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Fox News, Sinclair Broadcast Group and other Right-Wing Media: Fake News, Lies, Alternative Facts, Propaganda and Conspiracy Theories - Page 5
Fox News, Sinclair Broadcast Group and other Right-Wing Media use fake news, lies, disinformation, fear, hate, racism, propaganda, alternative facts, conspiracy theories and Russian propaganda to divide America and promote the rabbit right and the Russian agendas.
by Philip Bump

Sometimes news is newsworthy not because it is particularly revelatory but because it confirms something obvious that lacked confirmation or because it provides something broadly understood with a sense of scale. This certainly applies to the revelation — uncovered by the New York Times’s Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns and reported by CNN’s Brian Stelter — that President Biden views Rupert Murdoch, founder of Fox News, as “the most dangerous man in the world.” Obvious in broad strokes but now confirmed and with a sense of scale. But this top-line assessment of the face most associated with the right-wing cable network misses an important secondary assessment included in the Martin-Burns reporting. Fox News, the president feels, is “one of the most destructive forces in the United States,” as the reporters put it. This is the more important revelation as it recognizes the breadth of Fox News’s influence even beyond the elder Murdoch. There are four elements outside of Murdoch that make Fox News a uniquely damaging part of the American news landscape: its strength on the political right, the demonstrated way in which it shapes its viewers’ beliefs, its grip on Republican power and the views of its leadership.
Study finds changes in attitudes, policy preferences about Covid-19, then president Donald Trump
Sravasti Dasgupta

Fox News viewers who were paid to watch CNN for 30 days eventually became more skeptical and less likely to buy into fake news, according to a new study. The study titled “The manifold effects of partisan media on viewers’ beliefs and attitudes: A field experiment with Fox News viewers” by David E Brockman and Joshua L Kalla was conducted in September 2020 and published last week.
Raw Story

A groundbreaking new study paid viewers of the Fox News Network to watch CNN for 30 days. What they found is that the viewers ultimately became more skeptical and less likely to buy into fake news. The early impacts, after just three days, showed that the viewers were already starting to change. The findings of the study, written by David E. Brockman and Joshua L. Kalla, explained that the experiment used content analysis comparing the two networks during Sept. 2020. "During this period, the researchers explained that "CNN provided extensive coverage of COVID-19, which included information about the severity of the COVID-19 crisis and poor aspects of Trump's performance handling COVID-19. Fox News covered COVID-19 much less," said the study. The coverage of COVID-19 it did offer provided little of the information CNN did, instead giving viewers information about why the virus was not a serious threat. On the other hand Fox News extensively but highly selectively covered racial issues, and its coverage of these issues provided extensive information about Biden and other Democrats' supposed positions on them and about outbreaks of violence at protests for racial justice in American cities. CNN provided little information about either. The networks both covered the issue of voting by mail, but again dramatically different information about it (in addition to offering different frames)."
Jason Lemon

Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican, wants Fox News host Tucker Carlson to "answer" for what he views as his "support" of Russia's invasion of Ukraine after new evidence of "atrocities" carried out by Moscow's troops has emerged. Carlson, who hosts one of the most popular cable news shows in the U.S., has been regularly featured on Russian state television and utilized as propaganda by the Kremlin amid President Vladimir Putin's internationally condemned assault on Ukraine. Kinzinger has repeatedly slammed Carlson for the views he's expressed connected to the war, as have many other critics.
Robert Reich

Putin’s lies, and the lies coming from America’s extreme right, are mutually supporting. There’s a reason for that. In a speech delivered last Friday from his office in the Kremlin, Putin criticized the west’s “cancel culture”, which, he charged, is “canceling” Russia – “an entire thousand-year-old country, our people”. It was the third time in recent months Putin has blasted the so-called “cancel culture”. Which is exactly what Trump, Tucker Carlson, and the Republican party have blasted for several years. “The goal of cancel culture is to make decent Americans live in fear of being fired, expelled, shamed, humiliated and driven from society as we know it,” Trump said as he accepted his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention in 2020. Tucker Carlson, one of Fox News’s most prominent personalities, has charged that liberals have been trying to cancel everything from Space Jam to the Fourth of July.
Joni Ashbrook Special to the Advertiser

Russian President Vladimir Putin makes it nearly impossible for Russians to learn the truth about his unprovoked war in Ukraine that is targeting civilians and causing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Independent media outlets have been shut down leaving only Russian state-run outlets to saturate the airwaves with lies and propaganda. And if a Russian dares to call Putin's invasion into Ukraine a “war,” they face 15 years in prison. But one employee of state TV risked the consequences to get a tidbit of truth to the people. She interrupted the evening “news” by holding a sign behind the anchor that said: “Stop the war” and “Don't believe propaganda. They're lying to you.”
Is Tucker Carlson useful idiot or Russian asset or something far more sinister?

