conclude that the democrats are afraid of Trump & the insurrectionists, or in league with Trump.
8
@Mr. Latham I suspect the Democratic congressional leadership is wary of using the dormant imprisonment option to combat contemptuous individuals because they wonder how a GOP-controlled congress might use it for themselves down the road.
7
'He is destroying his legacy' (?)
Sure, Ms. Ingraham has been awarded a Peabody & Sherman for journalism, but I humbly disagree with her declaration.
He is [solidifying] his legacy and it ain't pretty.
21
I think the committee should get Meadows phone records because the text messages and voice mail will show more details. Yes, the specific time frame is needed, but also find out that he used a personal computer while chief of Staff for Trump. Just as Clinton did the same as Department of State and got in trouble. Investigate Meadows use of Personal server he used.
17
@gpg22
Secretary Clinton was never using a personal computer during her tenure as SecState. She used a private email server located in her home and that was not illegal in 2009-2012. Republics in Congrease made that illegal in 2012 and Secretary Clinton was no longer in the Cabinet.
Hillary Clinton did not commit any crimes. Meadows is a criminal and will be referred to the DoJ for investigation and indictment today.
33
@gpg22
He actually had two email servers. One on Gmail and one that is encrypted. He also had another phone that he did official business on. So go after his emails.
18
This whole Trump mess demonstrates how numb to idiocy and malfeasance a normal person can become over time.
Republicans wanted to put Obama in prison for saying, "If you like your Dr., you can keep your Dr."
FOX Lying Heads are the consummate gaslighters. Now they want us to believe they're back peddling?
Trump should have been in prison long before he got into DC. Now they're concerned for his "legacy?" LEGACY!? Beam me up, Scotty! I can't take it anymore!"
48
Hey, the good news. Elizabeth Cheney is the ONLY statesperson on either side of the aisle. I'm a diehard Democrat but I would vote for her for president because she would restore integrity to the USA and is the only one who can unite the country.
14
Liz Cheney realizes that before it's over a very large percentage of the American electorate will vote to fix this fiasco. So, she is trying to preserve her dad's jacked up legacy. This sort of abuse of power did not ordinate with Trump. Just ask Edward Snowden?
5
Sure will be interesting to see what Republicans say about election integrity if they are successful in taking back control of the House in 2022.
13
These text messages from Fox hosts show more than a concern for Trump's legacy. The Big Lie was really that. They knew it then, yet they continue the Big Lie every night. It's not just partisanship. It's
evil.
39
How is anybody surprised by this? All of this coordination between Fox and the White House was open for all to see for years. It’s all a scam. They’re simply making as much money as they can , while they can. Everything else takes the back seat. Pretty sure they can’t believe their luck; they have this zombie audience that eats it up daily, and they are getting amazingly wealthy. At the nations expense.
33
In the past the Congressional Commerce committees have called Facebook and Twitter before them to answer questions about their harmful actions. Why hasn’t Mr. Murdoch been called yet? But in the meantime, contact your cable / satellite provider to take Fox News out of their basic package.
40
I ask the same question often in the context of Facebook constantly under attack in the news. Why isn’t legacy media, who is directly responsible for misinformation and radicalizing people, not being called out? Murdoch is all to happy to sick the dogs on Facebook instead. Where is the information people share on Facebook coming from? We’ve known the answer for over 20 years, since before Facebook was a thing.
15
Trump did act, he incited the protesters to become violent and commit destructive acts, thinking that they had the president's okay to do so.
Fox News was not part of the solution, they were part of the problem, and still are.
41
@BTO In fact, the protesters were promised pardons if they got into trouble. But, in the two weeks Trump had left, none were issued for them, although plenty of other pardons were.
So, he basically reneged on that promise, to his most loyal supporters. Who are going to jail. He seems to throw a lot of loyalists under the bus.
6
I am sure those Fox hosts were for the coup until the actual optics of a violent insurrection by sketchy, not particularly heroic-looking characters didn’t look so good to the general public
21
In the middle of this online article, the NYT headlined a summary of its coverage of the Jan 6 insurrection as: “Understand the U.S. Capitol Riot”
Ironically, Fox News reports invariably refer to the Jan 6 insurrection as a “riot.” If we cannot recognize the problem for what it is, we aren’t going to find a solution for it—especially have justice be served. In its 245-year history, the United States has had three violent uprisings that tried to unseat its legitimately elected government: the War of 1812, the Civil War (1861-1865) and the Insurrection of 2021.
Again, if we don’t recognize the gravity of Jan 6 in the context of this history, the former president will walk away with nary a slap on his wrist. It’s high time the Justice Department started issuing indictments at the highest levels of our government and put the Jan 6 insurrectionists on trial. We are not a tinpot dictatorship that jails its opponents, but we are still a democracy that follows the rule of law. Justice delayed is justice denied.
38
@Jack Nargundkar Most of those insurrectionists are still incarcerated, awaiting trial, and being investigated DEEPLY.
We want the CONSPIRATORS, including those elected officials who helped plan and facilitate the insurrection and attempted coup. Like it or not, such investigations, grand juries, indictments, charges and convictions take TIME. Look at somewhat similar cases, and see how long it took to get a conviction and actually put someone in prison.
I'm just as impatient as you are, but I'm also a realist.
13
Meanwhile Bannon’s trial is scheduled for next summer. Justice delayed is justice denied. Why so long? This is time sensitive.
50
I look at the Fox news website every couple days to compare and contrast. There's almost zero overlap between Fox news and actual news sites. Complete propaganda. They just don't report on all the horrible things Republicans have been caught doing. Little other than inner-city violence, BLM, and the squad. Fox news represents an imminent threat to our nation.
74
Stop "sugarcoating it" This was an "attempted Coup" against American Democracy. Trump, his co conspirators inside and outside the White House, the Congress and Fake Fox the "pants on fire liars' right wing propaganda network are all complicit. And, the Attempted Coup far right Coup against American Democracy has never stopped. The New Anti Democracy, Anti Voting, Anti people of color Voting laws that have passed in Republican controlled State Legislatures across this country, along with the installation of far right Trumpistas in Republican States, are setting up the 2024 elections for a potentially successful "legislative Coup" in favor of Trump if and when he loses the 2024 elections. Democrats and sane Republicans must pass Election and Democracy Reforms and Voting Rights legislation to block the inevitable cheating and future Coup attempts by Trump and Republicans.
29
This was a treasonous plot against the United States government and the peaceful transfer of power. It was concocted by Trump and assisted by certain White House advisors, staff and republican party allies in Congress.
This treasonous assault, even though the coup failed, succeeded in disrupting the orderly transfer of government authority. That is a crime that has to be prosecuted.
If a violent airline hijacking is foiled by passengers or air marshals you can better believe that the hijackers will be charged with a crime along with anyone else that helped plan or assisted in the crime.
I don't see the difference here.
These people, including Donald Trump, need to be charged for the crimes they committed and expelled one way or another from public life, permanently.
We have no place in our Constitution for some 4th branch of government with a huge power base that thinks they're all immune for their crimes, being lead by an ex President that thinks he's still immune and above any law whatsoever.
53
What Fox News is doing--spreading lies--should be illegal (it is in the United Kingdom, and that's why the Murdochs are HERE).
Frankly, I think what Fox "news" is doing IS illegal. The constitutional protections of the First Amendment do not protect what amounts to brainwashing vast segments of the public and fomenting hate, inciting violence. Certainly, Fox should NOT be allowed to call itself "Fox News" and go around parading itself as though it were in any way objective.
Like another reader here wrote: "Fox is the Trumpworld equivlent of Russia's Rossiya 1, Iran's Press TV, and China Central TV. Its message is always brainwashing. And unlike the weary and cynical audiences in those countries, the Fox devotees haven't a clue."
42
Rupert Murdoch should be subpoenaed and ultimately charged with an ongoing plot to destroy democracy.
44
I know we're all a bunch of boiled frogs who, at this point, just expect Fox to act as the propaganda arm of the Republican Party. But let's try not to be boiled frogs. Let's not just consider the content of these emails. Let's also ask: Why, in a crisis, are prominent members of a supposed NEWS network sending their ADVICE to the White House? They're supposed to be reporting the news, not making it.
43
@Mary Sweeney Hannity had regular nightly calls with Trump and was spotted on the campaign trail with him. Fox was nothing more than a state-run media network during the Trump administration.
11
Well, this is what those who making a living by profiting from hate do.
15
Along with the news that the Murdochs knew that the charges against the voting machine companies were false, this is a day for FOX that hopefully is the beginning of the end to one of the most tawdry episodes in American broadcasting history. Though they will no doubt continue to lie about it all, maybe the courts can fine the Murdochs for the damage caused to Dominion, etc. Otherwise, maybe the lawsuit against the Proud Boys can begin to bring some justice in that vein.
Biden’s DOJ should ramp up the prosecutions for treason and other high crimes once the January 6th panel has the information needed. People like Jeff Clark wouldn’t be pleading the 5th unless they knew it was possible to be indicted.
17
The funniest one is Laura Ingraham telling Trump he'll "destroy his legacy" by not calling off the Jan. 6 mob.
Au contraire, Laura - Jan. 6 was in perfect alignment with Trump's "legacy" of work on destroying democracy for his own ego and twisted personal interests.
46
Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade, Tucker Carlson. In every sense of the word they were, members at large of Trump's cabinet, so were they coordinating "stories"?
Freedom of the press does not mean working with the government to spread their message.
That is propaganda.
A real news organization would fire each and every one of the these "reporters".
31
Please stop calling Fox 'News'
Fox is a media company only interested in ratings and profit, the organization and it's presenters are not interested in being truthful, nor balanced. Carlson, Hannity, Ingraham don't deserve to be called reporters.
21
NPR referred to them as personalities today. No mention of news broadcasters.
17
@Vivi
as well: stop calling these folks on the extreme radical right wing :conservatives: Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan are turning over in their graves.
3
The saying "the lunatics are running the asylum" is a metaphor but not in this instance.
11
The texts look like they were legal 'cover' for these moral-less carnival barkers. Don't look at the texts!! Look at what they said online to the cultists who tune them in night after night. The Fox "news hosts" should be in prison awaiting trial under charges based on the 14th Amendment. Their cult viewers who have spread the lies online should lose their rights to vote, also under the 14th Amendment clauses.
7
If "Antifa" were anywhere near the organized group that FoxNews demonizes it to be, it should join Dominion in its $1.6 billion defamation suit against the Murdoch empire. The same verbal acrobatics and distortions of truth happen in the whiplash change of direction of Jan.6 reporting and is standard fare for these opportunists. Alienation and violence is their brand and they fan the flames of unrest every day.
Sadly, just trying to debunk the Antifa participation in the riot has cost me friendships and taints me as unpatriotic. Unsurprisingly, this distortion is part of their goal.
Fox made Trump from the get-go. Fox will do his bidding to the bitter end. So we must end Trump and Fox, before we can move forward.
11
@diezilla
Antifa is not a true organization which is why they probably won't join the lawsuit. Antifa is not an organization like BLM.
3
Isn't it a very big deal that Fox News hosts are in such active contact with a political campaign? As a media company, they're free to say what they want, but once they're coordinating with the campaign, isn't that a huge in-kind campaign donation? I wonder if there's any legal exposure there.
20
America was founded by white men who believed that non-whites -and women- were inferior to them. They also believed that white men entered government with the best intentions. They somehow forgot to put rules in place that would prevent dictator-wannabes like Donald Trump and the modern GOP from achieving power.
They were ignorant. And there's nothing standing between the authoritarians and the demise of American Democracy. They will win. America will fail.
4
@Pedalpower , there ARE rules in place. The (at the time) Republican controlled Congress just didn't abide by any of them and for some unknown reason, the Democrats don't seem to have the stomach to uphold the rules either. From the Emoluments at the very beginning of the Trump reign, to blown off subpoenas at TWO impeachments, the very culprits of this debacle have skated past any and all punishments and until people are held accountable, we won't see any resolution and things will only get worse.
6
Dereliction of duty by a President should forever bar him from seeking office again. Any office.
25
Actually, it appears he was adding to his legacy. For a normal person holding the highest office in the most affluent country in the world, an attack on its national Capitol would be heartbreaking. Not our boy Don, who has carved out a distinction among the world’s best-known psychopaths, post WW2.
24
When FOX is sued for false stories, their claim is that they are not a news organization, only an opinion entertainment network.
If they themselves say they are NOT a news organization, then they should not be allowed to sit in any news conferences, or daily briefings. At least should not be allowed to pose questions.
"Just read U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil's opinion, leaning heavily on the arguments of Fox's lawyers: The "'general tenor' of the show should then inform a viewer that [Carlson] is not 'stating actual facts' about the topics he discusses and is instead engaging in 'exaggeration' and 'non-literal commentary.' ""
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/29/917747123/you-literally-cant-believe-the-facts-tucker-carlson-tells-you-so-say-fox-s-lawye
7
“Our election, frankly, was a train wreck,” Mr. Hannity said. “Eighty-three percent, according to Gallup, of Republicans, and millions of others, do not have faith in these election results. You can’t just snap your finger and hope that goes away.”
Gee whiz. Why do you suppose those who are most likely to be Fox 'News' viewers do not have "faith" in our elections?
As Dana Carvey's character, Church Lady, might ask, "Is it Satan?"
14
Why should I have to sponsor, as part of my basic cable package, Fox's lies and attacks on democracy and public health?
41
If Cuomo can lose his gig at CNN over his involvement in his brother's fiasco, surely these dolts should lose theirs for participating, however obliquely, in January 6.
35
@Kristine Capitalism only cares about profits. Only government can regulate morality into Capitalism, and our current legislators have little interest in that.
3
Someone at Fox News in the HR Dept and Board of Directors tell me how Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, Charles Gasparino and the rest of the fake blonde women have not been fired? I would love to see next an interview of what exactly does the HR Dept do at Fox News?
13
...and yet not one of these hosts has publicly separated themselves from Trump or Trumpism. Not one of them has acknowledged that Trump.is exactly the kind of cancer that most Democrats and "Never Trump" Republicans had feared. For what, Supreme Court nominations? Cowards, every one of them.
25
It is clear that even Donald Jr. and Fox News folks were trying to get Trump to do the right thing for America. He essentially refused. If this doesn't bury any thoughts of his 2024 run, I can't imagine what would?
14
@Dan 'Do the right thing for America' What? Do you not think they would be high fiving each other if the inserection has succeeded? No, this will not bury thoughts of a 2024 run. The only thing that would bury that is Trump being literally buried.
