Inauguration Day Full Coverage: Joe Biden Sworn In As 46th President Kamala Harris As First Female Vice President
Joe Biden is inaugurated hours after his predecessor leaves the White House, clearing the way for a beleaguered nation to turn the page on one of the most divisive chapters in its political history.
Its doubtful Trump could have radicalized as many Americans as he has without the help of media juggernaut Fox News. Hannity, along with colleagues Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Lou Dobbs and the rest of the crew, have been instrumental in mainstreaming Trumps far-right positions on everything from immigration to policing, parroting his lies and threats, and giving credence to his absurd conspiracy theories including the debunked claims of election fraud that led to the Capitol insurrection. And if theres any question as to how the conservative news network became a legitimizer of Trumps propaganda and deep-state fantasies, Fox News devolution has been televised.
The crown jewel of Rupert Murdochs media empire, at least in the U.S., has propagated any number of the Trump administrations most consequential and damaging falsehoods, many in the service of exonerating or supporting the president himself in a time of scandal or crisis. Staffer Seth Rich involved in DNC email leak! Immigrant caravans at the border riddled with MS-13 gang members! Hunter Bidens laptop! COVID-19 is a hoax! Stop the steal!
% Of Fox News 97% Of Oann Newsmax Viewers Believe Trump’s Stolen Election Claim: Poll
A new poll published Monday found that the majority of viewers of conservative-leaning cable television believe former President Donald Trump‘s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.
The national poll, conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute , discovered that 82 percent of regular Fox News viewerswho stated that they trust the outlet more than any other networkagreed with the former president’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.
Fox News reporters have often reiterated Trump’s claims in the year since the election, and the outlet’s website also has an entire page dedicated to stories on voter fraud concerns.
One of the networks’ biggest stars, Tucker Carlson, admitted in a September interview that “I try never to lie on TV. I just don’tI don’t like lying, I certainly do it, you know, out of weakness or whatever.”
The network has had a $1.6 billion lawsuit filed against it by Dominion Voting after it alleged that the company was using its voting machines to help rig the election.
The polling numbers were even higher among watchers of far-right media like One America News Network and Newsmax, with 97 percent of viewers buying into former President Trump’s claims.
“It was never, never the full truth,” the producer added.
Among members of that party, 30 percent of those polled stated that they believed some form of violence would be needed to fix the aforementioned issues.
Why Do All The Women On Fox News Look And Dress Alike Republicans Prefer Blondes
From pundits like Ann Coulter to Kellyanne Conway, American rightwingers are a uniform vision of dont scare-the-horses dressing
Why do so many rightwing American women have bottle-blond hair, often worn girlishly long? Im thinking of Kellyanne Conway, Ann Coulter and almost any woman on Fox News.
Jonathan, London N16
Excellent question, Jonathan! I was pondering something similar myself recently while looking through Ivanka Trumps fashion collection on ivankatrump.com, which seems to be one of the only places it is stocked these days. The grimly bland suede pumps, the simpering floral shifts, the just-flirtatious-enough body-skimming little black dresses welcome, people, to death by mainstream feminine. You know how your mother goes on about how you wear too much black/denim/weird stuff, and you cant figure out what the hell it is she expects you to wear? Well, allow me to introduce you to Ivanka Trump. What a shame it seems to be sold almost nowhere these days, as these are the clothes your mother dreams of. Oh well, looks like shell have to put up with you in your awesome Bella Freud jumper and Topshop wide-legged culottes combo for another weekend!
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Nyc Human Rights Law Violations
In mid-2021, Fox News agreed to pay a $1 million settlement to New York City after its Commission on Human Rights cited “a pattern of violating the NYC Human Rights Law“. A Fox News spokesperson claimed that “FOX News Media has already been in full compliance across the board, but to continue enacting extensive preventive measures against all forms of discrimination and harassment.”
Us Election Latest From Battleground State Pennsylvania
— Fox News needs Donald Trump to win but not for the reason you think.
A press release landed in media reporters inboxes last week: Fox News Channel Earns Highest-Rated Primetime Monthly Average in the History of Cable Led by Tucker Carlson Tonight. Carlson, Foxs biggest moneymaker, drew more than 5 million viewers on average to his show last month, with Sean Hannitys program close behind. Ratings for Fox News overall surged 43 per cent during the third quarter from a year earlier as it moderated the first U.S. presidential debate and covered the race and the many controversies surrounding it in its own Fox way. Stirring outrage among an ever-loyal audience of President Donald Trumps supporters has worked for Fox these last four years, but the election result could make or break the next four, or longer.
Foxs continued dominance is all but ensured if Trump wins again, as they both fight the same perceived enemy, the radical left. But should Democrat and former Vice President Joe Biden be elected, as polling predicts, Fox may face a new, genuine adversary: Trump TV.
