Tag: Fox News

Trump Faux Fight with Fox Is Good for Both

Buck Banks

“Trump’s faux-fight with Fox is designed 1) to add drama and excitement to where there is none; 2) make him the primary focus of events; and 3) temporarily complicate the storyline so viewers keep watching. Fox benefits from Trump’s periodic attacks (remember when he boycotted one of Fox’s 2016 presidential debates because it wouldn’t dump Megyn Kelly from the broadcast). They make the channel look like it’s standing up to the president, and Fox ends up looking more independent and credible.”

— Jack Shafer

Buttigieg Hijacks Trump’s Propaganda Machine

Buck Banks

Sarah Rice/Getty Images
Presidential hopeful South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg used his town hall on Fox News Sunday as a progressive bully pulpit to label the president’s behavior “grotesque” and to call out Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham as the Trump toadies they are.

Whether you think Democratic primary candidates appearing on Fox is folly or not, Mayor Pete used his opportunity to rankle the right-wingers — and got a standing ovation from the New Hampshire audience at the end.

Read it: “Fox News Welcomes Pete Buttigieg. Trump and ‘Fox & Friends’ Aren’t Pleased.”

Evidence of the Decline and Fall of FOX News

Buck Banks

“You could measure the decline of Fox News by the drop in the quality of guests waiting in the green room. A year and a half ago, you might have heard George Will discussing policy with a senator while a former Cabinet member listened in. Today, you would meet a Republican commissar with a steakhouse waistline and an eager young woman wearing too little fabric and too much makeup, immersed in memorizing her talking points. … This wasn’t a case of the rats leaving a sinking ship. The best sailors were driven overboard by the rodents.”

— Ralph Peters

Fox Went 90 Minutes Without Discussing GOPO Losses on Election Night

Buck Banks

90+

Slate: “The biggest political story of the hour is that Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie went down big in Virginia after running a Trump-esque campaign fixated on inflammatory culture-war issues, losing to Democrat Ralph Northam by what looks like it will end up as a nine-point margin. It’s the biggest story of the hour, that is, unless you’re watching Fox News: As observed by political writer Chris Hooks, Donald Trump’s favorite network spent more than 90 minutes in prime time on Tuesday — Election Night! — between discussions of election results.”