2
So...83% of Republicans did not have faith in the previous election results? Ingraham, Hannity and Kilmeade, instead of being alarmed, should be patting themselves on the back.
Their lies were believed.
It is very easy to see where Trump came up with the term "fake news."
27
Fox News.
Now there's an oxymoron.
48
Wait! What, Fox "News" hosts acted, however briefly, acted responsibly?
This really, definitely, is News!
Never mind the rest of it, where they acted irresponsibly, that's certainly in the "dog bites man", not-news category.
10
Trump Junior had to go to Meadows to plead with his father to stop the insurrection?
Don Junior couldn’t text Trump directly?
Doesn’t Junior have his number?
37
@Bill bartelt Maybe Daddy wasn't taking his calls. Too busy glued to the TV watching the "best people" doing his dirty work for him.
14
@Bill bartelt
Don, Jr. is afraid to deal directly with his father. So, in true Trump fashion, he tried to get someone else to deal with him. Trumps are basically cowards along with all their other interesting traits.
10
What's striking to me is how the appeals have such a strong appeal to Trump's ego, rather than the utter lawlessness and depravity of the situation.
"He is destroying his legacy.”
"Destroying everything you have accomplished."
You can say this for these Fox toadies. They certainly know their audience.
28
These Fox hosts needed Trump to come to their rescue because footage of Trump supporters violently attacking police and invading the Capitol was pushing the envelope of their reality distortion machines.
11
It's funny what Hannity et al start saying when they are being honest.......or maybe not so funny.
3
I want to be alive on the day we hear lawyers whining "But Your Honor, Mr Murdoch is 91 YEARS OLD!!!"
16
Fox News talk show hosts are duplicitous, indeed they always were. And who on earth thought that Ingraham, or Kilmeade, or Hannity, or Carlson was a warrior for truth?
8
@Hari Prasad
Yes, warrior for truth for five seconds. That does not count. Get Meadows email accounts.
“This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.” - Ingraham
Spoken by the woman who later spewed her brand of garbage on-air to feed the lie.
When she says “all of us” she speaks of a specific demographic only.
“destroying his legacy”
What legacy Laura???
19
I ditto what Bill Roettker said. It is unethical for any journalist to be but impartial
3
This what is called talking out of both sides of your mouth. Lie, lie, lie, foment insurrection, "appeal to reason," lie some more. Then when it hits the fan, cite your "appeal to reason." Fox is a huge part of the cause of the demise of civil order that is in progress and accelerating.
10
Fox is the Trumpworld equivlent of Russia's Rossiya 1, Iran's Press TV, and China Central TV. Its message is always brainwashing. And unlike the weary and cynical audiences in those countries, the Fox devotees haven't a clue.
13
@POV I suspect the reason that the Fox audience hasn't gotten jaded is two fold. The first is with significant competition (CNN and MSNBC) that may not be doing better individually in the ratings still give Fox fans a way to feel that they are in a market of ideas. (And have backed the "right" one).
The second is that for those who feel Fox doesn't go far enough they can turn to OAN and such. Which "shows" that Fox is in fact reasonable. So, with those factors decided, it is time for their Tucker Carlson...and the rest of us have to try to discuss things with them afterwards.
It’s just “Fox.” They’re not a news agency. Or are we actually living in the book “1984?”
7
“Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home,” Ms. Ingraham wrote. “This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”
It's so telling that Ingraham links herself with Trump and Meadows ("This is hurting all of us"). Her "us" is not the American people, it's the right-wing community.
25
Fox News has long been irresponsible in it's coverage of the news. The network has been a mouth piece for the GOP for literally decades. So this latest revelation, if that's what one wants to call it, is really no revelation at all. People have known that Fox News is biased, and works behind the scenes to assist the Republicans whenever possible. At this echelon of politics everybody on all sides has something borderline illegal that they too have done at some point and time. So the unspoken agreement in Washington D.C. is that when you're in a glass house throw no stones. This is particularly true when criminal charges and jail are in play. Steve Bannon and Mark Meadows are about to have to walk the plank for Donald Trump. Imagine that for a minute, and realize the chance that both will ultimately rollover and turn on Trump. As the likelihood of jail time becomes all too apparent, all sides will be sweating bullets. The political theater and circular firing squad have taken their places. Stay tuned for the festivities.
5
the real point is they each sent a text to meadows after having already sent a text to trump - responses to which trump is stopping at nothing to keep hidden.
9
I agree with what Bill Roetger wrote. How do Fox News and the right-wingers justify their outrage at Chris Cuomo's role as adviser to former Governor Cuomo, when their hosts have advised former president Trump. It is unethical behavior for journalists of any stripe to be anything but impartial.
20
@preservationist Both things are not the same.
1
And it just keeps happening over and over again. Anyone who cuddles up or sides with trump - business people, politicians, women - all end up being embarrassed, scammed, or their careers ruined by just being associated with him.
These Fox people need to be fired and then investigated and charged. Zero sympathy for all of them.
18
They were worried he was hurting their collective brand. There you have it in plain sight.
9
If 83% of Republican think the election was stolen and that there is no election integrity then stop voting. That will show 'em.
7
They are the first to get vaccinated while downplaying the need to their viewers, or hawking Hydroxychloriquine to them. In real time they pleaded for help to stop the Trump mob, while telling their viewers the mob was Antifa later that night. Hannity and Inghram have made millions lying to their viewers and will never change. The scary thing is their viewers number in the 10’s of millions, and most of them have guns.
13
Our "news" system in the United States is totally broken and functioning in a way that is creating false narratives, and information asymmetries.
This is putting it lightly. Democracy dies in darkness.
If we, The People, do not insist that lie-spreading outlets like "Fox News," "NewsMax" and Facebook be regulated so that they cannot hide behind distortions of the First Amendment constitutional protections, we will not recognized the United States in a few years.
The First Amendment does NOT protect what Fox News is doing. It's whole game plan is to attract paying viewers to make huge profits for its owners & shareholders. And they've figured out that the more incendiary the narrative, the higher the ratings, and the greater the profits.
The so-called "news outlets" owe a duty to the public: to provide objective information and "the facts." This longtime experiment in "advocacy journalism" has been a disaster; without it, Trump would have never even been elected.
We MUST change our laws regarding how "news" is written and delivered. We must if we want to preserve our Democracy. The electorate needs ONE set of facts.
11
@ PA Fuller: An argument can also be made, that CNN either created or perpetuated the 24-hour news cycle.
Additionally, regardless of whether it was CBS, NBC or ABC who first decided their news departments should now garner ratings to create additional revenue began the slow but inevitable erosion of content for their evening newscasts. To be sure, there was also nightly commentary, but relegated to one person; first, Howard K. Smith at ABC, suceeded by Harry Reasoner when he joined the network; and the great Eric Severeid at CBS.
2
While not completely surprising, I am still disturbed by the fact that TV media personalities had a direct line to the leader of the free world. This speaks volumes about the priorities (and lack thereof) of a tv game show host president.
40
I go the fox news regularly and it paints a very disturbing view of America. Democrats need to forget about compromise to "bring everyone together " When people say move right because nobody will vote for a socialist they need to understand that it doesn't matter who the pick, anyone even Reagan, would be called a socialist. Democrats need to focus on their base and push universal healthcare and strong progressive policies.
18
Where is the Department of Justice? We need the attorney general and his prosecutors to act now.
Patriots don’t want criminals who participated in an effort to overturn the election in our midst.
Many of us are willing to use every legal power to stop them from trying again and that means taking them out of positions of power whether federal, state, or local seats of authority.
This is a conspiracy in plain sight that is attempting to end democracy.
22
@Steve Ell
A DOJ crackdown on conservative media? Are you really saying this?
Have you read the First Amendment?
Comments like this -- urging the criminalization of 1st Amendment activities such as journalism, and peaceful assembly to press Congress for the redress of grievances, even false grievances such as Trump's Stop the Steal claims, are the "conspiracy in plain sight" that we should really fear.
2
@Jorge
The first amendment does not protect dangerous lies. The texts prove the Fox hosts knew the insurrection was wrong and they believed Trump was in charge of it and could therefore stop it. One text referred to the situation getting out of control, implying Fox knew of a plan that was supposed to have been controlled, presumably by Trump. Fox hosts then tried to cover themselves by lying to the public about the attackers, claiming they were antifa. The first amendment does not protect conspiring to overturn an election.
4
@Free Range Beeing
A very strange reading of the Fox hosts' text to the WH, and a frightening misreading of our First Amendment.
"One text referred to the situation getting out of control, implying Fox knew of a plan that was supposed to have been controlled...".
Or maybe, just maybe, Trump et al planned to stage a peaceful, if loud, assembly to petition Congress to delay certification,and that protest rally was getting "out of control?"
1
the real question is whether the GOP will pay for the insurrection at the polls? Except for Biden's win and the Georgia US senate races, they never seem to suffer the electoral loses they should. Sadly it is a remarkable testimony to the ability to spin and corrupt and undermine the process.
13
For years, these publicity and money hungry pretenders played up the former president and his lies and they incited their viewers to join in the game.
On January 6th they discovered it wasn’t a game. It had run amok. They were helpless to stop it. And the former president ate it up. A big crowd. Violence. The former president sadistically watched and enjoyed it telling the insurrectionists to go home and we love you.
Who is included among the we? Every one contributed and should be indicted and tried. This was the definition of conspiratorial behavior. If found guilty, serious penalties should be applied.
18 U.S. Code § 2383 covers inciting rebellion or insurrection.
18 U.S. Code § 2384 covers sedition.
18 U.S. Code § 2385 covers advocating overthrow of the government.
More laws cover similar offenses and it doesn’t take a legal scholar to recognize that trump and so many others should be charged and that there is little question about their actions.
21
Fox News was relentless in its expressions of outrage because Chris Cuomo was advising his brother, the governor of New York, while simultaneously hosting a cable news show and not disclosing his role as an advisor to his brother. Now we learn that three Fox News personalities were advising the president while simultaneously hosting cable news shows without disclosing their roles. Who at Fox News has expressed outrage at this revelation?
69
@Bill Roettker Remember this is Fox news you are talking about with it's massive credibility gap....No lie is to big or small to air with zero retractions....I guess Chris Wallace finally got sick of it so there goes the "fair and balanced" portion of the news corp....
6
@Bill Roettker exactly my thought which I was just about to type when I read your comment.
2
This is great. I am so glad the people at Fox would weigh in and tell the President that he went to far.
6
Except they tell their viewers the opposite.
4
I always expected Chris Wallace to leave. I’m not sure why this specific incident was his breaking point, but better late than never.
20
@Mercury S His was the only show I watched on Fox. He will be missed.
4
Fortunately our friends at FOX subsequently realized those were just patriotic tourists interested in visiting the center of American Democracy.
19
What they say on their entertainment shows is not what they know to be fact.
26
@The Poet McTeagle Unfortunately many people watching them don't know that.
9
They are the worst of people, using their media platform to encourage insurrection, spread disinformation about vaccinations, and spread division and hatred throughout our country.
77
FOX News has always been consciously or unconsciously delusional (about Trump, right wing politics, radicalized white nationalists, etc ... they've enabled much of what has gone on since 2015 (and before), and I'm sure, if properly investigated, have committed criminal acts ... they were/are a BIG part of the problem and have never been part of the solution ...
13
@Carl I do not think there was much "delusion" for the management/power structure at Fox. They were just trying to make money, the only thing that matters to them is revenues.
10
@Anne Felosak What if, say, they were actually to become a real news organization ... could they compete and be profitable? Instead of recruiting a cult of uneducated, conspiratorialist, half-crazed, beyond right-wing, semi-violent, gun-toting, anti-vax suicidal, primate viewers.
1
Fox News hosts are a bunch of wealthy new yorkers who make their living warning viewers about the evils of the coastal elites.
I'm not shocked in the slightest what they say off camera is different than on.
If they practiced what they preached they'd be broadcasting out of the deep south.
27
@B D Duncan Even as someone who is from and still lives in the South, I agree with you. But check out a map that shows the U.S. in red counties. They’re everywhere.
6
@B D Duncan You forget it was Georgia that elected two Democratic Senators and gave the Dems a majority. Not all of us in the deep south are Trump supporters.
4
@Josh Yes, that’s the good news. I lived in Atlanta for many years before escaping the crime and traffic. Am proud of my home state for electing capable Democrats. Concerned that Abrams could have a tough race with Kemp or Purdue.
4
Their hypocrisy, lies and conspiracy theories are not only sickening and despicable but extremely dangerous.
Don't news channels need some kind of license from the FCC to operate as a news channel, in which case how can Fox, which is nothing more than a propaganda machine for the extreme far right, be allowed to continue!
15
@Bruce: Unfortunately, being a CABLE operation, FOX News is out of FCC jurisdiction.
1
@bruce FOX is registered as an entertainment site. They just use the word "news" to make believe to their viewers they are a news site.
2
The tragic (albeit wholly unsurprising) thing is that none of them were concerned in the least bit about the country, the Constitution, the rule of law, the peaceful transfer of power. They were worried about the “legacy” of the most corrupt and soulless president in our history.
38
Forget ‘corporate responsibility ’
Add a dose of Citizens United aka corporations are people
And indict the whole lot of them on criminal charges
Then shut them down when found guilty -
After sending them all to jail
11
No surprise. Not even Ingraham and the rest believe what they peddle to the public.
15
All of this: the burning dumpster of January 6, all of the preening Fox News sycophants—that whole detestable can of worms—goes to show what we got when we elected a third-string celebrity/snake-oil salesman to the highest office in the land. The more I hear, read, and see about all of this, the closer I am to being terribly afraid that not only am I too old to help mend my beloved country, but that it's beyond fixing.
18
@PM PM: I feel the same way. I am 74 and have participated in democratic activism for over 30 years and now to see it all wiped away is so depressing. But I too am too old now and it is now time for the younger generation who have so much to lose, to try and retain our democracy. If they don't and they probably won't, then they will get the country these deserve.
12
@Carolyn Crandall
Yup. I am almost 70. Time for the younger generation to protect our democracy (small d).
“Our election, frankly, was a train wreck,” Mr. Hannity said. “Eighty-three percent, according to Gallup, of Republicans, and millions of others, do not have faith in these election results. You can’t just snap your finger and hope that goes away.”
Not hard to believe after you and your fellow conspirators at FOX spread that false narrative to them over and over and over as though it was true.
Perhaps you should have some prison time for sedition Mr. Hannity and Friends!!!???
