… On one of the fundamental policy topics of the day, the pandemic, the right’s most influential news network is saying one thing to its audience and doing another in private.
Fox News’s programming on vaccines and vaccine mandates has been relentlessly hostile. Yet more than 90 percent of Fox News employees are fully vaccinated, and the company has a vaccine mandate that’s actually stricter than the one President Joe Biden has proposed for large corporations. Hosts tend not to mention this on air and, on the rare occasions that they do, they mislead their audience about it.
They are lying to their audience, and anyone paying close attention can see it.
These incidents speak to a deep pattern in modern conservatism, a parasitic relationship in which a super-wealthy elite preys on the fears of the conservative base for profit.
…
The basic idea is that the super-rich and their allies are in the driver’s seat of the GOP’s policy agenda — and what those elites want, more than anything else, are tax cuts and attacks on the social safety net. Recognizing that making the rich richer is an unpopular policy agenda, they have married their political fortunes to the forces of cultural reaction. The GOP wins elections by engaging in thinly veiled appeals to racism, xenophobia, and sexism; the super-rich win when those GOP majorities pass deeper and deeper tax cuts.
Fox News, … “the epicenter of resentment politics,” plays a crucial role in cementing this relationship (Beauchamp 2).
"You get impeached for doing nothing wrong. Then you get a second impeachment for doing nothing wrong." – Trump, April 2021
The first impeachment was because Trump asked a foreign power to investigate the son of a political rival and hinted that the country owed him that because of all the aid America provided. The second was because Trump egged on a crowd that went on to stage a violent insurrection at the US Capitol that left five people dead. So, yeah, "nothing wrong" (Cizzilla 1).
Fox News host Sean Hannity urged Republican senators to "stop enabling these psychotic, mentally unhinged Democratic socialists," and reject their impeachment "madness" when it reaches the Senate next week.
"Every Republican senator must stand against this post-presidency impeachment madness and reject it," the "Hannity" host told viewers Wednesday night.
"You shouldn't be a part of this circus."
Hannity had a specific warning for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who is reported to be “done with Trump” and has shared with associates that he thinks a second impeachment could help the GOP exorcise the Trump association from their party.
"Senate Republicans, you want to go along with this nonsense, 75 million Americans went to the polls, [and] I’d argue they went there more for Donald Trump than for Republicans," the host said. "They should think about why people voted for Donald Trump, why they support his agenda.
"And Mitch McConnell, you should know better ..." he continued. "This nonsense in the Senate will get this country nowhere. It will not heal divisions, it will not improve the lives of Americans, it will only further divide a country that is weeks out from one of the hotly contested races in history."
Hannity later rounded on House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who joined nine other Republicans in voting for Trump's impeachment on a charge of "incitement of an insurrection."
"Liz Cheney, I have a message for those ten Republicans, good luck in your new Democratic Party," Hannity said. "I used to like you, liked your dad. You voted for impeachment. You're clearly out of step with Republicans and conservatives in this country. You don't belong in leadership" (Halon 1-2).
During Wednesday's edition of his radio program, Fox News host Sean Hannity described the second impeachment of President Donald Trump as "rage and psychosis" on the part of Democrats.
I…
Hannity discussed the impeachment with conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly on Wednesday's episode of The Sean Hannity Show.
"It's so funny because, you know, I would've thought that I'd care more about this and, to me," Hannity said, "it's just an average day, Bill, of hearing Democrats—you called it neurosis. I've long been calling it out of control rage and psychosis" (Martin 1).
The Senate voted to acquit former President Donald Trump of inciting the January 6 riot at the Capitol in his second impeachment trial. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in voting "guilty" for a majority of 57 votes — but Democrats failed to get the two-thirds majority needed to convict.
The Republicans who joined with the Democrats were: Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
…
Mr. Trump issued a statement Saturday afternoon thanking his legal team, as well as the Republicans in the Senate who found him not guilty and GOP House members who voted against the article of impeachment last month. He did not acknowledge the riot in his statement.
"This has been yet another phase of the greatest witch hunt in the history of our Country," Mr. Trump said. "No president has ever gone through anything like it, and it continues because our opponents cannot forget the almost 75 million people, the highest number ever for a sitting president, who voted for us just a few short months ago" (Linton et. al. 1).
In the days that followed [the assault on the capitol building] Trump, some of the loudest and most influential members of the Republican Party and vocal partisan media personalities offered a deluge of justifications, excuses and conspiracy theories to reframe the events of Jan. 6 as no big deal.
They said Jan. 6 was instigated by undercover left-wing activists who were part of antifa. That was proved false.
They said the rioters hadn’t used force and one Republican congressman likened the events to "a normal tourist visit." Video proved that wrong.
They claimed the attack on the Capitol had nothing to do with race, even though white supremacists and far-right militia groups were among the most active participants, and many rioters wore racist t-shirts.
They suggested the whole affair was staged by the government, a false flag operation. Others suggested it was entirely a peaceful protest. All of that was wrong.
They said that the rioters were political prisoners and shouldn’t face serious charges. A host of federal judges and courts have held otherwise (Holan, McCarthy, and Sherman 1-2)
Several days before the Capitol riot, Fox News host Sean Hannity sought to deter former President Donald Trump from trying to use January 6 to overturn the election results, according to texts revealed Tuesday by the House committee probing the insurrection.
The texts indicate that Hannity, a prominent supporter of the former president, held direct knowledge about Trump's strategy for the day of the electoral vote count and harbored concerns toward the plan, the committee said.
"I do NOT see January 6 happening the way he is being told," Hannity texted then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on December 31, 2020, according to a letter sent by the committee to Hannity asking for his cooperation with their investigation.
Hannity advised Trump to instead move to Florida, announce that he would "lead the nationwide effort to reform voter integrity," and "watch Joe mess up daily."
