ed henry
<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">120</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><header class="editorial-fullheader" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><h1 class="editorial-fulltitle page-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 0.45455em; padding: 0px;"><span property="schema:name" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox “news” anchor poses absurd Trump defenses in Buttigieg interview</font></span></h1><p class="byline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0.3rem; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="bylinelabel" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0.5rem;">WRITTEN BY</span> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/author/eric-kleefeld" hreflang="en" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">ERIC KLEEFELD</a></font></p><div class="dateline--group" style="box-sizing: border-box; align-items: center; display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap;"><p class="dateline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="datelinelabel" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-right: 0.5rem;">PUBLISHED</span> <time datetime="2020-02-03T12:41:57-0500" style="box-sizing: border-box;">02/03/20 12:41 PM EST</time></font></p></div></header><div class="editorial-fullarticle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 2.25rem;"><div class="field field--name-field-stories-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of Fox’s purported “news”-side anchors interviewed Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on the morning of the Iowa caucuses, making a few partisan and easily debunked claims in defense of President Donald Trump.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a discussion over how Buttigieg is reaching out to rural areas, the candidate said farmers are being hurt by Trump’s trade war. But wait, Henry asked, what about Trump’s recent passage of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)?</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><font size="4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 320 covid</font></font></div><div><font size="4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></div><div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="" /><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="" /></font><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b>Here are just some of the most notable examples of conservative media pushing this negligent narrative:</b></font></font></p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; clear: both; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">America’s Newsroom </em>co-anchor <a href="https://twitter.com/LisPower1/status/1242443271634386952" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Ed Henry</a> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">said that “you don’t want to minimize any lives,” but then noted a “best estimate” of the mortality rate is less than 1%, and asked “what is the balance?”</span></li></ul></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; clear: both; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><b>Fox primetime host <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-you-cant-just-let-epidemiologists-run-country" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Tucker Carlson</a> argued that “you can't just let epidemiologists run a country.” </b></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Texas Lt. Gov. <a href="https://twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1242245135129346050" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Dan Patrick</a> appeared on Carlson’s show to suggest that many grandparents, like himself, would be willing to die if it meant saving the economy. </p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Right-wing radio host Buck Sexton <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3861001" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">tweeted</a>, then deleted, a comment saying that “America is going to have to go back to work very soon, even if that means there are more casualties from Covid-19 than would occur under this continued extreme shutdown.” Sexton added that, “it’s a hard thing to say, but it is reality and we need to accept and act on it.”</p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News host <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-news-host-criticizes-dr-faucis-quarantine-recommendations-it-will-hurt" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Steve Hilton</a> said: “You know that famous phrase ‘the cure is worse than the disease’? That is exactly the territory we are hurtling towards"</p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">[pix]</p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"> Fox News’<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Bill Hemmer Reports</em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, Heritage Foundation fellow <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3860686" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Stephen Moore</a>, a former Trump adviser, said that “we have reached the point where maybe the cure is worse than the disease.”</span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; clear: both; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">A panel on Fox Business’ <em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-business-panel-says-economic-shutdown-worse-virus-praises-uk-strategy" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Mornings with Maria</a></em> agreed that the economic shutdown is worse then the deadly virus itself, expressing support for the U.K.’s strategy of “encouraging people to go out, pretty much expecting that everybody will get it, and that's the point.”</p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/23/is-social-distancing-saving-lives-or-ruining-them/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Federalist</a> published an article asking the “harsh” question of “whether the nation might be better off letting a few hundred thousand people die.” The article argues that social distancing policies restrict “freedom” and are giving Americans “a dress rehearsal for tyranny."