33
But I thought it was a false flag. Tucker lied? OMG!
7
Fake Newscasters revealed!
7
Fox screams in praise of itself that it is #1 and it is. Fox also rails against MSM as purveyors of lies.
Wouldn’t Being #1 make Fox MSM? Just asking.
11
This illustrates what is wrong today when newsreaders can make personal text messages to a Chief of Staff then within a few hours the administration tells them to lie straight faced on TV.
5
Time is of essence here. Mark Meadows should be arrested immediately if he refuses to testify. The committee should also subpoena ,Mo Brooks and Don Jr, and anyone else who obviously had inside knowledge of the coup attempt. If they won’t testify jail them. The midterms are not that far away. If the Republicans take over Congress as predicted that will be it for the committee and DJT and all his coconspirators will never be held accountable.
18
Consider the opposite treatment by Fox of its staff presidential advisors and CNN of Chris Cuomo for committing a similar offense. Which, would you say, deals in propaganda and which in news?
38
The texts prove once and for all that Fox News is nothing but a propaganda network. The network should face sedition charges and lose its license. But the deeper problem isn’t Fox; it’s that so many people want Fox.
102
Fox News knows that they are playing with fire with Trump and the MAGA crowd. They want the eyeballs and keep pandering to them. These communications prove that Fox knows how dangerous these people are. Fox is fooling themselves thinking that they can control them - they can't. If they keep toying with them it will spin completely out of control. Jan 6 was just a dress rehearsal for a full-fledged coup.
42
Now we have Ingraham, Hannity, Kilmeade, and even Donald Trump Jr on record as being public liars. They knew, and expressed in electronic communications (which NEVER go away), that the insurrection on January 6 had to be shut down, and they said so to Mark Meadows.
Of course, the former guy never listens to people who tell him things that he disagrees with, so even when Meadows told him what Ingraham, Hannity, Kilmeade, and even Donald Trump Jr were saying, the former guy just ignored those comments.
Every one of these people are complicit.
They all need to be prosecuted for conspiring to overturn our 2020 elections.
Just a bunch of unabashed liars and criminals.
Thank you Mark Meadows for turning over all of those thousands of pages of documentation. You just showed that all of those people are beneath contempt. But then again Mark, so are you.
Have a nice day, Mark.
78
Fox and Rupert Murdoch should be subject to RICO. His henchmen were in on the planning for the day and got scared when it got out of control.
36
@Kristine
Amen on RICO, Fox, and Rupert.
1
I mean we always knew it, but isn't it breathtaking that a NEWS NETWORK is acting as advisors to the POTUS?!
Imagine if CNN, ABC or NBC did this!
Fox News, you are a complete embarrassment to all legitimate news organizations and I hope you don't ever utter the words 'fair and balanced' ever again.
61
Why would Fox News promote anything that detracts from partisanship?
4
Fox News, aka faux journalists. If you are a regular viewer, how can you believe anything they broadcast?
8
FOX NEWS is the propaganda arm of the Russo-Republican party.
Even Tucker Carslon said live on TV how much he admire’s Russian military after impugning our very own as sissies.
34
Why they lie daily about what happened on January 6th. Fox News is a danger to our country,
27
Is nobody recognizing that these texts were most likely intended to cover the backsides of the people who sent them?
You can bet they'll be produced as evidence in lawsuits against Fox and others for encouraging the insurrection. "See, Your Honor, this proves I didn't expect or condone the attack on the Capitol."
9
The purveyors of disinfornation- FOX News would rather focus their laser of lies on a far more pressing issue; the (fake) War on Xmas.
4
@Ponsobny Britt
The Fox News headline is currently "War on Wreaths". Nothing anywhere about Mark Meadow's text messages.
How is this not sedition? Why have they not been fired from Fox News? Where is the DOJ?
19
Even Faux News knew Trump was behind the rioters and the attempted coup D’Etat.
26
Fox News hosts, smarter than the sedition-intent, treasonous insurrectionists, would not make themselves vulnerable by writing down their intents. They - in their self-preserving instincts - are the types of people who watched others do the lynching while whispering 'isn't this terrible.'
Laura Inghram and others of her ilk bear the responsibility for the insurrection. Here, we wont even identify the people in congress, senate, and the White House that directly caused the insurrection, we are content in trying and sending to token jails rank idiots like the shaman. In other words: (a) of course the likes of Laura insulated themselves with knowingly impotent whimpering, and (b) if there was justice, they would be in jail along with Giuliani. Trump, Meadows, and others.
18
Guess donny jr. lost daddy’s telephone number. Laughable cowardice.
29
@Joe B. Yes, wonder why junior called Meadows instead of his dad to urge something be done? Weird family.
1
So will the FBI investigate and prosecute Fox News?
17
A great group of true "journalists" at Fox News.
10
But. Her. Emails!?!?!?!?!
23
This is not news. I am curious to see what sort of illogical pretzel Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Hannity, Ingraham, and Kilmeade) will use to explain away their texts. I suspect it will be something like this: "Here we see another 'Fake News' story and Looney Left going apopletic. The real story today is...Dr. Fauci...Hillary Clinton...war on Christmas."
15
@Paul "Trump could not control the rioters because they were ANTIFA". I am so good at this.
Carlson has always had fascist leanings, and gotten nuttier as the years have gone by. Two of his most admired leaders these days? Putin and Orban, Hungary’s dictator. And of course Trump.
12
I have reached the conclusion that nothing will come of any of this, i.e., Fox News personalities incredulously communicating with the WH during an attempted coup, the former occupant of the WH directly inciting the insurrection in the first place, senators like Josh Hawley holding up his fist in support of a coup, GOP operatives and their ilk working to overturn a legitimate democratic election, etc. Today’s GOP aligns with the strategy of Putin, Xi Jinping, etc. concerning the truth; collusion, censorship & denial. The second part of the strategy is to promote conspiracy theories based in fiction (environment, healthcare, immigrants, gun control, race, religion, etc.) to inflame and incite their hordes of Jim-Bob & Agnes Jean “Patriot” supporters…. Merica…
12
“Our election, frankly, was a train wreck,” Mr. Hannity said. “Eighty-three percent, according to Gallup, of Republicans, and millions of others, do not have faith in these election results. "
Well that's because the Republicans, particularly their man Trump, continuously spread disinformation prior to and after the election about non-existent voter fraud (except a few cases of Republicans committing fraud). Trump repeatedly told his minions that if he lost the election it was because of voter fraud. So they believed him. If you lie to people long enough, particularly low information voters, they will believe the lies. See Nazi Germany 1930s.
16
The FCC should pull FOX's license to broadcast. If you violate FCC rules, use expletives repeatedly or spread lies and misinformation, you can lost the right to broadcast. Well, FOX has committed most of those acts. So now it's time; pull the plug on this disastrous network that has fomented so much hate in recent years. Do it today!
48
And nothing will be done. Why aren't US citizens protesting this blatant abuse of power? Who else besides the GOP and his loyalists is trump holding hostage? Inquiring minds want and demand to know!
17
If you can't yell FIRE in a crowded theater without criminal consequences, how can FOX be allowed to continue shouting its lies, and how can Trump be allowed to continue spreading his dangerous lies if their consequences have already resulted in mayhem and death?
23
These are the same people that tell you not to get a covid shot, but they themselves are fully vaccinated.
50
“…the Fox News hosts who appear in the morning and in the prime-time hours have often played down the events of Jan. 6…”.
Fox News did not play down anything. They just lied about the events of Jan. 6.
21
I love how it was Liz Cheney who called them out. The Faux News empire wears no clothes.
17
I never thought I’d be rooting for Liz Cheney. Go Liz!!!
3
It's time to get real. This is not about stolen elections, vaccinations, critical race theory, abortions versus the rights of the unborn, the Second Amendment, or any of the other dog whistles. It's all about the wealth of society: how it gets produced and how it gets distributed.
Everything else is a culture war diversion employed on behalf of the 1% to divide, conquer, rewrite the tax code, eliminate regulations, fund the military industrial complex with endless wars on terror, prepare for war with China and Russia (the new Cold War), and line pockets along the way.
Important sections of the right-wing political elite now calculate that getting themselves elected is all about spouting one or another form of conspiracy nonsense while alluding to the "hordes of African-Americans and/or Hispanics who are coming to take your job or marry your daughter". Racism as a tool of social division runs deep in America as George Wallace well knew.
Do these elites either fail to get their vaccinations or really believe what they are saying? Not really, but nothing succeeds like success and the surest way to get primaried and lose your spot on the rich folks gravy train is to speak the truth.
Jan. 6 was the army of the ignorant who are galvanized not by life-saving science but stampeded by cretinous beliefs engendered by the anti-democratic agenda of white supremacy and Great Replacement fears.
It's time to tell the truth. Where are ya, Joe? Right now it's too little, too late.
22
“Mr. Kilmeade echoed that concern, texting Mr. Meadows: “Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished.”
What did that administration ever accomplish?
25
@Bettyishere. Answer: the repeated announcements of Infrastructure Week!
1
For a vast majority of Americans such criminal acts of the Trump administration and Fox news are completely unacceptable, but we don't live in a democracy so we have to endure this nonsense that shouldn't even be an issue. What America needs most is an overhaul of voting rights.
19
There is no dividing line between Fox "News" an trump world.
12
Right wing idealogues describe protesters against racism and the TFG's MAGA regime as 'antifa', then describe antifa (short for antifascist/antifascism) as un-American, anti-America and generally as very bad.
The Oxford definition of fascism:
"An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.
The term Fascism was first used of the totalitarian right-wing nationalist regime of Mussolini in Italy (1922–43), and the regimes of the Nazis in Germany and Franco in Spain were also Fascist. Fascism tends to include a belief in the supremacy of one national or ethnic group, a contempt for democracy, an insistence on obedience to a powerful leader, and a strong demagogic approach."
In a normal world, denigration of antifa would inversely indicate approval of fascism. Fox's irrefutable and unwavering support of TFG is proof. His actions to date, the entire (former) republican party and that of his followers, is further evidence of same.
In 1933, the German people didn't have cell phones, AR15's, dedicated propaganda outlets and social media to use in furtherance of the cause.
I honestly don't think many of those red hat wearers actually understand what they're supporting, but the folks at Fox do.
Roughly 89 yrs. later, 'never again' is being forgotten, and history looks us in the face.
25
@Deb Spot on, Deb.
2
Stop the Steal! There is only one hope for America and that is the only way to stop the real steal= The military!!!They are the only ones who have a small chance to preserve America as we know it. It wouldn't be so bad if they had a smart guy like Dimon but the Trumps will run our nation off the rails for Good!!!We must insist that they take over and stop these maniacs before it is over forever!!!
@Bob
Sorry to disillusion you, but Mike Flynn's brother LTG was undermining the National Guard during the response to the Jan 6 sedition. So there is coterie of military men who would just as soon support a coup by one of their own than defend the US Constitution.
6
@LDurk Military and PD are full of republicans.
Pure performance art over at Fox
5
Fox spent more air time on a Xmas tree arsonist than the worst attack on our nation’s’ capitol.
23
The story of Jan 6 should be at the top of the feed. While the pandemic is important, the story of a conspiracy to overthrow the government should be shouted in the largest font available. The daily revelations of breathtaking arrogance that a group, led by a serial liar, demonstrated cheat, and failed businessman that lucked into the presidency came close to upending nearly 250 years of our Republic should be burned into the eyeballs of every American. Journalists are not leaning into this as the life and death story that it is but rather giving it, at times, the weight of a story of a fender bender at the mall. Wake up! Your journalism will be a thing the past when people like these take power and shutdown those they deem “the enemy of the people “. We were warned when they repeatedly called journalists just that when they were in office.
19
@Mark D
Thank you. I cannot understand why January 6 is on the back burner here. Armed insurrection against the U.S. Government is not free speech. It is treason. And those in the public eye who attempt to sweep it under the rug are guilty as well.
5
Throw enough money at them and they'll become rabid liberals. As Winston Smith learned, we were always at war with Eastasia.
1
Did it ever occur to DOJ to take FOX to court ?
10
Wow.
That is so hard to imagine!!!
Just kidding. . .
3
The evidence is very clear that our country lacks responsible news reporting ... of the old kind; eg, "just the facts..."
The rise of advocacy journalism and its personal brand emphasis under, let's be generous, lax editorial standards, has contributed to an Orwellian cast of our news media. "Advocacy" often borders on polemics bordering on outright propaganda.
Yes, Murdoch's empire is the worst by far, with Fox setting standards for the loosest editorial control of lies, deception, spin management and deflection. The threesome mentioned in this story are the poster children for lying talking heads.
Were that our only problem when it comes to reporting the news. (let's see if this one makes it past the editor's thin skinned defense of oblique criticism for their lax standards).
6
@LDurk, Try watching PBS.
2
@LDurk, , Just one more point. I don't believe that a station should be giving "just the facts..." I think it important to give the facts, as well as an opinion. But the two should each be presented by a different person and clearly "labelled" as such.
2
Tail is wagging the dog
1
Next are we going to see pictures of Ingram and Hannity sitting at a Russian dinner table with Putin?
7
State TV in the Trump era, also known as Fox News.
11
TV personalities have a direct line of communication to the White House chief of staff during a national crisis. What could be more American than this? Pathetic.
5
The mendacity of these Fox News people--amazing!
I pass over the outrageous misstatements! The corrupt 2020 election--my goodness, New York Times! we'll be hearing about that till the cows come home.
Or "reports" of "antifa" people artfully mingling with the MAGA folks. You know--just to make 'em look bad.
No. What caught my eye was Ms. Ingraham's despairing wail--"He is destroying his legacy.
Legacy? What legacy?
BUT--
--in a deeper sense, January 6 was the CULMINATION of everything Trump was and stood for. That is--
--a total contempt for laws. For norms. For standards. For Americans that WEREN'T onboard with him and his "policies." For Americans UNWILLING to scream, "Make America great again!" For Americans that drew the line at shrieking, "Lock her up!" Or (for a change), "Send her back."
And this attitude reached its own dreadful perfection on January 6. Those hoodlums, those barbarians that stormed the Capitol screaming for the blood of Mike Pence--or like so many bloodhounds came in baying, "Nancy! Where are you, Nancy?"--
--those frightful creatures EXEMPLIFIED Trump and everything Trump stood for.
No wonder our then president watched it all with a happy smile. No wonder (finally calling off his dogs) he added, "WE love you."
No lie!
He did.