Josephine Harvey

Fox News host Tucker Carlson offered a warning on Monday about the repercussions of removing Russian President Vladimir Putin from power, and suggested that Islamic extremists would somehow get hold of the country’s nuclear weapons and use them on Americans. “So, Russia has a large and restive population of Islamic extremists. Do we think it’s possible that with no one running the country ― because of course we have no chosen successor to Putin ― is it possible, if we did that, that one of those 6,000 nuclear weapons might wind up in the hands of some anti-American terror group and be used against our civilian population here?” he asked. “A nuclear weapon! Well, it’s not just possible, it’s likely.” Carlson has made a habit of defending Putin, even after the Russian dictator made moves to invade Ukraine. Since the war began, Carlson has become a favorite for rebroadcasts on Russian propaganda channels for blaming President Joe Biden for the invasion, parroting Kremlin propaganda and spreading conspiracy theories justifying the invasion of Ukraine.
Kinzinger Wants Tucker Carlson 'Held to Account' for Taking 'Putin's Side'
Jason Lemon

Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said this week that he wants popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson "held to account" for taking Russian President Vladimir Putin's "side" in the internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine. The Republican Kinzinger has repeatedly slammed Carlson over his remarks about Putin and Russia, accusing the Fox News host of aligning with the Kremlin. Clips of the Fox News host and his show have repeatedly been used by Russian state-run media in the lead up to the invasion and amid the ongoing war.
Tucker Carlson Surprises No One By Parroting New Russian Conspiracy Theory
Josephine Harvey

Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Thursday parroted Russian propaganda linking Hunter Biden to Ukrainian biolabs that was disseminated by the Kremlin to justify its invasion of Ukraine. Earlier on Thursday, Russia’s Defense Ministry released a colorful diagram that claims to prove that President Joe Biden’s son was involved in funding a secret U.S. bioweapons plot in Ukraine. Several commentators predicted the claim would end up on Fox News, where Hunter Biden theories are ever-popular. Julia Davis, a columnist for The Daily Beast who monitors Russian media, suggested it was crafted with hopes of getting a Fox News feature.
By Jon Jackson

Russian state media outlets and government agencies have recently been using videos and statements made by Tucker Carlson on his Fox News program in their propaganda regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Carlson's comments from segments where he discusses the U.S. allegedly funding bioweapons labs in Ukraine were carried by the Russian state-owned network RT on Wednesday, while the official Twitter account for the Russian Embassy in Turkey posted a clip on Thursday of the broadcaster making the claims about labs.

Some of the loudest voices trumpeting the Russian government’s line right now are in the United States — on the far-right and on TV. Example: Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov says the U.S. is helping Ukraine develop bioweapons. “Those laboratories are created by the United States all over the world. Ukraine is probably the biggest project for the Pentagon," Lavrov said. Then, Tucker Carlson picks it up. “Secret biolabs? Like the secret biolabs Ukraine definitely doesn't have? Ukraine has those? Yes, it does," Carlson said. Journalism fact checks and formal denials from the United States government make no difference. Influential voices on the far-right still say:
Sergei Lavrov says only Fox is presenting an ‘alternative point of view’ rather than ‘information terrorism’
Joanna Walters

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has praised Fox News for its coverage, appearing on the Russian state-controlled RT network to hail the right-leaning US cable channel, whose primetime host Tucker Carlson has played down the invasion. “We know the manners and the tricks that are being used by the western countries to manipulate media, we understood long ago that there is no such thing as an independent western media,” said Lavrov, speaking in English in a studio interview on Friday.
Kate Riga

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) got what they set out to achieve in their performances during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings Wednesday: airtime on Fox News.  The four hectored her, with raised voices and constant interruptions, on her record of sentencing people in possession of child pornography. Their theatrical intent was clear at the time: many repeatedly asked questions that she’d already answered, and cut her off when she tried to explain the complicated process of sentencing those crimes. Hawley asked repeatedly if Jackson “regrets” her sentences, picking out lines from a handful of cases he thought sounded damning for her. Graham slapped the dias, and dramatically stormed from the chamber when his time concluded. Cruz appeared to check his mentions on Twitter after shouting at Jackson and trying to prevent the next questioner, Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), from taking over.
By Bill McCarthy

The aftermath of the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, was captured on video and in photos showing that it was an actual attack. A Pentagon spokesperson called OAN host Pearson Sharp’s claims “ridiculous.” Several independent experts who spoke to PolitiFact agreed that it was completely without merit. Russian officials have conceded the attack occurred.
By Candice Ortiz

Hillary Clinton and journalist Anne Applebaum have speculated that Fox News host Tucker Carlson is “getting information from someone with ties to Russia” and acting as “a conduit for the Russian government.” On Monday’s episode of You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton, the two chatted about concerns with the Russian government’s use of Carlson’s content. Clinton asked, “How do you think Russia views somebody like Tucker Carlson and the other Trump apologists?” Applebaum, a prominent writer for The Atlantic, replied, “The role of the Trump apologist is truly interesting. For me, it invokes the left-wing apologists for communism in the last century. I think their behavior comes out of something similar- their dislike of their own country, of the United States, the nature of modern America is so strong that they are looking for alternatives anywhere. Even if those are autocratic.”
Zeleb.es

Fair and balanced
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has praised the Fox News coverage of the war in Ukraine. Despite the increasing isolation that Putin and his government are facing, the Kremlin still finds a few good friends in this critical time and the conservative news cable channel seems one of them.
By Daniel Villarreal