</span></p></li></ul></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; clear: both; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Another article published in <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/19/will-the-costs-of-a-great-depression-outweigh-the-risks-of-coronavirus/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Federalist</a> asked, “<b>Will the costs of a Great Depression outweigh the risks of coronavirus?” </b></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/rethinking-the-coronavirus-shutdown-11584659154?mod=opinion_lead_pos1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Wall Street Journal</a> published an op-ed titled “Rethinking the Coronavirus Shutdown: No society can safeguard public health for long at the cost of its economic health.” </font></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Fox Nation host <a href="https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/1242252300078313472" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Tomi Lahren</a> tweeted, “these Democratic governors and mayors are LOVING all this power. Every day they take away a little more and a little more.” In another tweet, <a href="https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/1242254064026451968" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Lahren</a> attacked California Governor Gavin Newsom for closing hiking trails and state parks.</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; clear: both; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Top Trump economic adviser <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/larry-kudlow-says-well-have-to-make-difficult-tradeoffs-on-coronavirus-and-economy?ref=wrap" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Larry Kudlow</a> appeared on <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">America’s Newsroom</em>, where he told co-anchor Ed Henry that he agrees with the president that “the cure can’t be worse than the disease, and we’re gonna have to make some difficult trade-offs.” </p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><font color="#000000"><a href="https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/03/trump-posts-flurry-of-tweets-suggesting-the-destruction-of-the-us-economy-over-chinese-flu-is-not-in-his-plans/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">The Gateway Pundit</a> published an article cheering Trump's tweets for suggesting “the destruction of the US economy over [the] Chinese Flu is not in his plans.”</font></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Right-wing commentator <a href="https://twitter.com/mitchellvii/status/1241843382512766976" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Bill Mitchell</a> theorized that the virus was a bioweapon designed to hurt the economy, tweeting, “The difference between a #BioWeapon and a #BioEconomicWeapon</span>? A #BioWeapon is designed to destroy the enemy's fighting and working age population. A #BioEconomicWeapon is designed to destroy an enemy's economy through fear. #BioEconomicWeapons require #Media allies to work.”</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; clear: both; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Fox News host <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3860711" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Mark Levin</a> said that “we cannot have medical experts and scientists making economic policy. We just can’t. So there needs to be a more sober look at this.” </p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">Right-wing radio host <a href="https://twitter.com/JesseKellyDC/status/1241432865772056577" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Jesse Kelly</a> tweeted: “You do not destroy your economy for any reason. ... The show must go on.”</p></li></ul></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--twitter-tweet paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="field field--name-field-twitter-tweet field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; clear: both; list-style: none; padding: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Next Revolution</em>, Turning Point USA’s <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3860636" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Charlie Kirk</a> argued that Americans are panicked about the “economic catastrophe” and therefore must go back to work, saying that “you cannot cage the American entrepreneur.”</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;">The Daily Wire’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/walsh-we-dont-have-to-destroy-our-economy-to-prevent-mass-deaths-from-the-coronavirus-heres-a-different-plan" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Matt Walsh</a> published an article saying that “no government” has ever “willfully plunged itself into a depression, obliterating its own economy on purpose, in order to prevent some other potential calamity."</p></li><li dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.75em; padding-left: 2.4rem; position: relative;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News host <a href="https://twitter.com/IngrahamAngle/status/1242068254153232385" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Laura Ingraham</a> tweeted that “doctors provide medical treatment and cures—they should not be the determinative voices in policy making now or at the end of 15 days."</span></p></li></ul></div></div></div></div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">...</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div><div><font size="4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 220</font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="yiv0114538997stylingblock-content-wrapper" style="min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0114538997stylingblock-content-wrapper yiv0114538997camarker-inner" style="border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><div style="line-height: 31px;"><p style="margin: 1em 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">trump's impeachment trial appears to be in the end phase now. Here's some ways that media outlets pushed misinformation about it this week:</font></p><ul><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Straight news” anchor Ed Henry <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d3ffc713612c5f03c534936bdbb52622ecef429987a7049e39b39b37a13040a4e6bc6af7302d31a23e83ca9294747b1029" title="spread disinformation and GOP talking points">spread disinformation and GOP talking points</a>.</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump's impeachment trial defense <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d35cc6f6075802da618a7edfa11c6f49b67e513e8748389ec4cd3bb2a97ec6046f20f70d626c307dae74ef6fdadc7ecfde" title="came from Hannity's Fox show">came from Hannity's Fox show</a>.