12
Here is the Fox playbook for claiming that they “never said that:”
“Now, they were likely not all Trump supporters, and there are some reports that antifa sympathizers may have been sprinkled throughout the crowd.”
Likely (deflectingly bland)
Some (which? From whom?)
May have been (see? We didn’t say “were”)
Sympathizers (vague enough for ya?)
Sprinkled (so one couldn’t necessarily notice them?)
It’s highly edited propaganda. Professionally so. And it’s there every night at a BarcaLounger near you.
10
I don't understand why plotting and enacting a coup have a more prominent headline in your newspaper. This is top of paper, large banner news.
4
This is more confirmation that Fox News lies. They knew that Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, and were so concerned that they called for Trump to somehow make it stop. Of course, they then reported that the attackers were Antifa, and even FBI.
Pathetic.
2
Meanwhile I just checked on the TASS—I mean, FOX “News” site—and nothing about this on its feed. NYPost owned by Murdoch is burying the headline, too, but it is on there.
Fox should at least be forced to remove the “News” part of its brand. There has got to be a way.
5
Certainly the Fox News people sent those texts.
After all
1) They all knew it was actual Trump supporters doing the damage, not mythical Antifa infiltrators
2) They knew that those Trump supporters thought they were doing their idol's bidding and might stop if he asked them to
and
3) They also knew there was a good chance Trump wouldn't want to stop it unless he was somehow cajoled into doing so.
15
The Democratic party and others need to be buying local cable ad time within Fox programs and evolving an advertising campaign that deals with basic Fox lies on an ongoing basis. "Last week on Fox news you heard (example)" and an explanation of what was wrong and what is correct. The rest of us need to get to the point at which we can request the cable company remove Fox, or remove it from my feed (and my bill), and be prepared to cut the cord and go to streaming if necessary. Local businesses advertised within Fox programming need to be told that they will be boycotted. Creative guerilla warfare against this incomprehensible, dangerous, shameful, almost willfully evil organization.
23
To be crystal clear: The horrifying part of this story is that any “news” organization or media company has this close a relationship with, or thud much access to and influence on any part of the government. Autocrats do not come to power without control of the media.
16
The texts were made public on Monday, shortly before the House committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol voted 9-0 in favor of recommending that Mr. Meadows be charged with contempt of Congress.
>
What is so disheartening is that we are witnessing a miscarriage of justice right in front of our eyes. It is more than obvious that the wealthy are very well insulated from criminal justice. Whereas if a person is upper middle class and lower..whether you are a minority or not ..the law waste no time iIn regards, to the Jan. 6 attack..the people our government went after first were 'the not so rich' , disillusioned who were incited to violence.
Why not go straight to the source? Why not set your sites on Instigator # 1 who started the fire, then continued to add fuel until it became an out of control bonfire threatening to burn down Congress? not to mention the damage to our elections.
If not for the election of Mr. Trump ....Jan 6 may never have happened.
7
“Protect the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The oath sworn by every president of this Republic. We continue to determine how strong the United States Constitution is, it can only be one of the two from here on out, the US Constitution or Donald J. Trump. History needs to tell the right story to the following generations. It is not too late.
13
President Trump should have listened to these three Fox News hosts who had his best interest at heart. This has been his downfall but he is oblivious to the fact.
1
@KMW now that's funny.
3
@KMW. I think the Fox News host were alarmed that they would be further implicated in how the insurrection was carried out.
3
The Fox anchors of whom you speak may be dishonest, immoral and manipulative but they’re also clever. There’s nothing inconsistent about claiming the Jan. 6 riot was instigated by Antifa or was caused by concerns about election fraud and at the same time urging Donald Trump to make a serious attempt to put an end to the riot.
3
Why is this not sedition on the part of Trump, Meadows, Hannity, Ingraham, and others?
Would it be obvious if others had done this ? These people should not be telling the committee not to investigate this attack on our democratic processes.
Trump needs to testify. Under oath.
14
The sheer hypocrisy and double talk by Fox hosts is stunning. Urging Trump to act responsibly in private but cheering him on in public for all the wrong reasons. TV hosts must show greater responsibility if credibility for their comments on air matters. Perhaps, they do not on Fox news, so long as Murdock likes it!
10
Conspiracy. Out in the open.
Where are the arrest warrants?
15
“Hurting all of us” as in Trumps inner circle, not the country.
14
Trump has gotten what he wanted. That is to be a giant in the annals of history, regardless it's through infamy and one of the greatest grifts of all time.
His biggest fear was to end up on some anonymous list with the likes of Millard Filmore & John Tyler.
He's much happier going down in infamy with Caligula & 'you know who'.
6
Mr. Hannity said. “Eighty-three percent, according to Gallup, of Republicans, and millions of others, do not have faith in these election results. You can’t just snap your finger and hope that goes away.”
No folks, it won’t take the snap of your finger to stop me lying. Now consider a carload of money parked on my front lawn….
7
All I took from this is that apparently cable news hosts can text the President via is chief of staff …?
How is that not problematic????
29
"Representatives for Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
FoxNews isn't even covering the texts sent by Meadows on Jan 6th. Someone who watches only Fox has no idea how badly they're being played.
30
Kind of sad that Don Jr. doesn't have his dad's phone number though.
27
As always, nothing will come of this despite the clearly proven lies, clear political grandstanding of so called "journalists" and their own slobbering hipocrscy.
America is run by white supremacy. No matter what they do wrong, Republicans will somehow always be right. And matter what they do right, somehow Democrats will always be wrong. Republicans always control the narrative because they understand human nature, implicit bias, and systemic racism, while Democrats just want to govern. Republicans have convinced half the population that it is better to burn the country to the ground rather than share it with people of color, while the other half of the population tacitly ignores the very crumbling of democracy itself. And thanks to gerrymandering and voter suppression that white people are mostly apathetic to, Republicans will always win, even when they lost.
Democrats are desperately trying to save a country that largely doesn't want to be saved.
16
The NYT needs to have a front page article or section every single day devoted to the very perilous state our democracy is in. There would be several events every day to fill it. Not enough people are paying attention. Opinion pieces and letters to the editor buried in the paper’s depths are not enough.
For those reading here: what will you DO to help?
9
Perhaps now Americans will wake up to the clear political machinations that Rupert Murdoch readily engages in that damage our political institutions and foments violence amongst the disaffected.
Given this recent revelation of Fox News personalities ready access to Trump and his staff, I would love to see what texts these Fox News personalities sent to Trump and his staff. Especially on or about the 2017 Unite the Right rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville. In one memorable scene neo-Nazis bearing Tiki torches marched and chanted anti-semitic statements that would have made Hitler proud and Tiki torch manufacturers cringe. Trump's response after a neo-Nazi had driven his car into a crowd of anti-racist protestors killing a white female? Trump defiantly claimed that the rally had "Very fine people---on both sides..."
Maybe now our US Congress can take a cue from the Australian government who launched a bipartisan investigation into Rupert Murdoch's media empire's corrosive effect on Australia's political institutions and political issues like climate change. Whether in the UK, USA or Australia Murdoch knows that the bashing of immigrants really creates brand loyalty.
6
It is really scary knowing Trump's media mouth pieces failed to communicate the chaos inside the capitol and the White House. Who was in charge? Fire those FOX people.
5
Yes, they purposefully and repeatedly lie to their audiences. Nothing new here; a bit more than a month ago, Fox edited a Biden speech to make Biden appear racist, Perhaps this revelation will lead to the Leni Riefenstahl awards, which will be won by Fox personalities for years to come.
7
What? Laura Ingraham, America's moral compass, was talking out of both sides of her mouth on Jan. 6?? Say it isn't so!
10
The biggest threat to America today is Donald Trump.
Trump almost destroyed American democracy, and he is still trying to do so.
Trump conspired with Louis DeJoy to destroy the US Postal Service, in order to disrupt absentee ballots.
Trump conspired with Rudy Giuliani and Vladimir Putin to plant false stories about Joe Biden.
Trump conspired with Bill Barr to suppress the Mueller Report.
Trump conspired with Jeffrey Clark, Jim Jordan, and Ron Johnson to overturn the November election.
Trump conspired with Roger Stone and Michael Flynn to direct the January 6th insurrection against the Capitol.
And Trump still insists that he won the election and is the legitimate President. What a Sore Loser!
The only thing that will stop Trump is prosecution and imprisonment for a range of federal and state crimes.
12
@AKJersey I strongly disagree. The biggest threat to America is embodied in the 74 million citizens who thought it would be a good idea to reelect Trump.
6
What a bunch of morally bankrupt conmen.
Even Chris Wallace couldn’t stomach it anymore.
Chris Wallace was the last remaining fox reporter with any ethics or integrity, now that he’s gone, fox “news” is nothing more than a money hungry company that will lie, mislead, and sell it’s own mother for a quick buck.
Pathetic to say the least.
9
You and the rest of the media really need to begin to involve psychologists to explain on facebook (since that's the only real way news travels) what these sociopaths (especially Ingraham) are doing to them by insinuating their little lies every night demonizing the left, all just to keep earning a fat paycheck every month.
8
No surprise here-- Fox is a channel full of partisan political hacks. The word "News" should not be attached to that disinformation channel. Murdoch has done this country, and the planet, a grave disservice.
17
Wow, reassuring to know that the highly qualified Sean, Laura, and Jr. had direct access to the White House. What’s uncovered next? Tucker with direct access to the CIA advising on secret missions? What a horror show behind the scenes with deadly consequences January 6th.
11
Apparently Meadows forgot trump was no longer actually in power and turned over a trove of incriminating, to say the least, proof of treason- as was finally called for what this is during this morning’s rules committee- thinking he was still unaccountable like all Republicans and FOX News personalities believed they are - until 01/06 - when their massive gaslighting and cover up went into overdrive. So much gaslighting is going on it is explosive.
8
At what point, what threshold, will Fox be held accountable for what they allow on the air? It's not news. It's not even entertainment. It's lies and propaganda.
27
President Biden, in trying to appear neutral, is making the biggest mistake of his presidency. Failing to direct his administration to take whatever steps are necessary to fully, completely and unequivocally debunk the ‘Big Lie’ will result in events that will surpass the incredulous mess that was the fall of Afghanistan. Of course he is busy, but nothing in front of him is more important than regaining the trust, no matter how shaky, of those millions of republicans that now question the legitimacy of his presidency. How can anything be more important? It’s not important to put Trump in jail for tax evasion. That will make him a martyr. He must be exposed as a liar who has deceived his followers and that must be made clear. 75 million supporters of whom a large percentage believe the election was rigged and who believe that violence may be necessary and who, by the way, have guns. The most powerful medicine we can offer the country now would be the wrath of supporters who can be convinced they were lied to. We can’t just throw up our hands and say “These people are in a cult”. There are otherwise intelligent patriots amongst them that can be converted if only we focus on that as an objective. Joe, take the shades off and get going on this. The JAN 6 hearings are a sideshow. This is your biggest challenge. If this problem isn’t solved the end result, sooner or later, will be the demise of this great democratic experiment. We need you Joe.
11
The DOJ has to build its case first. Biden has to lead by example.
5
@Marlin My point is that focusing on DOJ, lawsuits, accusations and other penal pursuits is a distraction from what is more important. The most important goal should be regaining the trust of a large percentage of Americans who have been misled. That is not to say that crimes should not be punished but punishing those who had a hand in Jan 6 and other shady acts distract us from what is most important and that is saving the nation from breaking apart completely and having the 82nd Airborne Division in the streets trading fire with fellow US citizens. Putting Orange man in jail might be (very) satisfying but in the end it is completely inconsequential if we have US blood in the streets because of our failure to identify and solve the biggest issue. Uncle Joe pleading on TV to "Lets come back together" ain't gonna get it done. The Big Lie must be publicly debunked through a concerted effort of truth telling and an in depth and convincing review of the bogus evidence of voter fraud.
We've all heard the idiom: 'Do as I say, not as I do'. It would seem the folks over at Fox have amended that to: 'Do as I do, not as I say'.
1
Fox do not broadcast news , they do Party Political broadcasts , and all to suit there agenda , no compromise .
2
The Live-Broadcast of yesterdays January 6th Congressional Committee was a much needed "Breath of Fresh Air;
But is it enough !
The presentation and reading of Direct Text Messages to Meadows, from key GOP Republicans, including Don Jr. was stunning.
Even key conspiracy-spouting Fox Anchors chimed in . . . and as expected - changed their tunes for Fox Airtime !
Yes, the Committee has leaked out tidbits in "print", but yesterday's Live Broadcast was about as powerful of a "fight" the Democrats and a few "reasonable" Republicans have given us to date.
Sadly, and also expected, Fox did NOT cover this monumental event, leading to a unanimous committee vote to charge Meadows with Contempt of Congress.
WE NEED MORE BROADCASTS !
And not on "the few" Truth-Friendly Cable Networks.
If ever there was a time for the Federal Government to Commandeer EVERY Broadcast Network in our country - this event surely qualifies !
The Regular Viewers of Fox/Newsmax/etc. were not given a true account of the committee's findings - or that even their favorite Fox Anchors - were pleading with Meadows in real time during the insurrection - "Stop This Now" !
Much of our country will not hear the what rang out from yesterday's Hearing
If we want to save our Democracy, we need to have complete and widespread access to broadcasting to ALL Americans . . . and not just our dwindling frightened citizens who are acutely aware of what really happened - and what the future holds if we do nothing !
2
The President planned and executed a coup 'd'état, from the Oval Office. This is the reality, as is the reality that elections have been stolen by GOP gerrymandering. quite simple and devastatingly apparent to those interested or engaged with reality.
10
Don't get me wrong. The only appropriate place for the Fox anchors in question is the bottom of the ocean. But while they maybe immoral, manipulative and hypocritical they also are clever. They will claim that nothing they said on the air on January 6 about the riot (e.g. that it was instigated by Antifa, that there were legitimate concerns about the election etc.), is inconsistent with urging Donald Trump to nevertheless make a serious effort to stop it.
4
@Jay Orchard:
Why taint the ocean? It's already under enough stress.
1
@Positively
Very deep and very funny.
2
The corralling of Fox “news” is way overdue. If the FCC can’t regulate them because they are cable and not a broadcast network, then the definition of broadcast needs to be changed. Or perhaps cable providers can be pressured into dropping Fox or at least removing it from the basic cable package. Perhaps the DOJ should charge the Fox liars with sedition and/or Congress should subpoena them and force them to tell the truth to America or face perjury charges. We need to find a way to pull the plug on Fox.