After weeks of seemingly defending Vladimir Putin and having clips of his show played on Russian state media, Tucker Carlson is taking umbrage at being called an enabler for Russian disinformation. Carlson's reaction comes at a time when two Republican legislators have accused him of spreading Russian propaganda connected to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In the Thursday broadcast of Carlson's Fox News program, he said that Republican Texas Representative Michael McCaul had recently called his show an "organ of Russian disinformation." Carlson didn't cite a specific instance of McCaul saying such a thing.
Opinion by Dean Obeidallah

CNN) "Do not believe propaganda. They tell you lies here!" These words appeared on a sign held up by a brave employee of one of Russia's major state television networks during a live broadcast Monday in protest of Russia's attack of Ukraine (the protester, Marina Ovsynnikova, was detained). It's a stunning contrast to Tucker Carlson's Fox News show, where he has amplified the Kremlin's lies in support of its barbaric war against Ukraine. Republican strategist Ana Navarro -- while co-hosting The View on Monday -- suggested that the Department of Justice should investigate whether Carlson is a "foreign asset" who is "shilling for Putin." While we can debate whether he is or isn't, one thing is clear: Carlson is not on the side of democracy over autocracy.
Conservatives and U.S. media are regurgitating a fake conspiracy theory that’s being used to justify Putin’s assault on Ukraine.
Jared Holt

In the information era, a lie can make its way around the world and, in short order, make millions of people sympathetic to an unjustifiable war of aggression. False claims that Russia has been targeting sinister U.S.-backed “biolabs” in Ukraine were popularized among conspiratorial American audiences by QAnon believers shortly after Russia launched its invasion in late February. Mainstream Republican voices have since dragged the old Russian propaganda at its roots across the forefront of the U.S. political stage. The Kremlin has for years accused the U.S. of operating a shady network of biolabs in foreign countries conducting dangerous experiments, including some in Ukraine that have allegedly targeted unsuspecting locals. Though the U.S. does support medical and biodefense labs across the former Soviet Union, there is no evidence to support claims that the labs are used to develop bioweapons programs. China has peddled similar propaganda; it tag-teamed with Russia last year to rehash an old accusation that COVID-19 may have been manufactured in U.S.-supported labs—a narrative that has been nurtured by pro-Kremlin sources since the onset of the pandemic in 2020. more...
Colbert mines criticism of Tucker Carlson for jokes
Ross A. Lincoln

Stephen Colbert opened Monday’s “The Late Show” by bluntly depicting Fox News star Tucker Carlson as a Russian propaganda asset. But in the Colbert version of events, even Russian state media lackeys couldn’t help but laugh at how unconvincing “Tucker Carlson” is at lying for Vladimir Putin. The inspiration for the joke is that state-run Russian TV has started using clips of things Tucker has said on his Fox News show as part of its pro-Ukraine invasion propaganda. This includes: Frequently pushing the theory of U.S.-funded bioweapons labs in Ukraine; a theory that U.S. elites have been secretly trying to goad Russia into a war with the implication being that the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is actually America’s fault; and even insinuating that one of his own colleagues at Fox News might be lying on behalf of the U.S. government.
Fox News, Russian propagandists, and right-wing conspiracy theorists have settled on their shared narrative.
By Molly Jong-Fast

There was a brief moment, when Russia first launched its invasion of Ukraine, that the GOP wasn’t shopping Kremlin talking points. A few weeks ago at CPAC, the right was divided over how to message Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The right has been full of Vladimir Putin fanboys going back to the Trump administration, but here was their favorite authoritarian just cruising into Ukraine bombing hospitals and killing children. It was hard to imagine how the far right could twist itself into a pro-Putin stance when what Putin was doing was completely indefensible by any human. What I failed to imagine was the anti–anti-Putin movement.

A person does not need to be pro-Putin to be anti–anti-Putin. Pro-Putinism is, after all, completely untenable. Instead, one merely asks questions about anti-Putinism. Or if you’re Tucker Carlson, you deliver a bizarre monologue attacking those who oppose Putin, as he did in late February: “Democrats in Washington have told you you have a patriotic duty to hate Vladimir Putin. … Anything less than hatred of Putin is treason … hating Putin has become the central purpose of America’s foreign policy.” Tucker can defend himself by saying he’s not for anything. He’s just asking questions about why the rest of the world recoils at hospital bombings. more...
By Jackie CalmesColumnist

It’s a tragic irony that Fox News, purveyor of so much disinformation and pundit propaganda about Russia’s war on Ukraine, is the media outlet now grieving the deaths of courageous correspondents who lost their lives transmitting the truth from that devastated nation. Those casualties should stand as a reproach to the network’s top-rated star, and biggest Russia apologist, Tucker Carlson. While Carlson has been bloviating from the comfort of his studio, repeatedly propagandizing for Russian President Vladimir Putin while disparaging Ukraine and its allies, longtime Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski, 55, and 24-year-old Oleksandra Kuvshynova, a local journalist and consultant to the Fox News crew in Ukraine, were braving arms fire there. They died Monday when their vehicle was hit near Kyiv. Another Fox News reporter, Benjamin Hall, was injured in the attack. (A day earlier, the independent documentarian Brent Renaud was shot and killed outside Kyiv.) more...
It is official Fox News is the propaganda wing of the Republican Party and Russia.