Trump along with this family always seemed to want fame more than the presidency. If he loses, the real loser is Fox News. It will be interesting to see how that plays out, but investors already know what happened to Dr. Frankenstein.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
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How The Downfall Of Ailes Is Linked To The Rise Of Trump On Fox
Murdoch’s news channel began broadcasting in 1996 and Roger Ailes ran it for the next 20 years as the network’s creator.
Promoted as a conservative alternative to CNN, its motto was, “fair and balanced”. Ailes built Fox into the most successful cable news network in the US.
Gretchen Carlson was one of Fox News’s biggest stars for 11 years.
“It used to be you had the right opinion and the left opinion. And that was actually entertaining because you could watch it and you could say, oh yeah, I kinda see it that way. And I kinda see it this way. That just doesn’t exist anymore.”
But behind the scenes, Ailes was a serial sexual harasser.
Carlson made secret recordings of her meetings with Ailes which corroborated her sexual harassment allegations.
During an internal investigation, Ailes called on his old Democrat friend and lawyer Susan Estrich to run his defence.
“I said to him there were two ways to defend a sexual harassment case like this. One is by going out-and-out attack the complainants, the victims. ‘Nuts and sluts’, I coined the phrase, you know.
“She’s either crazy or she’s a slut or she’s one or both.
“I said if you want somebody to do that, I am the last person in the world to do it,” Estrich told Four Corners.
“If, on the other hand, our goal here is to do this in a dignified way then I’ll be good at that.”
Former Fox News Washington-based political editor Chris Stirewalt observed a “long, titanic” struggle between Ailes and Rupert Murdoch.
The Account Propped Up Earlier This Week Prompting Devin Nunez To Post A Welcome Note
Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile
Fox News has confirmed that it has no presence on Donald Trumps embattled social media platform Truth Social after an account bearing the networks name was listed as verified.
The account propped up earlier this week, prompting former congressman Devin Nunez, a Trump loyalist who heads Trump Media & Technology Group , to post a welcome note.
Great to have RSS feed for @FoxNews now LIVE here on TRUTH! This adds to @OAN and @NewsMax,” Mr Nunes said in a message posted to the platform, according to Axios.
A Fox News spokesperson, however, has since confirmed to The Independent and several other outlets that the network is not actually on Truth Social in any official capacity.
We are not on Truth Social, a Fox News spokesperson told Axios.
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Fox News Is The Republican Party
Trumpism will endure because Murdochs Fox News made that choice on behalf of the Republican Party it commands.
To see what is in front of ones nose, George Orwell wrote, is a constant struggle.
Orwells wise, timeless counsel is often lost on writers who prefer to bury the plain truth beneath a blizzard of distractions and obfuscations.
The tendency of Americas punditocracy to miss the glaring point has, once again, been on grating display in the still smouldering residue of the mad January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill conceived, planned and executed by thousands of Donald Trumps rabid disciples who were, on cue, unleashed en foaming masse by the former president.
Beyond considering Trumps political future, the punditocracy was seized with debating the existential implications of the deadly mayhem for the Republican Party.
The quick consensus was that a reckoning was certainly in the offing. The Republican Party confronted an inflection point the media-manufactured cliché du jour that required either finally abandoning Trumpism in the wake of the bloody insurrection or continuing to embrace it.
The assumption was that the Republican Party, including its congressional leadership, would make that seminal choice. But who constitutes the Republican Party and its leadership and how would they go about deciding which path to take?
These questions were largely left adrift.
What a chilling prospect.
It is a silly, almost comical, suggestion.
- About
Trump Hogan Trade Fire In Maryland Gop Gubernatorial Primary
Former President Donald Trump and Gov. Larry Hogan took aim at each other in Maryland’s GOP gubernatorial nomination race to succeed the term-limited Republican governor.
Trump, who last year endorsed state Delegate Dan Cox, claimed in a statement last week that Cox “is doing a great job running for Governor of Maryland.”
And the former president argued that “Dan will end Larry Hogans terrible RINO reign by defeating his “Never Trump” successor, another low-energy RINO, Kelly Schulz.”
Hogan backed Schulz a former state lawmaker who served as Marylands secretary of labor and secretary of commerce in the governors administration.
Hogan, in a Fox News interview, charged that Cox is a “crazy guy” who has “no business whatsoever running for governor and has no ability to win a race.”
To read more from Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, .
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The Secret History Of Kimberly Guilfoyles Departure From Fox
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Save this story for later.
As President Donald Trump heads into the 2020 elections, he faces a daunting gender gap: according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, he trails Joe Biden by thirty percentage points among female voters. As part of his campaign, Trump has been doing all he can to showcase female stars in the Republican Party, from nominating Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court to naming Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News host and legal analyst, his campaigns finance chair. Guilfoyle, however, may not be an ideal emissary. In November, 2018, a young woman who had been one of Guilfoyles assistants at Fox News sent company executives a confidential, forty-two-page draft complaint that accused Guilfoyle of repeated sexual harassment, and demanded monetary relief. The document, which resulted in a multimillion-dollar out-of-court settlement, raises serious questions about Guilfoyles fitness as a character witness for Trump, let alone as a top campaign official.