5
It is high time to regulate "news" outlets. Criminalize and penalize any that spreads falsehoods with any of their programs- "opinion" shows included. This simply cannot go on. Free speech is one thing, spreading lies is quite another. Just because hate speech is spread on commercial airwaves, it should not get a free pass- and what Fox "News" is doing is exactly that - hate speech. Enough is enough!
4
Why can't a left leaning organization buys some ads time during these hosts show and expose their hypocrisy to their audience?
These people have to be shamed for what they are doing to this country. They seem to think that their lies don't have any consequences. They used their programs to go along with Trump's lies and are surprised that some in their audience would actually decide to take matters in their own hands.
Democracy will die in America, because some have decided that ratings and money was more important than preserving the well being of the country.
3
I don't understand this -" refused to cooperate"- business.
Just kick the door down, if that's the case?
2
Tucker Carlson is a dangerous, self serving, publicity junkie who will sacrifice democracy for FOX ratings. No moral center or any sense of ethics in his actions and deeds.
I know people who are addicted to the FOX misinformation channel who believe every word these news commentators speak. As if it's gospel. What it is, is a form of home grown terrorist who are slowly and deliberately seeking to destroy democracy in the United States.
FOX news appeals to those who feel unimportant, unseen or unworthy and gives them this false sense of power, by allowing these individuals to express their anger and rage at society. Think Proud Boys. A society who they feel has devalued their very existence.
FOX news is not a news channel, but a carefully sculptured disinformation channel designed to undermine democracy in America. Why are we not holding FOX commentators accountable for their crime of disinformation?
10
"Representatives for Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
And so on we go without any accountability from a corporation that is clearly complicit in the chaos of Jan 6th. How much longer are americans going to place their heads in the sand and pretend to not see what is happening in front of us.
2
Your headline used the words "false claims."
I checked the style guide. The word is lies.
Fox News personalities LIED on air. The didn't make false claims. They willfully told lies.
This is the media part of the problem, refusing to use the word 'lie' when it is the only word that applies.
15
So why does Chris Cuomo have to go but not Laura Ingraham? She texted to Trump while the Capitol riot was ongoing: "This hurts all of us." The "us" should be rendered immortal -- it should be lesson one in journalism school from now until forever to establish, at the outset, exactly what a journalist is not. It is utterly disqualifying.
So how come all respectable journalists -- actual journalists -- are not now howling for her head at least as loudly as the howled for Cuomo's?
7
I love how Fox condemns Chris Cuomo's conflict-of-interest situation. This after sending Trump cease-and-desist texts re: Jan. 6 (are journalists supposed to do this?) AND maintaining the attack was (1) a tourist visit, and (2) an ANTIFA tactic.
5
@adrian chamberlain:
The original founders of Antifa?
The 101st Airborne Division.
2
We watched it unfold from Canada , switching from the BBC to CBC , the words used to describe the scenes were ,disgraceful , disgusting and shameful . The world was shocked , even more so than the US itself , if Trump ever gets back in power the US may never get back the reputation it once had as a democratic country , with rule of law as the standard .
5
What I want to know is why this is not THE biggest story on the front page of the NYT. These texts clearly indicate that Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade, Donald Trump Jr. and others recognized, in real time, the seriousness of what was happening as the Jan. 6 insurrection unfolded. Since then, these same people have referred to the insurrectionists as "tourists," and the events of the day as harmless, with the bad parts the result of BLM, Intifada, the FBI or other Deep State operatives. And we have Steve Bannon and Matt Gaetz talking about an army of stormtroopers to force out those in government who disagree with them, and whom they, in the ultimate exercise in projection, refer to as tyrannical dictators (or Communists, or both) bent on destroying the nation through such brutality as, say the Build Back Better legislation. For all of Trump's four years, while he lied and insulted and grifted, we heard liberals referred to as being in the grips of "Trump derangement syndrome," the syndrome that made people believe that Trump is, y'know, a fool, a liar, a narcissistic grifter. The right is suffering from an actual affliction that truly endangers the nation. With SCOTUS a 6-3 religious right majority, gerrymandered districts and voter suppression laws, they might have figured out a way to run the nation without needing a majority of votes. Trump and his enablers belong in prison. I doubt, however, that he will end up there. If he becomes president again, it's game over.
8
Fox News is conducting a campaign to destroy Democracy and impose Authoritarian government in the USA. How else can one explain their support for the stop the steal, celebrating those who attacked the Capitol as hero’s. Even though they privately feared the consequences of their actions. How can you explain their support of Putin and his threats to the Ukraine and Europe
Why didn’t they ask for Trump to expedite troops to protect the Capitol as well as asking him to give an address.
As a child I was taught to never trust a Fox, this network is most aptly named
6
All of these people are cut from the same greedy, self-centered, power-worshiping cloth. Humanity‘s narcissistic underbelly has been fully revealed over these past few years, coalescing solidly around the severely compromised GOP. The truth surrounding Republican power centers now further laid bare under the unforgiving spotlight of reality. Democrats are not without their flaws, but the party and its supporters are still fully capable of eventually exercising bad actors. As more evidence is revealed, we can only hope the nation can finally begin the slow and agonizing process of putting the fascism friendly GOP genie back in the bottle. Even if we are eventually successful at tamping this societal cancer back down, it will still take decades.
3
@AndyW Touché' you are so right they need to mandate incumbents on all ballots nationwide so we can purge all of them from office regardless. This way the senior cannot corrupt the juniors.
This story merely makes clear what has been obvious for years: Fox "news" is not a legitimate journalistic organization but a right-wing propaganda shop and media arm of the GOP, spreading disinformation, lurid conspiracy theories and outright lies all under the guise of "news," and is a cancer on the nation. It's simply another form of brainwashing, and this bilge is funded by viewers' monthly cable bills (even if you don't watch it), which is all the more reason to "cut the cord" and go with a streaming box.
5
The questions are: if there were a way around Fox News blocking the truth from Trump supporters, would the truth make a difference to their staunch support of their corrupt leader? Do they even care about the truth, or are they equally morally corrupt? Most importantly, would they get that they'd been used--from start to finish--by a well-known conniving narcissist, who only cares about himself?
4
Why do the fox hosts have a direct line to the president of the united states? (Lower case deliberate).
7
The Jan 6 insurrection story is bigger than covid or inflation. The republicans have ruled the USA since Bush/gore. Does anyone remember the repupublican stormtrooping aides who attacked the recount in Florida? Looking on from the outside it is obvious that America has no political or judicial power to oust these insidious outlaws. Anywhere else in the world action would be taken, even in other third world countries.
7
Fox News leadership and on air “journalists “should be investigated for their complicity in the January 6th insurrection. Based on the text messages sent to Mark Meadows, I would think that they knew exactly what was about to unfold. How on earth they are allowed to remain on the air is a mystery to me.
5
Demographics will help with time. Fox viewers trend older, whiter, less educated. All of which remains in decline
3
Nice to see that some of the Trump loyalists put country ahead of personal fealty to Donald Trump. At the end of the day there may be hope for America after all.
1
@Milton Lewis for a brief moment they did. Then they turned back.
3
@Milton Lewis
.... then they all went back and continue their lies about 1/6. These people have no integrity, they put donald before country.
4
Pete Seeger's song "Which Said Are You On" has over my lifetime become all I need to know from humanity.
As the facts of this attempted disruption of the rule of law emerge, I find myself moved by Mike Pence, Laura Ingraham and Donald Trump Jr. as they defined themselves as Pariahs with some redeeming qualities. They remain my political enemies and woefully clueless but in a dark American hour, I know upon whose side they are truly on and it gives me hope that away from the radical fringes of Republican and Democratic dogma there lives a core of substance and of hope for more.
2
Hannity essentially functioned as a PR guy for Trump long before the riot at the capitol. That has to be factored into any evaluation of this mess. It's mentioned in the story but can't be pointed out often enough.
13
"He (Sean Hannity) also said that the nation must do more to protect law enforcement and political representatives."
They would be Republican representatives. I doubt that Sean is suggesting that the nation do more to protect such members of Congress as Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Although, then again, maybe he is, as Fox News would lose a significant amount of audience-pleasing content if such representatives were not there.
5
Does "Preserve, protect and defend" the United States have no enforceability?
26
@media2
Scaredy cat Dems won't push to enforce but courageous Congresswoman Liz Cheney will!
Go Liz!
1
Their texts might be the last very thin evidence that these fake news celebrities ever had something resembling ethics or morals or perhaps a soul, although that might be going too far. They had an opportunity to redeem themselves, and they failed.
34
Isn't it the responsibility of the FCC to pull the plug on the broadcast license of FOX news? I thought that was their job. At the very least, the FCC should compel them to change their name. It certainly isn't a news organization.
83
@DL
Sure would be nice to pull the plug on them.
1
@DL Do FCC rules apply to cable "news" stations?
2
We may never know the extent in which Trump and his White House were involved in planning the rally that turned violent and disrupted a constitutionally mandated electoral procedure.
We do know that Trump did nothing to end the violence for several hours.
Though it does not matter now, at minimum he violated his oath of office to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
53
@Chrisinauburn Oh I think we're gonna learn quite a lot. Stay tuned.
2
I think it will be shown that the former guy was every bit involved and kept up to date on the events as the planning was being put together and as they unfolded on 1/6/21. He wasn't actually planning anything himself, he's entirely too stupid to do that but he certainly had his minions doing his work. I just want to see him in jailhouse orange.
3
@PT Chesser His fans think Jan 6 was righteous.
If anything else about fx bad behavior were needed to justify a concerted effort to reimpose a suitable form of the Fairness Doctrine, I can't imagine a better example than this story of explicit disinformation and lying post 1/6.
The fact that the Fairness Doctrine is never ever discussed
these days as a reasonable and practical effort to counteract the vile and systematic distortions and manipulations of truth that fx, in particular, is responsible for is very mysterious to me.
It seems as if we've all been forced to just throw up our arms and surrender to this very adept peddler of lies since we've decided we just can't or don't want to put our collective heads together and come up with a reasonable policy to counter its conscious strategies to use lies for political ends.
How is that? And what does that reveal about our inability/unwillingness to defend ourselves from an obvious and pernicious, if not deadly, virus that has been designed to attack our body politic by shoveling out lies, distortions, and distractions with purely political goals in mind.
Is it not evident that our incoherent and ineffectual efforts at finding a broadly accepted social consensus to defend against covid have gone in hand with our willingness to tolerate the diffusion of lies that emanate 24/7 from fx programs? These seem to be closely related.
31
@bl I hate to burst your bubble but the premise of the fairness doctrine was the limited availability of broadcast channels. No longer the case. The first amendment won't allow what you want.
This is a political problem. Legal measures won't get the job done.
5
@bl Hi there. I have taken it upon myself, at least once a month, to post here and inform the "Fairness Doctrine" critics about the reality of the situation. This fulfills my obligation for 2021:
The Fairness Doctrine was an FCC rule that said that "broadcast" outlets must afford reasonable time for rebuttal of political discussions aired on their "broadcast" stations.
The most important word above is "BROADCAST". A "broadcast" station is one that transmits its signal over the air, on commercial channels.
Fox News is NOT AN FCC-LICENSED COMMERCIAL TELEVISION STATION. It is a cable service. If cable services were in fact regulated by the FCC, the first time Logan Roy emitted his trademark epithet on "Succession", HBO would go out of business.
(While Murdoch also owns a commercial TV network, only their owned-and-operated commercially-licensed TV stations like WNYW and KTTV operate under the authority of the FCC. So Homer Simpson better not use the 'F' word.)
If the Fairness Doctrine were restored, which it never will be (a longer discussion for another time), it wouldn't mean a thing to Fox News. Nothing. They're not an over-the-air "broadcast station".
You're welcome, and Happy New Year. See y'all again in January.
@bl How would you feel about the 'fairness doctrine' if Trump were re-elected?
There should be a class action suit against Fox and OANN. For without their 24/7 propaganda, 45's attempt at overthrowing our government would not have been possible. I'm still suffering PTSD at the continued ongoing coup attempt by the GOP.
80
It seems that yet another TDS conspiracy theory is left to rest. Apparently, the riot was not planned by the administration as we can see now: even the most informed ones did not have a clue at the time.
2
@Alex Not necessarily. It's equally plausible that it was planned to some extent, but when the planners saw the brutality of what was unfolding in real time, they had second thoughts, maybe pangs of conscience arose then, but things had already gotten out of control. Hopefully the investigation will uncover the nuances of what happened behind the scenes.
36
@Alex It may seem like it, but Fox News hosts were not officially members of Trump's administration.
16
The former guy said many times that he didn’t accept the results of the elections, and told his supporters to do something about it.
He didn’t try to stop the insurgents, on the contrary he doubled down by accusing Pence on Twitter.
Everything I wrote is in the article, yet you are still trying to defend the guy.
22
It seems we need a more energetic, active, and alert person as our Attorney General. And as President, too? Where is VP Harris in all this? The rest of the Cabinet? Harris, for one, is a former prosecutor. Why has she not spoken out, and tried to act, on the Justice Dept.'s dereliction of duty?
It is so clear that there were acts of sedition, conspiracy, incitement to riot, assaults, recorded violations of election laws, etc. Really, we've known much of this for almost a year! Yet, the 1/6 Commission points it all out, with additional evidence, and . . . crickets.
Yes, we get criminal contempt indictments. But where are the charges for the serious, substantive crimes? Why the blind eye to the past threat - now clearly a future threat, as well - to our democratic institutions? Does the administration not care? Does it not see the danger inaction presents? Or is it in bed with the Congressional GOP?
What would it take to get Merrick Garland involved? How about Biden, or Harris? Many leaders of the GOP are guilty of treason; are the Democrats guilty of their afternoon naps lasting throughout the day? Cheney has shown the courage and clarity, for example, to look at Meadows; perhaps Rep. Thompson (or the House of Representatives) should show the courage and clarity to look at Garland and his incomprehensible insouciance.
16
@AM Harris and Biden are aboslutely correct to stay out of this as much as possible and let the process unfold.
What is your eveidence that the DoJ isn't doing their job? I would rather the DoJ stay quiet and do their jobs thoroughly and professionally. A great way to completely ruin a case and destroy any integrity is to go blabbing about it on every talk show.
24
One of the strengths and perceived flaws of our democracy is that everything takes time by design. If you expected a new Attorney General to be able to whip up historically epic indictments of former officials within six or eight months of assuming office, you are asking for the impossible. Evidence has to be carefully revealed and assembled first. There is no quick way around it, whether we like it or not.