By Aaron McDade

In a 35-minute interview aired Friday on Russian state-owned television network RT, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Fox News is the only American media outlet that offers "alternative" points of view, and called the removal of former President Donald Trump from Twitter and other social media "censorship." This comes as the latest back-and-forth on media and propaganda between the two countries as the war in Ukraine rages on. "So we know the manners and the tricks which are being used by the Western countries to manipulate media," Lavrov said. "We understood long ago that there is no such thing as an independent Western media. If you take the United States only Fox News is trying to present some alternative points of view." more...
Daniel Villarreal

After weeks of seemingly defending Vladimir Putin and having clips of his show played on Russian state media, Tucker Carlson is taking umbrage at being called an enabler for Russian disinformation. Carlson's reaction comes at a time when two Republican legislators have accused him of spreading Russian propaganda connected to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. In the Thursday broadcast of Carlson's Fox News program, he said that Republican Texas Representative Michael McCaul had recently called his show an "organ of Russian disinformation." more...
Even Russian state TV is shocked at Tucker Carlson -- and think he sounds like a Russian spy: reporter
Bob Brigham

Support for Vladimir Putin and his conspiracy theories on Fox News has become so over-the-top that hosts on state media are expecting one particular host to be arrested on charges of being a Putin spy. Julia Davis of The Daily Beast has been monitoring Russia state TV and explained the latest during a Tuesday interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid. Davis described watching a segment on state TV "talking about the impact of the sanctions and there was such a doom and gloom in the studio that the host said we might as well lay down and die it's so bad and he said, well, to lighten up the mood, let's watch a clip of Tucker Carlson." more...
“No one is telling hosts what to say”: Fox News’ coverage was notably more somber Tuesday night, but some commentators veered back into business as usual.
By Caleb Ecarma

Fox News’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can sometimes feel like watching two different channels: On one, you might catch a live interview with former president Donald Trump refusing to acknowledge that Vladimir Putin is evil, or see Tucker Carlson elevating Russian propaganda. On the other, rather than pundits giving Putin a pass, you will find war reporting from Fox’s correspondents who are actually on the ground. That disconnect became disturbingly apparent this week when tragedy hit: On Monday, a vehicle with a Fox News reporter, cameraman, and a local producer working for the network was struck by incoming fire just outside Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv. Cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and local consultant Oleksandra “Sasha” Kuvshynova died, the network confirmed Tuesday. Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall was seriously wounded, and later transported out of Ukraine. (He’s in stable condition, according to one Fox News journalist who requested anonymity to relay internal conversations.) more...
Ross A. Lincoln

It’s part of a conspiracy theory Tucker Carlson discusses that the U.S. is funding bioweapons labs in Ukraine. Tucker Carlson once again used his tony spot atop Fox News’ primetime lineup to advance some conspiracy theories about the Russian war against Ukraine. This time it was a twofer: 1) the idea America was running secret bioweapons labs in Ukraine, and 2) that the U.S. is actually the one attacking Russia with a disinformation campaign, rather than the other way around. Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs in the Biden administration, testified this week before the Senate and discussed biolabs in Ukraine. Right wingers say this is proof that Vladimir Putin isn’t lying — and that the U.S. apparently has been funding secret weapons research in Ukraine. But as even a Fox News’ own Jennifer Griffin explained tonight to Sean Hannity, “those are Soviet-era biolabs that U.S. has been engaged since 2005 in trying to help Ukraine convert the research facilities safely.”
WATCH: Fox's Jeanine Pirro explodes when Geraldo suggests Putin might have played Trump
Matthew Chapman

On Fox News Tuesday, former judge Jeanine Pirro blew up at her co-host Geraldo Rivera when he suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin might only not have invaded Ukraine during the administration of former President Donald Trump because he was manipulating the former commander-in-chief. "How do you know that Putin wasn't playing Trump?" said Rivera. "How do you know." "Oh, stop! He wasn't playing Trump," snapped Pirro. "He didn't invade whilst Trump was president! It's not about loving Trump, it's about the fact that Trump had everybody against the wall." more...
The Russian government has pressed outlets to highlight the Fox host’s Putin-helping broadcasts.
David Corn Washington, DC, Bureau ChiefBio | Follow

On March 3, as Russian military forces bombed Ukrainian cities as part of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of his neighbor, the Kremlin sent out talking points to state-friendly media outlets with a request: Use more Tucker Carlson. “It is essential to use as much as possible fragments of broadcasts of the popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who sharply criticizes the actions of the United States [and] NATO, their negative role in unleashing the conflict in Ukraine, [and] the defiantly provocative behavior from the leadership of the Western countries and NATO towards the Russian Federation and towards President Putin, personally,” advises the 12-page document written in Russian. It sums up Carlson’s position: “Russia is only protecting its interests and security.” The memo includes a quote from Carlson: “And how would the US behave if such a situation developed in neighboring Mexico or Canada?” more...
Russian government document instructed outlets to show Fox News host ‘as much as possible’, Mother Jones says
Martin Pengelly

The Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson has been widely accused of echoing Russian propaganda about the invasion of Ukraine. According to a report on Sunday, earlier this month the Putin regime in Moscow sent out an instruction to friendly media outlets: use more clips of Carlson. Joe Biden in the Roosevelt Room of the White House earlier this week. ‘Republicans just seem to operate in a purely craven political dynamic,’ Kurt Bardella said. Mother Jones, a progressive magazine, said it had obtained memos produced by the Russian department of information and telecommunications support. One document, it said, was entitled “For Media and Commentators (recommendations for coverage of events as of 03.03)”, or 3 March. The magazine published pictures of the memo, which it said it was given by “a contributor to a national Russian media outlet who asked not to be identified”. more...
Fox News Slams Biden, But Ignores Trump's Praise of Putin
NowThis News

Fox News pundits attacked Pres. Biden for being weak on foreign policy, but failed to mention when Donald Trump routinely praised Vladimir Putin. video...
Rasha Ali, USA TODAY

After paying a solemn tribute to the people of Ukraine last week during its normally raucous cold open, "Saturday Night Live" returned to its boisterous roots Mar. 5, mocking Fox News, Donald Trump and Russia. The cold open featured a Fox News special titled "Ukrainian Invasion Celebration Spectacular" with hosts Laura Ingraham (Kate McKinnon) and Tucker Carlson (Alex Moffat). The Fox News anchors kicked off the show by attempting to apologize for calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "pathetic" and reducing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a "border dispute," respectively, by hosting a fundraiser for the real victims: the Russian oligarchs. more...
Stephen Proctor

Following a segment Wednesday on Tucker Carlson Tonight, Carlson, who is Fox News's most popular opinion host, came under fire for questioning the credentials of President Biden’s Supreme Court nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson. This came just days after he attacked her nomination, saying it would humiliate the Supreme Court, and make the U.S. look like Rwanda. Taking a different approach than he did for any of former President Trump’s three nominees, all of whom are white, Carlson demanded to know what Brown got on her Law School Admission Test, otherwise known as LSAT. more...
USEFUL IDIOTS
Liz Wahl, who quit a Kremlin-funded network in disgust in 2014, writes that right-wing media stars like Tucker Carlson are at times indistinguishable from Russia’s own propaganda.
Liz Wahl

Working in a Russian newsroom nearly a decade ago prepared me for modern day America. In both environments, conspiracy theories, false equivalencies, and half-truths infect the discourse and deform reality. In this current environment, truth and fact struggle to break through the paranoid and misinformed noise. One thing that is clear to me: Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson, along with other right-wing media figures, are at times indistinguishable from the propaganda on my former network, RT, a Kremlin-funded cable news channel that eagerly uses American voices to push a pro-Russia agenda. more...
Fox News anchor accused of presenting ‘perfect distillation of white supremacy’ in rant against Biden supreme court nominee
Martin Pengelly

The nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson is an attempt to “defile” the supreme court and “humiliate and degrade” the US, the Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson claimed on Friday night. Ketanji Brown Jackson is shown smiling as she raises her right hand to take an oath. She has a microlocked hair style that flows just past her shoulders and is wearing glases, a black suit and a black, white and yellow patterned blouse. If confirmed, Jackson, whose nomination was announced by Joe Biden earlier on Friday, will be the first Black woman on the court. Carlson said Jackson was nominated “because of how she looks”. He said: “Do you want to live in that country? Most people don’t, of all colors. They think you should be elevated in America based on what you do, on the choices not on how you were born, not on your DNA, because that’s Rwanda.” more...
Tom Tapp

This week, amid overwhelming evidence that Russia would soon invade Ukraine, state-controlled Russian television network RT published an article on and aired a segment from Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight in which the show’s host pushed back on the idea that Vladimir Putin is someone Americans should dislike. What’s more, RT took the trouble of translating the clip into Russian, ostensibly for its domestic market. more...
By Jonathan Edwards

As Russian forces closed in on Ukraine, Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday downplayed the conflict that was about to explode half a world away. The host of the network’s top-rated show, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” called the situation between the two nations “a border dispute.” He asked his viewers to question why they should hate Russian President Vladimir Putin. A day later, as a guest on another Fox News show, “The Ingraham Angle,” he echoed a Kremlin talking point about Ukraine being a puppet of the West, saying that Ukraine wasn’t a democracy but “essentially managed by the [U.S.] State Department.” more...
By Lorraine Ali

The conflict in Ukraine and backpedaling were the main themes of Tucker Carlson’s show Thursday after the Fox News host was slammed for defending Russian President Vladimir Putin, and dragging U.S. President Joe Biden, in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion of the Eastern European nation. “I don’t think anybody approves of what Putin did yesterday,” he said. “I certainly don’t.” That wasn’t the note he sounded 24 hours earlier, just before tanks rolled over the border between Ukraine and Belarus, bombs detonated over the capital, Kyiv, and families sought shelter in underground subway stations. As on-scene reporters stressed the gravity of the situation, and American media outlets reacted with equal solemnity, one notable exception emerged: Fox News. more...
The network has pushed over-the-top and misleading claims about Durham’s motion, falsely declaring it to show the Clinton campaign spied on the Trump White House.
Justin Baragona