...
The January 6 committee further mentioned that Hannity texted Meadows and Congressman Jim Jordan in the days preceding Biden's inauguration, warning that Trump should avoid pressing his claims about the election.
"Guys, we have to clear a path to land the plane in nine days. He can't mention the election again. Ever. I did not have a good call with him today. And worse, I'm not sure what is left to do or say, and I don't like not knowing if it's truly understood. Ideas?" he wrote in the text, per the letter.
…
Last month, the committee revealed another set of texts from Hannity to Meadows, which showed that the Fox News host implored Trump on January 6 to ask rioters to leave the Capitol building and stop the insurrection (Loh 1-2).
Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, hosts at Fox News, sent texts to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows as rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol, the Jan 6. Committee revealed.
Both hosts spoke out against the committee releasing their messages Tuesday evening, said NBC News.
Hannity – who reportedly sent a message asking if former President Donald Trump should make a statement asking people to leave the Capitol – said that he felt the release was “an invasion of privacy.”
Ingraham said on her show Tuesday night that the committee and media have misrepresented her actions on Jan. 6.
“The entire Jan. 6 campaign has become one of revenge and defamation, of false characterization and false equivalencies,” she said.
…
During a Fox News interview of Meadows Tuesday, Hannity said “we’ve been telling you, this is a waste of your time and money,” regarding the Congressional committee investigation into the deadly Capitol insurrection. Through the riot, Trump supporters hoped to prevent the certification of votes for 2020 presidential election winner and current President Joe Biden.
Hannity has criticized the committee for being partisan. Out of nine members, two are Republican.
Meadows provided the messages to the committee. They were read Monday evening by Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, one of the two Republicans on the panel. NBC News said at least three Fox News hosts were urging Meadows to get Trump to call off the rioters, per the texts.
"Mark, the president needs to tell the people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy,” read Ingraham’s text.
Hannity said that Cheney is attempting to smear Trump and “purge him from the party,” and Ingraham said release of the texts “ignores the facts of that day” (Barry 1-2).
Fox News host Sean Hannity attack the January 6 Committee during one of his latest shows, but failed to mention they have asked for his cooperation in their investigation.
Hannity said the January 6 Committee was created to draw attention away from what he described as President Jor Bidrn's "failures."
This comes after the January 6 Committee made the letter it sent to Hannity on January 4 public. The letter called for cooperation from Hannity and said it had information indicating he had advanced knowledge of Donald Trump's January 6 plans.
Hannity said: "I can't name a single thing, maybe you can, that Joe Biden can point to and identify as successful.
"So we had around 574 riots in the summer of 2020, dozens of Americans died, billions in property damage, arson and looting, thousands of cops injured, many seriously, where is that committee?
"Because they only seem to care about the one riot they can politicize.
"I condemned on January 6, I condemn tonight any rioting any place anywhere.
"Why won't they investigate those riots?"
…
… what happened in the summer, those were not peaceful protests.
"Those were violent outrageous attacks on the very democracy the Democrats pretend they want to protect."
Hannity closed the interview by saying the Committee is focussing on that "so they don't have to focus on Joe Biden's failures" (Kaonga 1-2).
Works cited:
Barry, Lauren. “Hannity Blasts Jan 6 Committee for Text Release: 'Invasion of Privacy'. WWJ*950, December 15, 2021. Net. https://www.audacy.com/wwjnewsradio/news/national/hannity-blasts-jan-6-committee-for-invasion-of-privacy
Beauchamp, Zack. “January 6 Texts from Fox Hosts Reveal the Lie at the Heart of the Conservative Movement.” Vox, December 14, 2021. Net. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/12/14/22834009/fox-texts-trump-meadows-ingraham-hannity-capitol-riot
Cizzilla, Crhis. “The 35 Most Outrageous Lines from Donald Trump's 'Interview' with Sean Hannity.” CNN, updated April 21, 2021. Net. https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/20/politics/donald-trump-sean-hannity-2020-election/index.html
Halon, Yael. “Hannity Urges McConnell To Reject Impeachment 'Madness' in Senate: 'You Should Know Better'. Fox News, January 13, 2021. Net. https://www.foxnews.com/media/hannity-mcconnell-impeachment-trump-senate
Holan, Angie Drobnic; MaCarthy, Bill; Sherman, Amy. “The 2021 Lie of the Year: Lies about the Jan. 6 Capitol Attack and Its Significance.” Politifact, December 15, 2021. Net. https://www.politifact.com/article/2021/dec/15/2021-lie-year-lies-about-jan-6-capitol-attack-and-/
Kaonga, Jerrard. “Sean Hannity Fails To Mention Letter Sent to Him by Jan. 6 Committee During Show.” Newsweek, January 5, 2022. Net. https://www.newsweek.com/sean-hannity-january-6-committee-text-letter-cooperation-fox-news-1665729
Linton, Caroline; Segers, Grace; Watson, Kathyrn; and Quinn, Melissa. “Senate Votes To Acquit Trump in Historic Second Impeachment Trial. CBS News, February 14, 2021. Net. https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-impeachment-trial-senate-acquittal/
Loh, Matthew. “Days before the Capitol Attack, Sean Hannity Tried To Persuade Trump To Abandon His January 6 Strategy and Accept Defeat, Texts Show.” Business Insider, January 4, 2022. Net. https://www.businessinsider.com/jan-6-donald-trump-capitol-riot-sean-hannity-stop-strategy-2022-1
Martin, Jeffrey. Sean Hannity Calls Second Trump Impeachment Democratic 'Rage and Psychosis'. Newsweek, January 13, 2021. Net. https://www.newsweek.com/sean-hannity-calls-second-trump-impeachment-democratic-rage-psychosis-1561429
No comments:
Post a Comment