3
@Mark:
Clearly, I am not referring to talk shows!
I am referring to indictments. If you are suggesting that the DoJ, quietly, behind the scenes, is putting together ironclad cases against everyone from Trump to Hawley to Meadows to Bannon, Flynn (and this latest traitorous ex-Army officer) and Rudy, to Jim Jordan and Ted Cruz (and so forth), then good for you: I really hope you are right!
I see no grounds for any such optimism or belief. I hope I'm wrong. The House 1/6 Commission is about law-making, rules for Congress, etc. The duty of PROSECUTION, however, lies independently with the DoJ. Are they impanelling a Grand Jury? Is that the next appropriate step; if not, what is? Are they interviewing rioters and others about the organization and direction they got on 1/6? We've all heard Trump's 1/6 speech (and the speeches made by his co-conspirators that day). Trump's telephone call to Georgia election officials was recorded and has been heard multiple times by everyone in America!! That, alone, suffices for an indictment.
Let's hope there's much going on that we don't yet know. I agree with you there. Citizens, however, need to speak out about the real and present dangers presented by these criminals. By analogy, these people are doing to our democracy what some other groups are doing with hammers to the merchandise cases in Gucci stores! In every conceivable way, the Trumpist seditionists are far, far more dangerous.
4
Meanwhile, don't forget Tucker Carlson extolling the virtue of the authoritarian regime in Hungary. These people have an agenda, and it does not include respect for democracy.
116
I’m thinking a state should enact a law with a $10k minimum option citizens to sue people and companies who are trying to thwart democracy. I’m pretty sure there is a precedent for this.
70
There are so many unethical issues by Fox contributors highlighted in this article. But let me point out that Ingram, Hannity, et al, were concerned with Trump's legacy. Not the safey of Pence, Pelosi, or other members of congress. Not the possibility of the destruction of our democracy. They were concerned about the optics.
201
They were concerned about the legacy to which they hitched their wagons. It would backfire on them.
14
@Trunble : Maybe this is why Chris Wallace finally left. How long can you be part of an organization like that without being complicit yourself?
8
Focusing on January 6 is a tragic error. It gives the impression that the insurrection attempt is a thing of the past. But Fox and the GOP are still plotting their next move
19
@Dan
Working to understand what actually happened does not preclude working to prevent another attempt to overthrow democracy. Quite the opposite.
6
It seems pretty clear that not only one person, but several, participated in a scheme to overturn an election and install a dictator. It seems pretty clear that those people are walking the streets of America with little fear of recrimination or consequences.
240
Trump and Fox News are partners in crime. How much longer must justice be delayed in a case absolutely overflowing with videotape, phone records and written documents? If these crimes and those who facilitated them, including members of Congress, Trump aides, and media personalities, are not held up to the rule of law, this country is lost to forces that erode our moral fabric and our ability to hold egregious offenders responsible for acts that are overwhelmingly supported by hard facts and deserving of punishment.
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@Miriam No matter how much evidence you have you still have to *build* a case that addresses specific charges. You have to establish a complete narrative and you have to make sure you can include as many people as possible in that narrative.
6
The narrative is simple. The president and his cronies including meadows and many others attempted a fascist coup. All the evidence is out in the open.
8
Funny how none of the Fox anchors admitted that they had sent Mark Meadows messages about the insurrection while it was occurring. Maybe the House committee should issue subpoenas to all of the people that sent Meadows a text message on January 6th, including Fox personalities. Their testimony should be carried on live TV, at the same time their regular shows are scheduled. Should be interesting TV.
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@Curmudgeon51
and Fox probably wouldn't show it
1
Foxnews didn’t even bother to report the fact that their own anchors were texting the POTUS during a historical Capital attack, but chose to cover more pressing news such as their Christmas tree fire.
Chris Wallace’s departure was timed right coincidently.
Foxnews is a state run far right wing media station. Notice the Trump WH employees went from Fox to WH and vise versa for years?
222
@Bob I don't think it was a coincidence. I think Wallace knew this story was coming out and wanted to report it and that he know his colleagues and the management at Fox would refuse to acknowledge that it happened, lie about it and cover it up.
30
@Bob
Two of the most damaging were Dr. Scott Atlas downplaying vaccines and preaching "natural immunity." Another is trade hawk Peter Navarro whose tariff war policies Trump endorsed that helped demolish relations with China.
24
@Mark McIntyre
He found Jenna Ellis in Foxnews too.
These texts are documentation that Fox News is a partisan in the insurrection. This is evidence that they were not acting as a news organization but as political actors.
213
@Rauldougou And they should be held accountable
8
@Rauldougou
And yet Chris Cuomo gets fired by CNN. Clearly one side of the coin is busy keeping its house excessively clean, the other side is rolling in filth.
13
It is clear that Fox News and it's other larva are a cancer on the nation, a pathology that has eroded our institutions for profit and power. It is horrible to witness our freedoms being used to spread lies and deceive people into believing all kinds of harmful things with no check to them other than the free market and for media that doesn't seem to work. All one can hope for at this point is that this Fox News Generation dies off quicker than later--or the owners of Newscorp sees the light.
58
@North Carolina These are people without conscience, and only concerned with making money. And wars, domestic or abroad, make lots of money. Fox does a great job at manipulating people to think that they are their voice. The truth is, they are their own. They are an unscrupulous business, caught up in the middle of the destruction of democracy.
@North Carolina The problem is that Fox has now achieved a higher viewership than CNN and any other news show. It bewilders and saddens me that there are so many ignorant Americans who accept this kind of reporting as fact rather than sensational lies. What has happened to our country?
2
One becomes desensitized by the endless torrent of Trump outrages. And a numb public is the predicate for Trump and his cultists to steal the 2024 election and to drive a stake through the heart of American democracy.
Ingraham, Carlson and their ilk will have done their part by spreading the big lie and blaming Antifa for January 6. Their shamelessness knows no bounds. How do they look themselves in the mirror?
107
All the look at is the number on the paycheck.
5
@Mel
Because their mirrors reflect the tens of millions of dollars each makes telling the hapless souls who watch them what they want to hear.
7
@Mel Better question: what are we going to do about it? What can we do? Because we need to do something, not just express our outrage in bits and bytes.
7
The majority of white voters in the United States voted for Donald Trump. Most likely Rep. Liz Cheney voted for him also. But then she was brave enough to call him out on Jan 6. Can’t say the same for Fox News.
25
It’s no accident that foxnews was banned in the UK and Canada.
226
@Chris It was but we still get several fox stations here , but it's not just their news that i don't like , i simply don't like anything that they have to offer , with the exception of the odd soccer game that we can't pick up elsewhere , they are the only thing i watch from fox , but i bite my tongue when doing so .
15
@Dave A ps , Fox news were not banned in Canada , they were taken off the air because of a lack of viewers , that might be an even better indicator of how little they and there ilk are liked in Canada .
17
@Chris - Agreed. Socialist countries fear the voice of reality and truth.
Trump encouraged and supported this coup attempt. His irresponsible statements about a botched election and Fox news' support for this fantasy led to the event. Just before the mob stormed the Capitol Trump urged them on and told them he would meet them there. GOP cowards in the Senate and House who supported this insurrection should also be charged as accessories in the insurrection.
And no, there were Antifa supporters in the coup attempt. Antifa stands for anti-fascist. And that is what happened on Jan. 6- A Fascist attempt led by a sitting president to destroy the American government.
31
We live in an age where falsehoods abound. Tucker Carlson makes a documentary that the Jan. 6 attack was a “false flag” operation meant to demonize the political right. Then he falsely claims in the documentary that “Jan. 6 is being used as a pretext to strip millions of Americans — disfavored Americans — of their core constitutional rights.” These howlers are right up there with earlier claims of a laptop containing defamatory material about Joe Biden. Or earlier claims by a Me Too accuser against Mr. Biden duly discredited by this newspaper. Thankfully we have the daughter of Dick Cheney, that paragon of a sadly bygone era, to bring sanity, integrity and hopefully justice to deluded perpetrators of these latest pack of lies, who unfortunately number in the tens of millions.
26
@Edwin Point of correction:
Tara Reade was never "discredited". She was disputed, by several parties with an agenda. But no investigation ever took place and no official conclusions were ever drawn.
The most revealing fact of this entire situation was that Tara Reade was totally cut off by the media after Super Tuesday.
She was disappeared efficiently and completely. You never saw her face or name again. That should tell you everything you need to know about how a "fix" gets "in"; if it doesn't, you're being obtuse.
I say that as a Democratic voter who currently believes that President Biden is on the right track (so far), even though I enthusiastically supported Bernie Sanders in 2020 and ended up voting for Joe, the nominee.
BTW, I seem to remember (back when they were actually writing about her) that Tara Reade once said that she, too, supported Joe Biden for President.
But let's not get all Polyanna about how the world really works, okay?
1
SUBPOENA THEM!SUBPOENA THEM!SUBPOENA THEM!
It'd be fun to get them to say that on camera!
HAHAHAHA!
33
A constant stream of lies (and the cooperation in spreading the lies of others) must have consequences. Take away Fox's licenses to broadcast.
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Note that these texts from Fox and Don Jr. were to Meadows when you know they all had Trump's number and could easily text or call direct. It is further evidence of cowardice. They knew what was going on was wrong but wanted Meadows to tell Trump. Reminds me of 3 Stooges meet Frankenstein. Larry and Moe push Curly in front of the monster that they are too afraid to confront on their own.
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@John MD
Those were my thoughts. Why is Don Jr. going through Meadows to contact his own father??
10
@John MD I would caution on assuming those people did not try to contact Trump directly in addition to Meadows. The committee only released a very small sample of what they have. If they had released any direct communication with Trump that they had it would have overshadowed what they were trying to do because there would be those crying Executive Privilege. I think there will be more to come.
3
Trump is a sociopath, a destroyer for giggles. He didn’t lead on Covid; he doesn’t know what leadership is. Why would he provide an inkling of leadership in this situation?
These revelations won’t hurt the street cred of Fox performers because their cult followers won’t hear about it.
49
And why again is Fox News not allowed to broadcast in Canada?
16
@frank - The absence of free speech there.
@frank Just stop
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/canadian-fox/
@frank Because not every country writes blank checks to entities attempting to brainwash their citizens and overthrow their government, on the flimsy and inadequate excuse of "freedom of speech".
1
Destroying his legacy?
Trump’s legacy is a litany of disaster. His selfishness as he not only downplayed the pandemic, he spread it while he was infected and hid it.
His legacy of lies, bigotry and his attempts to destroy democracy will go down in history as the most ignorant and incompetent President in U.S. history.
Thousands of Americans died unnecessarily due to the grifter’s incompetence. He did find a lot of time to play golf.
The leader of an attempted coup is his final legacy.
208
@John Adams I think she mistyped that bit about his legacy. What she meant was "He is affirming his legacy."
18
@John Adams Spot on, that "legacy" comment from the Fox minions jumps out at you when reading this article. Side note regarding Chris Wallace....buddy, 18 years it took you to realize you were not working for a legitimate news organization?
15
Surely they texted the big boy directly, too. I know, national security and all: Donnie ignored those rules too. Especially for his pal Sean.
13
The hypocrisy of Fox commentators is unsurpassed. Fox is not a news organization, it’s a propaganda machine that threatens our democracy in thrall of The Donald. The Murdochs and propagandists of Fox should be charged w sedition, if not outright treason. They are not cuddly koalas, they’re deadly vipers.
85
Rupert Murdoch is one of the worst imports of our country
60
Ugh. Pathetic. Liars. I don't fear them in the least, and no one needs to. They're weak.
10
How many "Pinocchio"
4
Fox news. Garbage in. Garbage out
22
I keep visualizing Mikey Mouse in a wizard's gown, trying to stop his minions from overreaching.
6
And we already know what the response will be:
"But, but, but, Trump *did* tell them to all go home in peace! See what an honorable, responsible leader he is! And... BLM! Antifa! Portland!"
16
Carlson: “Jan. 6 is being used as a pretext to strip millions of Americans — disfavored Americans — of their core constitutional rights.”
What right is that? Storm the capitol?
You can believe if these people were black they would all be dead.
58
The Fox puppetmasters disappointed when their daily management of White House activities during the Trump years is ignored for even a few hours.
Trump truly was a "useful idiot," both for Russia and for Fox.
20
What does not make any sense at all is that all these Trump propagandists don't seem to realize that their denials and gross misinformation would lead to anything but riots.
What were they thinking when they were pleading with Trump to stop the January 6th riot??? Or were they just covering their rear ends in case the coup would fail?
7
In Europe stations get fined for spreading false political information, why can we start doing that? " Free expression" is not suppose to be "free expression of lies".
100
@ceja111 Uh, it's called the First Amendment.
Under your plan who gets to decide what's a lie? Should we use our current Supreme Court?
Think!
1
Fox News evening cable hosts are primarily partisan political mass media entertainment figures. They are not factual news gathering journalists.
That is also true of CNN, MSNBC,OAN, News max, Sinclair etc.
However, mass media opinion figures can't credibly, ethically and morally covertly nor overtly become part of the partisan political individual and institutional figures whom they cover without generally damaging journalists and journalism.
7
@Blackmamba Despite my many criticisms of MSNBC, this business of styling them as the politically opposite number of Fox "news" has got to stop. It's just not true.
MSNBC certainly has a nice share of leftist opinion leaders (this BTW is not the case on their showcase morning drive program, which regularly promotes the 'resting face" of the Beltway).
But even their progressive personalities do NOT spread certifiable lies. Their news personalities are tied to the credibility of NBC News ("... has not yet confirmed..." You've heard them do THAT?).
And anyway, most of the stories they feel are important for viewers to hear consist of reporting by other legitimate mainstream outlets, like the New York Times or the Washington Post.
Now you might not love what you read in the WaPo or the Times, but they simply cannot print false information and remain a major paper of record. Fox "news" doesn't have that handicap.
4
I'm surprised that anyone on FAUX news would text the administration to try and stop the mayhem. It does change the way I look at Carlson, slightly. At least he was concerned, for as much as a minute, about the results of the crazy ranting he and his cohorts put forth.
Okay, that moment passed. That network is bonkers and should be censored.
9
Unsettling to see who's driving the bus on the road to authoritarianism. As their noses grow, does Murdoch have a cosmetic surgeon on staff?
15
Do such people as Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and others of their ilk imagine that their lucrative ride on Donald Trump's fun bus will go on forever? All those they have seen thrown off by their Dear Leader they will surely join eventually. And what, when the violence starts they want to slow down, turn around, and speak about legacy and history?
