Trump is Trump. There’s nothing new to say about the man. But there is still lots to learn about his enablers. So many people, from GOP functionaries to Fox News hosts, are helping him to undermine democracy by denying the election and attacking reality. So many people are complicit.
Ron Brownstein on CNN Sunday night: As Trump’s conspiracy theory about the “rigged” election “gets more and more fantastical and far-reaching, implicating the DOJ, the FBI, and Republican governors, the silence of Republicans in Congress — Mitch McConnell in particular, Kevin McCarthy in particular, who are allowing this poison to spread in the American political system — looks more and more like a modern analogue to the silence of Republican congressional leaders during the rampages of Joe McCarthy in the early 1950s. I think history will have no trouble finding a parallel between Mitch McConnell’s efforts to kind of look the other way and what so many Republican leaders did until Joseph Welch said, at long last, sir ‘have you no decency?'”
Trump is backsliding
The Murdochs own this
Trumpism is a big part of Fox’s business model. The men who control Fox, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, were evidently pleased enough by Bartiromo’s propaganda, proud enough of her Trump sycophancy, that they rebroadcast her 10am ET hour at 3pm.
That’s clear, convincing language. So then why did Fox broadcast all of Trump’s claims without any real-time followups? A Fox spokesperson did not respond to my inquiries.
Trump said Hannity ‘gets it,’ but…
Darcy’s questions
Oliver Darcy writes: “In the past Maria Bartiromo has been portrayed as a member of Fox’s ‘straight news’ division — an arm of Fox that Bret Baier and Chris Wallace serve as the faces for. So it’s worth asking: Where are they? Are they OK with their colleague fanning the flames of these deranged conspiracy theories? Do they think that deranged behavior represents them well?”
>> Darcy’s other questions: “Is Trump ‘coming out of his shell’ so to speak? Will he call into Hannity and ‘Fox & Friends’ in the coming days?”
The irony is rich
Oliver Darcy adds: “If you’ve watched Fox News over the past week, you’ve no doubt seen a segment or two assailing reporters for lobbing supposed ‘softball’ questions at Biden. These segments have dominated Fox’s talk shows lately. Which made Bartiromo’s “interview” a display of astounding double standards and heaps of hypocrisy. Think about Bartiromo’s “interview” the next time Fox has the nerve to attack reporters for the questions they ask Biden or members of his forthcoming administration…”
