Fox & Friends Toadies To Trump At The Expense Of Viewers' Health

By NewsHound Ellen — March 2, 2020

Fox & Friends deemed it more important to make Trump look good by validating his "Coronavirus a hoax" lie – and to demonize Democrats - than to make sure Americans get potentially life-saving information.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has spread to more than 30 countries, killed nearly 3,000 and sickened more than 84,000, including more than 60 cases in the U.S. The first American death was reported as I was writing this.

But Crybaby-in-Chief Trump portrays himself as the real victim. He said Friday night:

TRUMP: One of my people came up to me and said, "Mr. President, they tried to beat you on Russia, Russia, Russia. That didn't work out too well." They couldn't do it. They tried the impeachment hoax. They tried it over and over. They’ve been doing it since you got in. It's all turning. They lost. It's all turning. Think of it. Think of it. And this is their new hoax.

Saturday morning, the Pavlovian lickspittles on Fox & Friends, only seemed to have Trump’s wellbeing in mind. Never mind that the coronavirus is deadliest for older people, which is the Fox demographic.

Media Matters caught the disinformation. First, guest Stuart Varney suggested Iran is to blame for the global spread of the disease. Then he explicitly agreed with Trump:

VARNEY: Look, I agree with that. Look, Russia, Russia, Russia. Impediment to justice. Impeachment, and now the virus. One thing after another to denigrate and slime our president. Utterly wrong.

The others did their part to validate the lie:

PETE HEGSETH (COHOST): You see the misinformation, too. Democrats -- the AP had to fact check Democrats who were saying that the president's cut the CDC budget which it hasn't been reduced under the Trump presidency. They're seizing on anything.

VARNEY: And you have this irrational criticism of the president. [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez], for example, denigrating Vice President [Mike] Pence who is in charge of the containment effort saying he is a science denier. Please. Come on.

JEDEDIAH BILA (COHOST): Yeah. And the reality, I mean, the truth is --

VARNEY: And Senator [Elizabeth] Warren was talking about the mess of this containment effort. Excuse me, show me the mess.

BILA: Yeah.

FACT CHECK: It’s true the AP found that Democrats had distorted the picture and that the CDC’s budget has not been cut. But what the sycophants didn’t tell viewers is that Trump has sabotaged the coronavirus response by dismantling the federal management system. Also, Fox's own Jessica Tarlov explained how Pence's anti-science stance has previously harmed public health.

Oh, and just a few hours later, Varney may have to eat this bit of propaganda:

VARNEY: I don't see any deaths. I see a good strong containment effort.

You can watch Fox & Friends put Trump and his politics over the lives of their own viewers above, from the February 29, 2020 Fox & Friends, via Media Matters.

Published with permission of NewsHounds

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