Do they really talk this drivel for the money? Well, so did Rush Limbaugh, Sean, and I don't think he took it with him.
14
It truly is amazing that there's nothing the FCC can do to require factual truths be told on air. Spin is one thing. But blatant, dangerous lies is another. Just look at their following their orange leader about a pandemic, causing millions to ignore science to save lives, let alone our core of democracy. They knew on that day, it was wrong, then as we know, afterwards, they spew more than spin. Now we're facing lunatic far right militias readying for a second attempt. The unchecked danger this poses is nothing but an abuse of the First Amendment.
29
@MikeK Fox News is not "one the air". Its a cable channel and not subject to the same rules on air broadcasters.
3
@Jeffrey Bank. Of that (on air), I stand corrected. Nevertheless, I think you get my point. There really ought to be some way for dangerous lies to be more clearly identifiable, even to the uneducated. I mean, all they are then is a believed, "Onion" "reporting" group.
1
Why aren't the Fox News hosts being subjected to the same level of corporate-employer scrutiny as CNN's Chris Cuomo? Why shouldn't they be held culpable by Fox for their on-air lies about January 6 (now exposed by their emails), ditto their attempts to obscure Trump's criminal behavior? Why is provocateur Tucker Carlson allowed to foment violence via his egregious televised lies? The answer, of course, is the same as it ever was: $$$. Fox News ought rightly to be considered public enemy number one.
50
Putting ratings ahead of patriotism? Surely not the Fox News personalities. I'm shocked, shocked to find hypocrisy going on in that newsroom.
11
This just shows the true depth of these Fox anchors craven hypocrisy.
17
Can someone, anyone, please explain why this so called “news organization” still has an FCC license? Shut it down, now!
16
Fox doesn’t have an FCC license. It doesn’t need one because it broadcasts via cable and not over the air waves the way traditional networks do. Same applies to CNN and MSNBC. BTW Fox is the network that defended itself in a libel suit by claiming that no reasonable person would take it seriously.
7
@Arrest Him Now And somewhere in MAGA land is someone calling for the New York Times to be shut down. Get a grip. The First Amendment allows lies. Always has. Because if it didn't who would be in charge of determining what's a lie? A president? Like, say, Nixon?
@DSA
umm, you left out the part about how MSNBC and CNN raised the exact same defense
This perfectly highlights how cravenly hypocritical Republicans and the Conservative Media Cabal are.
13
Republicans are now saying the US looks weak. In truth, it does look weak.
The United States looks weak -- and IS weak -- because the former president attempted a coup and incited a violent insurrection. And he continues a slow motion fascistic drive to overturn future election results that will take our democracy back centuries.
The United States has never looked so pathetic, dysfunctional, and sad in the eyes of the world. So if you care about our standing, then turn off the lies.
20
Wait, Faux News hosts are really just political operatives attempting to further a crypto fascist corporatist agenda using fear and hatred as cudgels? I am shocked, shocked to learn of this activity at a news organization.
13
It was a coup attempt. Yet, how pathetic that our Democratic leaders tiptoe and whisper instead of blaring it 24 hours a day.
16
@dave They impeached Trump. They arrested Bannon. They're investigating quite thoroughly, which is why this article was able to get written.
Ain't nobody tiptoeing or whispering.
Now get real. Thump still has tens of millions of supporters. And there are those who don't consider themselves supporters but they might vote for the guy. Especially if the Dems give the impression that they are completely focussed on Trump as opposed to Covid, inflation, supply chains etc
It's a big country, includes a lot of folks who see things quite differently from you or me.
4
Only a matter of time before Mark Meadows is hosting his own FOX 'news' program — from federal prison.
12
Remember when the school-shooting-mom texted her kid and said, ‘Don’t do it,’ after she had armed him?
Don’t the Fox News talking-head texts sound like the same thing?
Exactly.
34
Fox News hosts should be subpoenaed.
14
Fox “news” is as far from news as you can get. Hosts having the chief of staff on speed dial, really? Appearing with trump at rallies? When did Rachel Maddow ever appear at a Biden rally or Warren rally?? Fox is nothing but a lying propaganda machine, end point.
20
Fox News is partly responsible for the January 6 riot because of its propaganda and irresponsible journalism.
You can't yell fire in a crowded theater and not be responsible for the outcome.
20
It's nice to see that the New York Times is finally on this story. It's time to run the fact that a military coup was planned (via PowerPoint!!) and that document was handed off to Mark Meadows. Not all of it took place, but much did.
It's time for this to be a much, much bigger story. And stay on Fox News!
18
Maybe Fox is not COMPLETELY dishonest after all.
NAH.......
1
“Fox News” was running the country. I mean, we all knew this was happening. All the times Trump live tweeted policy proposals while “The Five” was on, it wasn’t subtle.
And that’s the real problem with the Trump regime that our press and our institutions weren’t prepared and still aren’t prepared to deal with.
Here’s the issue defined, with no euphemisms and no obfuscation: Donald Trump and his cohorts at Fox News do NOT care AT ALL about violating norms. Or even breaking laws. In fact, the brazen public displays of lawlessness and violation of basic decency is the point. It’s part of their agenda to obtain absolute power and control.
Not only do they intend on breaking laws and violating basic ethics in broad daylight, but they WANT you to see them doing it, and they WANT you to feel powerless to stop them.
Our press and institutions still don’t know how to deal with this. This isn’t shocking. And no, being disgusted and simply shining a light on this is NOT enough. Their supporters see this raw display of power and they want more of it.
The people snatched off the streets by sanitized (meaning they wore no identifying insignias) federal agents and detained without access to legal counsel or charges in Portland? They want MORE of that. Not less.
If people care about stopping this complete dissolution of accountability when members of the press act as an official propaganda arm of a would-be dictator, it’s going to take a lot more than a couple news articles.
30
When I attended the prestigious USC School of Journalism from 1991-1993, we learned that the most important element of reporting - whether in print or broadcasting- was to tell the unbiased truth. Fox News - with Trump’s help - has mock a complete mockery of trustworthy journalism and undoubtedly permanently tarnished the public’s perception that the news media can be trusted as anything more than biased “fake news”. At this point, not even the revered Edward R. Murrow could appear on TV and be believed by more than half the public. The FCC must go back to enforcing rules that the media was be held responsible for truthful reporting or lose their rights to air. Fox News should be severely punished for pandering to a right wing audience and continually promoting knowing lies (stolen elections, dangerous vaccines, etc) in the name of ratings and advertising. It’s time to take responsibility and go back to holding our news media accountable for what they broadcast and publish.
55
Isn't there some provision in the FCC licensing process where the applicant has to agree to refrain from knowingly broadcasting false information? If not there should be. It's not as though the text messages should come as a surprise to anyone, given the characters involved. But its fun knowing they've been publicly caught in their hypocrisy.
44
@Bill Fox needs to lose their license. Period.
15
@Bill - This is what the Fairness Doctrine used to prevent. Broadcasters wouldn’t allow blatant liars on their air because they knew they’d have to give equal time to the truth.
15
@Bill While the actual evening news is relatively accurate, they get through loopholes (as did Alex Jones for years), by claiming that overt liars like Tucker Carlson are "entertainment", not news, thus no more subject to legal scrutiny than Squid Game.
It's truly ridiculous and in Jones' case, as he got the suffering parents of the murdered first graders private visits from people intent on death threats, got successfully sued, but that's how they get away with it for the most part. Plus they tend to use weasel words like "I'm asking whether antifa was involved!" which doesn't say antifa wasn't involved (since it doesn't exist) but begs the question.
3
I guess a violent insurrection was a bridge too far for the State Media? Why are they panicking in these texts? Did they realize in that one moment it’s not all just fun and games?
22
These hosts must think their audience are chumps who can easily be manipulated. Not only in this case, but when it comes to Covid and vaccines.
I agree with other comments, their license should be taken away. Fat chance that ever happens. The airwaves are free and it used to be any station had to provide fair and balanced coverage.
10
The first amendment of free speech and freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy. But there must be some sort of guardrails. Hate speech, though poorly defined, is not protected. But what about propagandist misinformation that inspires violence?
Fox has had free reign for decades to stoke the division that is leading to potential war. And it's owned by a foreign national. So what if that foreign national was Turkish or Chinese? Would that change the caculus?
37
Were these texts on Meadows’ personal or work cellphone? Could someone remind me what the GOP position is on using personal phones for government business?
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@Nick But her emails.
16
Yes but they did not use their air time to repudiate the terrorists attacking the Capitol. Consequently they like the then President and some members of Congress failed to defend the Republic. You can't have it both ways. Whether by omission or commission these air personalities enabled the enemies of the United States. Today some Republican members of Congress and conservative air personalities are attempting to distance themselves from their actions and or inactions.
11
Of course, the readers of this newspaper know what fraudsters exist on Fox News. The real change will occur only when folks who worship these clowns start to realize what falsehoods they broadcast.
I don't have much hope for that. But we all do appreciate the reporting of real news here.
25
Democrats need to play Ms. Cheney reading these texts over and over again during the 2022 and 2024 election cycle. The Republican party embraces a conspirator to overthrow the will of the voters. They have covered and lied for him and he is still the face of their party.
25
The FCC should suspend Fox News pending a thorough investigation. The Constitutional right to free speech do not include inciting riots and political murders.
37
They’re not paid that much money to tell the truth.
8
At what point will these non-journalists be held accountable for the enormous damage they have caused - and will continue to cause - our country?
They're not journalists. They are political operatives who spew whatever message du jour their dark money benefactors tell them to spew.
Witness Tucker Carlson *defending* Russia's actions in Ukraine blaming NATO, which are talking points straight out of the Kremlin. Meanwhile, Carlson conveniently ignores Russia's malignant history of invasion and genocide.
The only question remaining is this: How much are they paying Carlson (yes, they are paying him) to push their messaging?
25
@Both Sides He's *defending* that? I figured he'd be just blaming Biden.
Sure, let's rebuild the Soviet Union and reinstitute a missile crisis. It traumatized my mom as a teenager, so why not do it again?
3
January 6 was not a riot but a planned, coordinated insurrection — an attempted coup.
124
Fox news and its hosts are complicit in the decline of U.S unity. They knowingly make millions spreading distrust and fomenting hate and anger to the masses. Talk about a legacy.
27
Absolutely correct. And added to that poisonous cauldron should be social media which allowed, and still allows, fomenters, agitators, and potential criminals to plan their illegal, dissenting deeds.
6
It’s not a good look, Fox News said, it’s ruining our brand.
Makes one hope against hope that Democrats running for office in 2022 rely heavily on footage from Jan 6, 2021 Capitol attack to tar and feather their Republicans opponents as the anti-Democratic and pro-violence party. No more Mr. Nice guy, guys. Republicans wouldn’t hesitate even if it was unfair to the particular Republican candidate running. Democracy is at stake.
Say, “They were like orcs attacking the Helm’s Deep of Democracy.”
10
@Sherry Don't get your hopes up. The difference has traditionally been that Democrats run against individual Republican candidates. Republicans run against "the Democrats". ALL of them. As an ideology in solidarity and lockstep with itself (as if).
Re using footage of January 6th to run against the Republican candidate for dogcatcher in Boise, Idaho (I'm FOR it BTW), I see no evidence that the Democratic Party has yet learned to run against RepublicanISM. Bernie Sanders was the closest any candidate ever came to speaking quite that bluntly.
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From the article - “Our election, frankly, was a train wreck,” Mr. Hannity said. “Eighty-three percent, according to Gallup, of Republicans, and millions of others, do not have faith in these election results. You can’t just snap your finger and hope that goes away.”
It takes a special kind of news organization to spread false allegations of widespread voter irregularities without citing any evidence of it and then using the spectre of such irregularities as the reason for this attack on the Capitol. Feeding mass delusion and then blaming the victim of the conspiracy to delude their viewership is disgusting.
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@AreWeThereYet Part of why we're over. Once a significant population refuses to accept the results of a free and fair election, fascism and real false elections are the next step.
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Interesting timing for Nunes to bail.
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"[Laura Ingraham] knew. They all knew. They all knew the truth right away. But by the night of 1/6, Ingraham was spouting conspiracy theories about 'ANTIFA' and excusing the peaceful 'patriots' who, let's be clear, paraded into DC based on a lie she pushed over and over again. Fox's pro-Trump programming was partly to blame for the Big Lie, so when that lie led to violence, of course some of the hosts panicked and tried to put out the fire." (Brian Stelter, CNN Business, 14Dec2021)
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Why is Fox News called news? Why are they allowed to lie?
Trump and Fox News are largely responsible for the January 6 insurgency. And the damage to this democracy just keeps on coming.
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I’m not sure what “legacy” the Fox News personalities are referring to when they bring up Trump, but his legacy is one of incompetence, cruelty, betrayal, corruption, violence, and racism. Nothing Lincoln-like about Donald Trump. Even Humpty Dumpty was more stable.
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Why are these trump enablers and spreaders of false news permitted to broadcast on the public airwaves?
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The more we learn about Trump and Co.’s attempt to subvert the election by inspiring a violent insurrection, the more inept and cowardly AG Garland looks by not pursuing criminal charges against Trump.
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As if any more evidence were needed, this shows yet again that Fox personalities don’t believe any of the propaganda and lies they spew into the public sphere, and do so with blatant disregard for public welfare and our democracy. They are in an endless feedback loop of grifting with the Republican Party and Trumpists that is destroying this country. And the saddest thing is that most Republicans are so far gone they don’t care.
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Unlike Trump himself, who has no moral code at all, the Fox News people, Don Junior, and various Republican officials apparently had a shred of conscience about what they were seeing on January 6th. They have since come to realize the foolishness of their ways, and are gleefully following Trump down all the way into the slime.
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These nauseating facts are hardly revelations. Instead they are simply confirmations, for the democracy-loving among us, of the corruptness and fecklessness of the prior administration and its supporters.
We are left wondering what, if anything, can shake Trump's zombie nation out of their torpor.
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The 800-pound gorilla question in the room (I have to ask this, as I myself do not spend hours on end watching Fox "news",. but maybe someone can answer this):
Have the revelations of any of this collusion with the White House on January 6th been mentioned on the air by any of these anchor culprits on Fox?
(And if "yes"... which I highly doubt... what exactly was said?)
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I wonder how much money helping break this country and its democracy is worth to these purveyors of lies. I hope they look back in their old age and wonder about it.