</b></font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Multiple media outlets <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d398c60ba8ee0c32ec0bde6c12e2ab8e15e671caf8dcda38291d6f7504fcb58334ba815b92eb0b308278957d0182e90cd8" title="glossed over">glossed over</a> Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz's radical claim of limitless executive power. A Fox News guest <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d3902f01a2076cfa324d01f2eb0e2d0ddf6d0fdf47e944e98e7b9cba96ac085a513609cba453f0974c2a6ff8d4d1a601d8" title="said that">said that</a> Dershowitz's argument about virtually unlimited executive power was “very good” and “persuasive”</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox's straight news coverage of impeachment <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d3014d6731a402cba60ad3674aa4137c3191307b74c4689ac59d0b7797d50b8ada27edba78a27e9116a5dfa3ad4d347be8" title="was just recycled GOP talking points">was just recycled GOP talking points</a>.</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rudy Giuliani's <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d38cd3c4d4aca365cf7932c71672695647d2678d07a91e16bca615408e3a0017d2aff96ec5d0444be87dccae705a0d7134" title="wild podcast">wild podcast</a> featured the same old debunked evidence combined with wildly irresponsible conspiracy theories, like when he suggested that anyone who criticized a corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor was bought off.</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Julie Millican <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d3cadd30b2530a332f4b6083142c907659bc327ce20857635dac7585dd98c0b7376651102a0f6987c8ca2280602f517df4" title="talked to the CBC">talked to the CBC</a> about how Trump's impeachment defense is “100 percent coming from the right-wing media.”</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We saw media outlets this week run really tough interviews with Republicans or members of Trump's legal team -- but then just tweet out what the person being interviewed said. It happened both with good interviews by <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d3422ef8383c144955bad2025dbae81039f9c5d98b224be9c654c10c1228c4bdfee479d5b315e7646bbcefc1b569bf5108" title="Jake Tapper on CNN">Jake Tapper on CNN</a> and <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d3b9aefcebb16c407f3ef92025c1623071f314f89accff81798fc3da41e41b34ccf99189bbcbc2cd56655aeb3913119586" title="Ari Melber on MSNBC">Ari Melber on MSNBC</a>.</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PBS and NPR <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d30eb5a972dad558942e302712060265513f81fa032835c15d647b461815b878689f75671b81120ce2e504944ab52d0d5f" title="featured “both sides” impeachment coverage">featured “both sides” impeachment coverage</a> — while Trump threatens them.</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><i>Fox & Friends</i> <a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d3399663562709e8a778b7776b38f3330121de268368a72c80fec1083a3761aefbceb55a25701e56a34e13ed8ba39f945f" title="pushed for">pushed for</a> no witnesses and a Trump acquittal as soon as possible.</font></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="yiv0114538997stylingblock-content-wrapper" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0114538997stylingblock-content-margin-cell" style="border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px 10px;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" class="yiv0114538997stylingblock-content-wrapper" style="background-color: transparent; min-width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="yiv0114538997stylingblock-content-wrapper yiv0114538997camarker-inner" style="border-collapse: collapse; padding: 0px;"><h2 style="line-height: 1;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://click.e.mediamatters.org/?qs=76fbeba8221230d39cb341e26218284e8710cd3d144ba3e164d17dd943cb705ecd4f190247df71fad6ac9f924758cedaab5f35152f28ae5a" title="Right-wing media never wanted Bolton to testify">Right-wing media never wanted Bolton to testify</a>...</font></h2></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><div><font size="4"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">==</font></div><div><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/sean-hannity-trump-political-operative-and-fox-news-doesnt-care"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/sean-hannity-trump-political-operative-and-fox-news-doesnt-care</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">you’d be forgiven if, amid the lead-up to President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate and the ongoing Democratic presidential primary, you missed BuzzFeed News’ <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/emmaloop/sean-hannity-trump-allies-mueller-memos-fox-news" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">story</a> last week detailing how <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Fox News host Sean Hannity served “as a central point of contact” between the president and his associates under investigation during special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election. But the report -- and Fox News’ lack of interest in addressing it -- marks new terrain for Hannity’s unpaid position in the Trump White House and his network’s effective merger with the administration.</span></font></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;" /><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Hannity has spent the last few years finding new and original ways to set afire the journalism ethics rules enforced elsewhere, from endorsing the then-Republican nominee in a <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/09/20/sean-hannity-in-trouble-at-fox-after-participating-in-trump-ad" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">campaign ad</a> to failing to disclose that he <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-trump-lawyer-michael-cohens-secret-client" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">shared a lawyer</a> with the president to <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-and-end-fox-news-standards-charade" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">speaking at one of Trump’s rallies</a>.</b> Each of these instances underscored Hannity’s unconscionable role as a political operative whose first loyalty is to Trump, someone who simultaneously hosts a propaganda show enforcing the president’s positions while shaping Trump’s views as a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hannitys-rising-role-in-trumps-world-he-basically-has-a-desk-in-the-place/2018/04/17/e2483018-4260-11e8-8569-26fda6b404c7_story.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">powerful adviser</a>.