Fox News and the conservative media ecosystem have been absolutely on fire this week over Special Counsel John Durham’s latest court filing, claiming his Friday night pretrial motion explicitly shows that former President Donald Trump was right all along that he was spied upon by Democrats. “I was proven right about the spying, and I will be proven right about 2020,” Trump seethed in a Monday morning statement from his Save America PAC. Since Fox News published a widely misleading article about the Durham filing, which suggests the special counsel’s filing says that Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign “infiltrated” Trump’s White House servers, the network has run wall-to-wall coverage declaring the “bombshell” story “bigger than Watergate” while chastising other media outlets for ignoring it. Needless to say, Fox News’ own coverage of what it describes as a “massive scandal” has not only been largely exaggerated but has run the gamut from disingenuous to entirely false. more...
Joe Biden isn’t first to prioritize race, gender in picking SCOTUS nominee, as Sean Hannity claimed
By Bill McCarthy

After President Joe Biden pledged to nominate a Black woman to the retiring Justice Stephen Breyer’s Supreme Court seat, Sean Hannity said on his radio show that “there’s never been a president that has made race and gender the defining factor.” President Donald Trump vowed to nominate a woman to the Supreme Court before appointing Justice Amy Coney Barrett in 2020. Ronald Reagan made a similar promise as a candidate to nominate the first woman, then followed through as president. Other presidents have clearly indicated preferences for candidates of specific ethnicities or religions. more...
Former Fox News anchor explains how network's viewers have been brainwashed
Meaghan Ellis, AlterNet

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson offered a damning assessment of the network as she explained just how bad its spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation has become. During an appearance on the CNN segment, "Democracy in Peril," Carlson discussed many aspects of Fox News' critical role in the spread of misinformation and falsehoods. Since former President Donald Trump took office, conspiracy theories have been on the rise and Fox News has become a driving force for it. Conservative primetime news anchor Tucker Carlson has been at the center of misinformation and the power of his opinion has begun to influence Republican members of Congress. “This is the result of fake news,” Carlson said. “You know, we're seeing not only the fallout from fake news during the Trump era, but what happened with the insurrection on January 6th. Now it's moving into other areas. Not just news, now it’s hitting science with vaccines, and now it’s into Cold War politics.” more...
John Haltiwanger

Fox News host Tucker Carlson in a new interview with Axios said he hopes Republicans vote out any lawmaker "who believes Ukraine's borders are more important than our borders." As Russia has gathered tens of thousands of troops along Ukraine's border in recent months, Carlson has defended Moscow amid fears the Kremlin is planning an invasion. The Fox News host, for example, recently said the Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border is just Putin trying "to keep his western borders secure." This rhetoric is near-identical to Kremlin propaganda. But Carlson told Axios he isn't bothered by allegations that he's acting as a "pawn" for Russian President Vladimir Putin. more...
Tom Porter

Fox News host Tucker Carlson has denied being a Kremlin agent amid controversy over his support for Russia as it menaces Ukraine with a military build-up on its border. The host in recent weeks has questioned the US policy of supporting Ukraine, suggesting it would be just as reasonable to back Russia. "Why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine?" Carlson asked Monday. "They're both foreign countries that don't care anything about the United States. Kind of strange." His contribution ignored the common arguments that Ukraine is a weaker state and a fledgling democracy, opposed by the more powerful and authoritarian Russia which, per US intelligence assessments, is considering starting a war of aggression. more...

CNN's Jim Acosta calls out Fox host Tucker Carlson for his pro-Russia remarks and how those, among other misinforming comments, are putting the US democracy in peril. video...
Axios - Jonathan Swan, Andrew Solender

Republicans running in high-profile primary races aren't racing to defend Ukraine against a possible Russian invasion. They're settling on a different line of attack: Blame Biden, not Putin.

What's happening: Leery of the base, they are avoiding — and in some cases, rejecting — the tough-on-Russia rhetoric that once defined the Republican Party. GOP operatives working in 2022 primary races tell Axios they worry they'll alienate the base if they push to commit American resources to Ukraine or deploy U.S. troops to eastern Europe.

Why it matters: Any assistance President Biden provides to Ukraine could grow instantly into an ideological war back home. more...
The satellite TV provider notified One America News Network that it would not be renewing its distribution agreement.
By Jody Serrano

Former president Donald Trump, known for his gluttonous diet of TV news, is going to have trouble finding one of his favorite far-right channels, One America News Network, in a few months. Satellite TV provider DirecTV, OAN’s largest distributor, said it was dumping the news network on Friday, Bloomberg reported. DirecTV’s decision is a huge blow to OAN, which is not available on any other major U.S. TV provider, but it’s not exactly a shock. OAN basically sued its way onto DirecTV in 2017 and has come under increased scrutiny since then for spewing lies, promoting conspiracy theories, and fomenting violence. more...
David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement

George Conway, the well-known legal expert who successfully argued and won a unanimous verdict at the Supreme Court, is tossing cold water on Sean Hannity‘s attorney’s claim that the January 6 Committee requesting his voluntary cooperation “would raise serious constitutional issues, including First Amendment concerns regarding freedom of the press.” Sean Hannity is the Fox News host who at times has claimed he is a journalist while often saying he is not. Fox News itself has refused to call him a journalist when pressed. On Tuesday the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack made public a letter it sent him, detailing his stunning texts to then-Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The Committee wrote: “At this time, we are specifically focused on a series of your communications with President Trump, White House staff and President Trump’s legal team between December 31, 2020, and January 20, 2021.” Hannity has no right to complain about his First Amendment freedoms being violated. more...
Was Fox News running the Trump White House?