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Chris Cuomo got FIRED for advising a political entity on how to respond to a crisis. Anyone wonder if Hannity, Ingraham & Kilmeade will get fired for doing exactly the same thing? (I don't wonder)
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@Xrist And the Democrats oust molesters and other offenders while the Republicans just call the victims of theirs liars and opportunists. We operate on a different set of moral values where they are lockstep and worship party and will not break from it.
I'd do the same, but my parents raised me with morals.
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@Xrist Even better question for the crack journalists at Fox "news":
"Ms. Ingraham wrote. 'This is hurting all of us'".
Who, in the name of god, is "US"?
(Anyone? Laura? Brian? Sean? Bueller?)
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Money plus fear are the world's most powerful motivators. The Foxx hosts' money is hitched to Trump, and McConnell fears opening his mouth lest the Proud Boys pay him a visit.
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The text messages speak for themselves. Even the most "Right" knew it was wrong.
Unbelievably, even Don, Jr. saw it as a loser.
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Fox "News" treats their viewers as DUPES. They are blatantly LYING for power and money.
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If Facebook is under scrutiny, (as it should), for knowingly spreading conspiracy theories, why is Fox News allowed to do the same thing. If Laura Ingrams sent a text urging Meadows to ask the former one term president to tell his followers to go home on Jan. 6, and then suggested Antifa was in any way responsible for the failed insurrection, she lied on air. She knowingly spread a conspiracy theory and she and her station should be held responsible.
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They were just trying to stop the killing of the goose( Trump) who had been laying all those golden eggs for them. Beneath contempt!
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This is dereliction of duty by the former guy. Hope he gets thrown in prison (after a trial of course).
No surprise about these Fox "News" anchors.
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Both Democratic and totalitarian organizations have had media represent them (ie Pravda) or in mid 18th century the NY Herald and Whigs. but in this case we have a media company being represented by one of two major parties, with FOX controlling Republicans. An entire political entity exists to placate a few replaceable bobble heads in TV. Something wrong with this “picture”
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Rupert Murdoch is the immigrant who have done more damage to this country than any beleaguered family from Ecuador fleeing violence and poverty trying to cross the border.
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How is all this not treasonous? I honestly dont get it.
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We watched this whole thing unfold while watching it on our tvs in Canada . It was well known in advance that something big was going to happen , but the shocking thing was how little was done in advance to make things secure . We switched between CNN , CBC in Canada and the BBC from the UK , the shock felt in the US on it's broadcasts was nothing to what was said in the broadcasts from elsewhere , they simply could not believe what was happening in a country like the US , they could not believe what happened at the same time as they could not believe that it had been allowed to happen . The reputation of the US was at that point in time in tatters . The US may be able to slowly build back it's reputation but the world is watching to see how things unfold , and if Trump ever gets back in power it's reputation will be shot for decades to come .
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I know it takes some time to get it right, and it doesn’t help when you have major players refusing to comply, but we need to get to the televised under oath hearing. Watergate was nothing compared to what Trump and his conspirators did, but he seems to be winning with the lack of interest from the general public.
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@Bill Absolutely. That is exactly what made people realize how bad Watergate was, after ignoring it for so long. And this is far worse.
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And how does this change our perspective of those elected officials who are on the record as calling the insurrection simply a normal tourist visit?
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It's beyond me to understand how independents leaning right can choose to vote for trumpican candidates after the last few years of dystopia. It is also beyond me to understand how independents leaning left can choose to not vote due to the current congress being stymied by a few democrats in name only.
Together this is a surefire formula for an electoral disaster in 2022 that will return to legislative power the trumpican acolytes who don't accept Biden's legitimacy and who
reaffirm lies to be truths.
A democracy can't survive without a consensus about what truth is and how to determine it.
It can't survive with propaganda channels masquerading as informative journalism.
It can't survive if its media news outlets don't defend the truth against those who profit off lies.
All non fx MSM channels and organizations must systematically attack, destabilize, and permanently put fx on the defensive.
A broad and concentrated effort is needed to reduce its ad revenues by making it counterproductive for products to be advertised during its broadcasts. This requires well organized and broadly publicized boycotts of those producers who continue to place their ads on fx programs.
Boycotting fx by not watching its nonsense is not enough. One needs boycotts of fx advertisers and one needs to make it widely known who supports fx lies and its systematic efforts to sell lies as truths.
This is a good opportunity to try and permanently
weaken this purveyor of evil.
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I remember reading that Twitter cut off Trump's account after the riot started for fear that he would tweet something that might make it worse, never thinking that he might want to try and stop it with a tweet as well.
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Not a chance would he have tweeted to stop it. Knowing his behavior he wanted to see if it would succeed first. It’s always about winning at any cost for that menace to society. When has he acted differently? Never in his life.
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@Indifferent given his track record, I think they made the correct call. He may eventually have tried to call it off, but probably only after thanking them first. He had 20+news cameras on the White House - he could have gotten word out. Or used Parlay.
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@Indifferent What are you implying? That POTUS would have taken to Twitter and quelled the uprising? Even after his son and Chief of Staff were ignored for hours? Nice alternative reality that.
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Nothing will check me of this. We’ve already seen that no one will be held accountable.
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This was my least favorite episode of Succession.
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It’s important for people to understand that Donald Trump is very comfortable in free flowing situations and evaluates them with short term lenses with little regard to unexpected consequences that in his narrow view do not directly affect him.
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@andy: the same can be said for infants
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@Andy
Life in the fast lane of the rich and shameless. Hope the SCOTUS does not take too long to make a decision about Trump's lawsuit re: executive privilege..
1
We need a return to some kind of Fairness Doctrine. Fox News can’t keep getting away with creating the environment for these Democracy-destroying events and then shrugging their shoulders while adding fuel to the fire. Not to mention their complicity in low vaccination rates, climate change disasters, and myriad other things that are wrong with our world today.
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Absolutely agree!
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@Juan Mateo Menendez
You are spot on here.
Think Fox news could be sued for helping undermine the constitution?
Imagine the outcry if newscasters from MSNBC or CNN were advising people in government!
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@Juan Mateo Menendez
Readers have been mentioning this Fairness Doctrine in the Comments section for years, yet nothing ever happens. Who do we need to light a fire under?
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Merriam-Webster definition of conspiracy: a secret plan made by 2 or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal.
If the actions of all these criminals don’t carry consequences, the definition needs to be revisited.
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@Daniel B. I agree 100,000,000 % with YOU! The judiciary branch of government MUST STEP UP and EXECUTE LAWS.... NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW!
6
@Daniel B.
Another definition that would need to be revised is
Merriam-Webster's definition of treason:
The offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance
5
How long will the Trump con-game sham be allowed to continue?
If we are not going to run out of Republican hypocrisy anytime soon, we only have limited time, before it's too late to even care.
Who cares in the halls of serious leadership?
Does the Supreme Court care about the laws of precedent?
Maybe John Roberts and Clarence Thomas will bring their conscience to work. We know Thomas is doubtful.
So, since there are millions of Americans who still don't have a conscience, it does not look good until some moral leader lights the spark of compassion to care for all of us who remain devoted to do what's right.
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Chris Cuomo was just fired for 'advising' his own brother, the former governor of New York, and undermining so-called journalistic standards while working as a host at CNN.
These major Fox News hosts were offering direct advice to the Chief Of Staff of the White House in real time during a Trump-instigated riot. They did so secretly and then lied about their knowledge and understanding of the January 6 events in public. And continue to do so.
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@Overton Window I think Chris Cuomo deserved to be fired, because he used his position to investigate his brother's accusers.
That said, what Fox did is far worse. They knew what was really happening -- probably played a part in the planning -- and then blatantly lied to their viewers.
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On a first name basis. "Mark", not Mr. or Representative Meadows. Fox is not news. Its right wing propaganda.
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@Overton Window
These are independent incidences and should be looked at separately. Cuomo deserved to be fired. Nothing that happens or doesn't happen at Fox News has anything to do with Cuomo's conduct and consequences for that conduct.
12
Should we be surprised? Fox is not a news organization, its designed to maximize profits for the Murdoch clan. Roger Ailes took note of Russ Limbaugh's success some two decades ago and co-opted the formula at Fox catapulting it to #1 among cable news networks. Regardless of how deep Fox personalities become enablers of rank hypocrisy, disinformation and lies, the die is cast and set in stone. Long time viewers of Fox will not see or hear of any of this because they are locked into the rightwing media bubble across all formats. Fox personalities will simply ignore this and continue on as they have throughout it all. No scandal appears big enough to move viewers from either Fox or Trump. Let's hope the January 6th commission has time to finish its work while bringing justice and jail time to those perpetrated this stain on America. The alternative is possibly the end of democracy as we have known it...
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@David Ewing This is the absolute truth! I've lived it for the last four years. It will never stop.
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@David Ewing
You beat me to it.
I looked for this story on the FoxNews website. And it was not there.
I am really looking forward to the voting machine companies winning their libel lawsuits. I highly doubt that a sum of money will make them go away. They are in it for the principal of the topic.
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There’s a name for the behavior you’ve just described: addiction.
7
Clearly these radio hosts understood Mr. Trump to be directly overseeing the attack, and thus capable of stopping it. And apparently they wanted it stopped, not because it was an assault on democracy and its essential processes, but simply because they thought it was ineffective: it created bad PR for conservativism, and made the job of dismantling or displacing democratic process more difficult.
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This article describes perfectly why trump should never hold an elected office again. It's time to charge him with the multiple crimes he committed during his time in the White House. I hope he feels the walls closing in around him.
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@D.E.R.
It might be time for the FCC to pull the plug on Fox News, too.
38
@D.E.R.
The former guy should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Then lock him up.
21
@Joseph Gardner I don't believe the FCC has anything to do with cable channels, news or otherwise. That has been the problem for years.
6
Hopefully, the House committee scrutinizing the January 6 attack on the Capitol will analyze both the mainstream and alternative points of view. That would help rebuild trust in a body that reportedly enjoys little.
5
@fred herriman
I prefer that they continue to do what they are doing: gathering and analyzing facts (of stubborn things fame), rather than points of view. That is to say, facts are not points of view. And I have a feeling that Sean and Laura’s audience cares little for facts.
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@fred herriman
"Alternative points of view?"
Great idea!
The Committee could have Tucker Carlson testify under oath and provide all the thoroughly fact-checked evidence he uncovered while preparing his Patriot Purge series.
23
A “point of view” at Fox is more accurately called a lie. Every Fox viewer knows that they are lying, but they do not care.
2
Funny how the right cites polls on attitude toward election credibility vs actual evidence of election fraud. The truth is the former is dictated by their own media and politicians the latter is grounded in reality.
The right feels so poorly about our system because the sources of truth they seek don't inform but coerce.
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That applies to Covid vaccines too: Like trump and his family, all foxnews hosts are fully vaccinated but they still spew anti-vaxx conspiracies for their gullible viewers.
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@MATT
I agree completely except for your last word: replace "coerce" with "propagandize."
6
@MATT Yes, it's a classic Republican strategy. Create a fake problem by advertising something that's not a problem as one, then utilize a proposed solution to entrench their own political power.
5
Fox News has to be broken up. The malignant organization has to be treated as a costly monopolistic entity to its audience in financial and health costs. The news division must be made to adhere to broadcast standards of truthiness and the entertainment division as an editorial assault on its viewers, separated by identification and schedule. Doing bad by being effective in its present obscene form mirrors the approach of the CCP.
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I still cannot figure out why they spread vaccine and mask disinformation that is literally killing their own viewers? When Covid has finally taken so many unvaccinated lives that the pandemic becomes just another health nuisance, I suspect that US voting demographics will look very different. I will not feel one bit sorry for all of those unvaccinated that were lost.
38
@Ed and the advertisers who fund it.
10
“Truthiness”?
Oh my god, we are, truthfully speaking, dead in the water.
The worst thing we lost in the BBB legislation was free community college. Because the GOP isn’t interested in folks learning, beginning with High School English. 
10
I loathe Trump and voted against him twice but...
The revelation of these texts and also Don Jr.'s text -- all of them completely opposed to the chaos at the Capital and all of them urging Mark Meadows to get the president on TV to tell people to go home -- leads me to believe the storming of the capital was not organised or planned but rather an impromptu, and uncoordinated attack
I think Trump meant to rile up the crowd and pressure Pence to not certify but almost certainly didn't believe they would attack the capital.
15
@John
Yep, many times there are unintended consequences. Particularly when you don't think through the plan and especially if it is not fact based and flawed.
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@John
Maybe it was planned but after Ashley Babbitt was shot they realized what they had done and feared the consequences, leading to the text messages.
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@John The reason Trump didn't stop it is because he was enjoying it immensely. He got exactly what he hoped for.....the crowds fighting for his right to power.
520
The most interesting aspect of this is that these news anchors had Mark Meadows phone number in the first place. It begs the question of how often the Trump’s staff were directing the news on a daily basis.
1111
@K P H Nearly everyone in the news media has the phone numbers of federally elected officials and their aides. Rachel Maddow, Jake Tapper, etc. all of them certainly had Mark's number too. That is nothing interesting on its face. What is interesting is that these Fox reporters are communicating with Mr. Meadows outside of the confines of journalistic standards: giving him advice and pleas, rather than collecting information for reporting purposes.
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@James You hit the nail on the head. Thank you.
23
@K P H It might provoke the question, but it doesn’t “beg” the question. “Begging the question” means something entirely different. It refers to a logical fallacy also called petitio princippii, assuming as given in your argument the very thing your argument seeks to establish.
16
"“This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.”"
What legacy was Ms. Ingraham referring to? trump may have thought he was burnishing his legacy, hence his lack of action to stop the insurrectionists.
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@Mary Ann Donahue
Ingraham is referring to a mythical legacy. That myth was and is accepted by nearly 50% of the voters. That % will be unaffected by the findings of this commission.
The blatancy of Ingraham's lying is dismaying, but will have no effect.
THAT is the problem. Facts, data, revelations, democracy, etc. dont matter to the Trump voter.
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@Kekule Maybe, but the cat is just starting to get out if the bag. I'm sure there is a lot more material evidence that this committee will be releasing over the months. The DOJ is also surely gathering loads of information regarding who formed and planned and helped carry out the attempted coup. This is only going to get worse, much worse for those involved.
20
I remember hearing Ingram on talk radio decades ago; she hasn't changed a bit. I was shocked at the time that she was able to get away with her lies. Not shocked now, just saddened by the success she and her compatriots have had over our democracy. Rather scared actually about what the future will hold
33