March 8, 2019

Memo to Fox News: insulting Democrats for deciding not to hold a primary debate on your network is probably not a good way to persuade the DNC to reconsider.

Wednesday, Fox News Senior Vice President Bill Sammon begged Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez to reconsider his decision to keep the party’s 2020 presidential primary debates off Fox News. Perez’s decision was at least partly based on Jane Mayer’s New Yorker bombshell that showed just how intertwined and enmeshed Fox News and Donald Trump have become.

Sammon promised that Fox’s debate team of Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum would “embody the ultimate journalistic integrity and professionalism.”

It’s a good thing Sammon didn’t say anything about respect.

This Thursday on Fox News Radio, Wallace accused the “left wing of the Democratic Party” of having “Fox Derangement Syndrome” and “just looking for an excuse” not to debate on Fox “and The New Yorker article gave it to them.”

FNC’s Outnumbered crew was even more derogatory.

“It’s the DNC’s job to best represent the candidates,” cohost Melissa Francis said, clearly hinting that the DNC was not doing so.

Cohost Allie Beth Stuckey “asked,” “Wasn’t it Donna Brazile, through CNN, that fed questions to Hillary Clinton? I just find this extremely rich.”

Francis shifted gears to suggest that Democrats were not up to handling a Fox debate. “Maybe it is in the best interest to keep the Democratic candidates from being pursued by somebody like Chris Wallace, who’s a really tough questioner, or Martha MacCallum or Bret Baier. I mean, maybe the Democrats feel like they can’t stand up to that kind of debate prep and questions,” she said.

Cohost Jillian Mele ignored the elephant in the room, as did the rest of the sour grapes crowd, which is that the DNC decision was for a Democratic primary, not the general election. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts, as my mother used to say, that the eventual Democratic nominee will willingly debate Trump on Fox or anywhere else. Furthermore, nothing is stopping individual candidates from appearing on Fox News and submitting themselves to the tough questions. In fact, candidate Amy Klobuchar has already been interviewed by Baier.

But Mele said, “I think both sides should have the opportunity to talk to everybody.”

Cohost Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery sneered, “I think this is a cowardly move. … I think Democrats, if they really want to win the general election, they need to get outside of the echo chamber … and submit yourself to this level of scrutiny.”

The show’s “One Lucky Guy,” Democrat Jake Maccoby, missed an opportunity, in my view, to confront Fox on its tactics, both in this segment and in general. Regardless of The New Yorker report, Fox’s friendliness to Trump, along with its demonization of Democrats as dangerous enemies of America is on full display, for all to see, every day.

I guess Trump TV couldn’t pass up this opportunity to malign Democrats, either.

Watch it above, from the March 7, 2019 Outnumbered.

Crossposted at News Hounds.
We watch Fox so you don't have to!

Can you help us out?

For nearly 20 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.
Mastodon