Trump reportedly let hosts Hannity and Lou Dobbs join in Oval Office staff meetings by phone
Peter Wade

Fox News hosts were more influential in the White House than previously known, often acting as shadow advisors to the president in private phone calls. According to a Washington Post report, former President Donald Trump would frequently speak with Fox anchors like Sean Hannity or Judge Jeanine Pirro, who had a direct phone number to reach him in the White House residence, and then pass their recommendations on to his staff.

“There were times the president would come down the next morning and say, ‘Well, Sean thinks we should do this,’ or, ‘Judge Jeanine thinks we should do this,’ ” Grisham, who resigned after the Jan. 6 insurrection, told the paper. These suggestions from Fox personalities, she said, would often frustrate staff as the hosts shared their thoughts on topics ranging from White House personnel to how to frame the president’s message. Trump would even dial Hannity and former Fox Business host Lou Dobbs into Oval Office staff meetings, a former administration official told The Post. Grisham also recently revealed that on Jan. 6, Trump was “gleefully” watching the violence unfold on television. more...
By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) — For years, Sean Hannity has skirted ethical boundaries with his role on a television network with “news” in its name. Yet it’s never been as stark as now, with the committee investigating last year’s Capitol insurrection seeking his testimony. The Jan. 6 select committee has revealed a series of texts where Hannity privately advised former President Donald Trump before, during and after the assault, and is seeking his insight about what happened in those days.

The popular Fox News Channel prime-time host hasn’t said what he will do, but he’s slammed the congressional probe as a partisan witch hunt. His lawyer has raised First Amendment concerns about the request. It’s not unheard of for journalists to offer advice to politicians — history records Ben Bradlee’s friendship with former President John F. Kennedy — but such actions raise questions about their independence and allegiance to the public interest, said Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota. more...
Tucker Carlson’s talking points often sound identical to those pushed by the Kremlin’s propagandists—or by Putin himself

As Putin and Biden talk, Kremlin mouthpieces are rushing to explain the motivations behind Russia’s surge in aggression. Fox News is helping them do their work.
Julia Davis

President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to speak on Thursday, in preparation for Jan. 10 talks, convened to address Putin’s demand for “security guarantees” that aims to stymie NATO’s ability to carry out its functions in Europe. Moscow’s elite diplomats and talking heads are openly discussing Russia’s goals and strategies. Arguing for America’s total capitulation, with the Kremlin allegedly planning to offer no concessions or guarantees, Russian experts propose a plan to make such an outcome acceptable to the general public in the U.S. by waging an aggressive international info-campaign. Russia’s state TV propagandists express their delight in seemingly having the likes of Tucker Carlson in their corner, praising his coverage as the prime example of Russia’s successful influence operations abroad. Carlson’s talking points often sound identical to those pushed by the Kremlin’s propagandists—or by Putin himself. more...
Don Moynihan, Wisconsin Examiner

‘Tis the holiday season and the heroes of Fox News are valiantly arraying their forces in the War On Christmas, even as ICU beds are filling up and a new strain of COVID has arrived. In the spirit of the season I am making a special plea to Rupert Murdoch to deliver a Christmas miracle: stop killing us. That’s it, that’s the tweet. Wait, this is an article? I have to write more. OK then.

The partisan COVID gap has gotten worse

Republicans have been more reluctant to get vaccinated and more likely to die as a result. This trend was obfuscated initially because COVID emerged in blue states on the coasts, and because conservatives had at least some stake in dampening the pandemic when Trump was still president. As those conditions have disappeared, the partisan divide has become undeniable. more...
Brad Reed

During his speech on his administration's plan for handling the coming winter surge in COVID-19 cases, President Joe Biden gave credit to former President Donald Trump's administration for its initiative in developing COVID-19 vaccines. video...
Jesse Watters encouraged attendees at a conservative conference to rhetorically “ambush” the president’s chief medical adviser.
By QUINT FORGEY

Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, on Tuesday called on Fox News to fire host Jesse Watters for targeting him with violent rhetoric at a conservative conference earlier this week. “That’s awful that he said that. And he’s going to go, very likely, unaccountable,” Fauci told CNN of Watters’ remarks. “I mean, whatever network he’s on is not going to do anything for him. I mean, that’s crazy. The guy should be fired on the spot.” Speaking on Monday at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference, Watters encouraged attendees to rhetorically “ambush” Fauci with dubious questions about the National Institutes of Health allegedly funding “gain-of-function” research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. “Now you go in for the kill shot. The kill shot? With an ambush? Deadly. Because he doesn’t see it coming,” Watters said. more...
A judge says that a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought against Fox News by Dominion Voting Systems can go forward
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- A judge Thursday rejected a motion by Fox News to dismiss a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit brought against the cable news giant by Dominion Voting Systems over claims about the 2020 presidential election. In the 52-page ruling Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said that the voting machine company had shown that “At this stage, it is reasonably conceivable that Dominion has a claim for defamation per se.” Denver-based Dominion filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the media organization alleging that some Fox News employees elevated false charges that Dominion had changed votes in the 2020 election through algorithms in its voting machines that had been created in Venezuela to rig elections for the late dictator Hugo Chavez. On-air personalities brought on Trump allies who spread the claims, and then amplified those claims on Fox News' social media platforms. more...
Analysis by Oliver Darcy, CNN Business

Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham — finally — on Tuesday night addressed the now-public texts that they sent Mark Meadows during the insurrection in which they implored the former White House chief of staff to get then-President Trump to take action to curtail the violence occurring at the US Capitol.
For most of the day, Fox News had largely ignored the texts, which were made public the night before. Which is to say, it took Fox News more than 24 hours to muster up a real response. So how did Hannity and Ingraham react after having all that time to carefully prepare? Well, predictably.

What they said
First, both Hannity and Ingraham went on the offense and assailed the press. Hannity complained that "nobody" in the media reached out to him, even though plenty of reporters did reach out to Fox News' public relations department and were given no comment. Ingraham asserted that the "regime media" had "twisted" the meaning of her text message to advance a dishonest narrative. more...
Late-night hosts discuss a trove of frantic texts from Fox News hosts to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the Capitol insurrection
Adrian Horton

Trevor Noah: ‘This is like finding out the flight attendant who’s been telling you it’s just a little turbulence is actually going back into the cockpit like, ‘doesn’t anybody know how to fly this thing?!’ On Tuesday’s Daily Show, Trevor Noah marveled at a remarkable data dump from the House select committee into the events of 6 January: a collection of frantic text messages from Fox News hosts to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows during the attack, urging him to urge Donald Trump to stop the rioters. “Mark, the President needs to tell the people in the Capitol to go home,” Fox host Laura Ingraham wrote to Meadows. “This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.” Sean Hannity wrote to Meadows that Trump should “make a statement” to “ask people to leave the Capitol”. more...
The “Late Show” host contrasted the Fox stars’ “honest reaction” off camera to the way they downplayed the insurrection on TV.
Matt Wilstein

Stephen Colbert could not wait to dive into the latest bombshell from the Jan. 6 investigation on Tuesday night’s Late Show, spending the bulk of his monologue on the recently revealed text messages that were sent to Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows during the insurrection. The host began with the messages from Donald Trump Jr., who begged Meadows to get his father to deliver an Oval Office address, writing, “He’s got to condemn this shit ASAP.” more...
Amanda Marcotte, Salon

After a full day of silence, the hosts of Fox News finally quit ignoring their bombshell text message scandal and came out swinging. It's unclear, however, why they needed an entire day to draft their responses as what they finally offered was both lazy and incoherent. The text messages sent to Donald Trump's former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Jan. 6 indisputably prove that Fox News hosts deliberately lie to their audiences.

Privately, the network's biggest stars were freaked out by the Capitol insurrection. They clearly, and correctly, saw it as something Donald Trump purposefully instigated. Publicly, however, they were willing to deflect blame from Trump, defend the rioters and minimize the violence. But rather than apologize to their viewers for spending 11 months lying to them, the hydra-headed Fox News monster just threw out a bunch of contradictory and not even remotely persuasive excuses. more...
By Ewan Palmer

Geraldo Rivera launched an on-air attack against Sean Hannity on Tuesday after it was revealed that he and other Fox News personalities messaged Donald Trump 's former chief of staff Mark Meadows during the January 6 insurrection, urging the then-president to put an end to the riot. Rivera appeared on Hannity's show after the House Select Committee investigating the attack at the Capitol revealed that Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade all texted Meadows as the mob was storming the building, citing concerns about the violence taking place and how negatively it would affect Trump. "Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol," Hannity texted Meadows on January 6, revealed Republican Rep. Liz Cheney , vice chair of the congressional committee investigating the riot. more...
Fox News' cared more about a Christmas tree fire than they did about the Capitol riot and Trump coup attempt.

Don Lemon Tonight

CNN's Brianna Keilar compares Fox News' outrage over the Christmas tree arson that took place outside of the network's headquarters during the holiday season and the armed attack on the Capitol on January 6th. video...
Fox News anchors caught lying, again.

CNN

The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot is moving forward with criminal contempt proceedings against former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows after he halted cooperation with the panel. CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger and chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin react. video...
Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

(CNN) They knew. They all knew. The release of texts on Monday night sent to former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on January 6 amount to a smoking gun when it comes to whether those in and around the President were aware of the rising insurrection of that day and the role then-President Donald Trump himself needed to play. There was Donald Trump Jr.: "He's got to condemn this sh*t ASAP."

And Sean Hannity: "Can he make a statement? Ask people to leave the Capitol?" And Laura Ingraham: "Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. This is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy." And Brian Kilmeade: "Please, get him on TV. Destroying everything you have accomplished." There can be no doubt that, in the moment, those who had Trump's ear -- from his eldest son to his enablers on Fox News -- were not only aware of what was happening at the US Capitol, but also were pressuring Meadows (and presumably Trump) to do something about it. more...
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