Until now, the specific accusations against Guilfoyle have remained largely hidden. The draft complaint, which was never filed in court, is covered by a nondisclosure agreement. The former assistant has not been publicly identified, and, out of respect for the rights of alleged victims of sexual harassment, The New Yorker is honoring her confidentiality. Reached for comment, she said, I wish you well. But I have nothing to say.
Unite The Right Rally In Charlottesville
Fox News hosts and contributors defended Trump’s remarks that “many sides” were to blame for violence at a gathering of hundreds of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Some criticized Trump. In a press conference on August 15, Trump used the term “alt-left” to describe counterprotesters at the white supremacist rally, a term which had been used in Fox News’ coverage of the white supremacist rally. Several of Trump’s comments at the press conference mirrored those appearing earlier on Fox News.
According to Dylan Byers of CNN, Fox News’ coverage on the day of the press conference “was heavy with “whataboutism“. The average Fox viewer was likely left with the impression that the media’s criticism of Trump and leftist protestors’ toppling of some Confederate statues were far greater threats to America than white supremacism or the president’s apparent defense of bigotry.” Byers wrote “it showed that if Fox News has a line when it comes to Trump’s presidency, it was not crossed on Tuesday.”
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Incumbent Democratic Reps David Trone And John Sarbanes Win Maryland Primary Races
Incumbent Democratic Reps. David Trone and John Sarbanes have defeated their primary challengers to clinch their party’s nomination to represent the state’s 6th Congressional District and the 3rdCongressional District, respectively.
The two will now advance to the November general election where they will face off against Republican challengers. While Sarbanes’ GOP challenger has yet to be determined, Trone will face off against Maryland state Delegate Neil Parrott, the GOP nominee to represent the Sixth District.
The races were called by The Associated Press.
Murdoch Has The Power If He Really Wants Trump To Move On
Rupert Murdoch told News Corps shareholders that former President Donald Trump needs to get over himself.
The current American political debate is profound, whether about education or welfare or economic opportunity, he said at Wednesdays annual meeting. It is crucial that conservatives play an active, forceful role in that debate, but that will not happen if President Trump stays focused on the past. The past is the past, and the country is now in a contest to define the future.
Rupert Murdochs Fox News has been the single most influential media platform supporting Donald Trump.Credit:The New York Times
Murdoch is the founder and executive chairman of News Corp, and its primary US holdings are Dow Jones & Company, which publishes the Wall Street Journal the New YorkPost and book publisher HarperCollins. Murdoch also met with shareholders of another one of his companies, Fox, last week. Fox, of course, owns lots of things named Fox, including Fox News. Murdoch didnt mention Trump at the Fox gathering.
It might have been healthy, and a public service, for Murdoch as Foxs chairman to share his thoughts about Trump with institutional investors such as Vanguard, Blackrock and Dodge & Cox that fund Foxs operations. Fox News has spent years amplifying the dangerous and damaging garbage Trump continues to peddle, and its the single most influential media platform supporting him. But such is life.
Bloomberg
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Is This The Death Of Fox Newss Love Affair With Donald Trump
Since his election loss, the rightwing network has distanced itself from Donald Trump. Where will the Maga brigade get their news now?
Poor Donald Trump. Not only has he lost the election, it looks as if he has lost the love of his life. Im not talking about Melania although some rumours have it that she is counting the minutes until she can get a divorce . Im talking about Fox News.
For years, Trump and Fox News have been in a committed, loving relationship. Recently, however, there has been trouble in paradise, with Trump complaining the network is a much different place than it used to be. The relationship might have been salvaged, but then Fox News did something unforgivable: it flirted with real journalism. On election day, it was the first major outlet to declare Joe Biden would win Arizona, sending the Trump administration into a meltdown. Since then, Fox News has continued to infuriate the White House by refusing to encourage Trumps delusion that he won the election. On Monday, for example, it cut away from the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, when she claimed that the Democrats had encouraged voter fraud. Whoa, whoa, whoa, the Fox News anchor said to the viewers. I cant in good countenance continue showing you this.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
How Election Night Began The ‘wall Of Deception’ On Fox News
On election night 2020, Fox’s decision desk was the first network to call Arizona a Republican state that Trump expected to win for Joe Biden. The call infuriated Trump as it undermined his narrative that he was the clear winner on election night.
Fox came under intense pressure from the Trump White House. Urgent meetings were convened at Fox News HQ in New York to examine the call.
“There was a lot of questions, right? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, are you sure?
“But there was not, ‘You must reverse this’,” Stirewalt, who had a critical role on the desk, told Four Corners.
Stirewalt wouldn’t confirm reports an executive told the desk to stop making further election calls.
Trump emerged in the early hours of the morning and claimed he had won the election. The speech would set the tone for his final fractious months in office.
“None of us had any way of knowing that night when we made that call for Arizona that it would become the first brick in this enormous wall of deception. It’s the worst thing that a president has done in my lifetime, certainly,” Stirewalt said.
“Worse than Watergate.”
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