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The details BuzzFeed News revealed after combing through summaries of Mueller team interviews with key witnesses show that the Fox host hasn’t just been advising the president. Former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort and longtime Trump lawyer Michael Cohen each revealed to the special counsel’s office that Hannity had also counseled them on how to respond to probes from Mueller and the House of Representatives, respectively, even as he reported on their cases on his Fox show. </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>BuzzFeed News quotes from a particularly instructive summary of an October 2018 interview, in which Manafort describes Hannity as acting as a “back channel” to the president between the time FBI raided Manafort’s residence in July 2017 and when he was indicted in October 2017.</b> “Manafort knew Hannity was speaking to Trump around then because Hannity would tell Manafort to hang in there, that he had been talking to Trump, that Trump had his back, and things like that,” the summary states. “Manafort understood his conversations with Hannity to be a message from Trump.” </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The summary provides new context for text messages Hannity sent Manafort during that period urging the former Trump campaign chair to “stay strong,” suggesting that Manafort at least believed the remarks to be from the president to influence him not to cooperate with the Mueller probe. And it shows Hannity privately and egregiously engaged with the subjects of his putative reporting.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">These revelations would be completely unacceptable at any other network. But the most important line of BuzzFeed News’ story is the one that indicates that for Hannity’s network, they aren’t even worth publicly addressing: “Fox News declined to answer a series of questions BuzzFeed News sent the network about Hannity’s appearance in the documents.” </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This passivity marks a change for Fox, which has previously responded to new revelations about its star host’s second life as an unpaid Trump aide first by pledging tough action and later by at least pretending to care with empty statements. </b>Hannity’s <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2016/09/20/sean-hannity-in-trouble-at-fox-after-participating-in-trump-ad" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">2016 appearance</a> in the Trump ad led to a swift statement from a Fox spokesperson promising that it would not happen again. After <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-trump-lawyer-michael-cohens-secret-client" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">news broke</a> that Cohen had at one point represented Hannity -- a fact the Fox host never mentioned on-air while discussing Cohen’s own legal troubles -- Fox <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/17/watchdogs-attack-sean-hannity-for-hiding-link-to-trump-lawyer-cohen.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">issued a statement</a> saying that the host had been “spoken to.” And Hannity’s appearance on stage at the November 2018 Trump rally <a href="https://twitter.com/oliverdarcy/status/1059860406448066560" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">led to Fox statement</a> that the network did not “condone” the appearance and that it “has been addressed.” </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>These were all woefully insufficient responses to what would likely have been, at any other news outlet, firing offenses. </b>But they at least indicated that Fox felt it had to say something about its employee’s casual disregard for basic precepts of journalistic integrity. That no longer appears to be the case. </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It’s possible that Fox executives have simply given up trying to deny the reality that Hannity’s top priority is the president, not their network or their audience. But this shift in public relations strategy may also speak to a shift in the power dynamic between Fox’s “news” and “opinion” side. In the past, Hannity’s ethical misdeeds would lead to an <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/destructive-propaganda-machine-how-current-and-former-staffers-have-ripped-fox-news?redirect_source=/research/2019/07/10/destructive-propaganda-machine-how-current-and-former-staffers-have-ripped-fox-news/224153" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">angry backlash</a> from his “news”-side colleagues, sometimes spilling out into public view in the form of enraged anonymous comments to other outlets. </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But over the past year, Fox’s “news” side has been completely routed in this internal battle. Longtime lead anchor <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/shepard-smith/shep-smiths-departure-disaster-fox-news" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Shepard Smith</a>, who was <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/fact-vs-fiction-fox-news-shep-smith-regularly-debunks-sean-hannitys-lies-and" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">willing to push back</a> against the disinformation rampant elsewhere on the network and even feud with his prime-time colleagues, left the channel in October. His replacement,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/bill-hemmer/bill-hemmer-fox-shows-it-fully-committed-pro-trump-line" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Bill Hemmer</a>, is more comfortable hewing to the pro-Trump line</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> and has used the media rollout for his new gig </span><a href="https://twitter.com/jeremymbarr/status/1217888651113353216" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">carefully avoiding ruffling the feathers</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> of either Fox’s “opinion” hosts or the White House. Hemmer’s own replacement, <b>Ed Henry</b>, has spent the last few years cozily </span><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/ed-henry/ed-henry-serial-misinformer-now-one-fox-news-weekday-co-anchors" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: border-box; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">ensconced</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> on </span><em style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: border-box;">Fox & Friends</em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">’ curvy couch as a co-host of its weekend edition. With Smith gone, voices of criticism within Fox seem to have been muted.</span> </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the “news” side either replaced by shills or cowed by the changing of the guard, Fox executives no longer face internal pressure to rein in the likes of Hannity. That may leave them with no reason to restrain their opinion hosts other than their own regard for journalistic ethics. And as the ongoing silence on the Manafort connection shows, that doesn’t amount to much.</font></p></div>