With Friends Like These: Fox & Friends' Epic Year Of Misinformation
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The past year found Fox & Friends solidifying its position as part of the campaign arm of the Republican Party through a barrage of attacks on President Obama, Islam, immigrants, health care, climate change, and by relentlessly campaigning for the GOP leading up to the midterm elections. Media Matters offers a look back at some of Fox & Friends' most outrageous moments of 2010.
The Relentless Smear Campaign Against Obama
Doocy: "Could President Obama Be Running The Most Destructive Administration In Our History?" On the August 26 show, co-host Steve Doocy introduced David Limbaugh to promote his book by asking, "From health care to the billion dollar stimulus -- trillion dollar stimulus -- President Obama has been pushing through legislation despite public outcry against it. Still, he claims to be doing it for all of us, the people. ... But could President Obama be running the most destructive administration in our history?" [Fox & Friends, 8/26/10]
Varney: "You're Asking Me, Is [Obama] A Socialist, And The Answer Is: He Sure Looks Like One." On the February 25 edition of Fox & Friends, responding to President Obama's claim that he is "an ardent believer in the free market," co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Fox Business host Stuart Varney, "Does he have a right to be defensive, or does his track record say something different?" Varney responded:
VARNEY: Well, look, he has nationalized industries, from cars to housing to student loans, and maybe health care. He has demonized profitable industries, from oil to banks. He's expanded the role of government and vastly expanded the workforce of the government. He's redistributed wealth and income. Those are all the hallmarks of a very left-of-center administration which is making America look more and more like Europe. So the answer -- look, you're asking me, is he a socialist, and the answer is: He sure looks like one. [Fox News' Fox & Friends, 2/25/10]
Carlson: "Some Would Say" That Obama Is "Apologizing To These Muslim Terrorists ... Instead Of Taking Them Head On." On the January 7 edition of the show, co-host Gretchen Carlson responded to a story that counterterrorism official Michael Leiter stayed on vacation after the attempted 2009 Christmas Day attack by saying "that would be the microcosm of what some people say is the macrocosm of this administration's viewpoints on the war on terror. That, some would argue, that if it's not taken seriously or if you have a different ideology about apologizing to these Muslim terrorists, some would say, instead of actually taking them on, head on, then this is the kind of action that you get from your top people." [Fox & Friends, 1/7/10]
Kilmeade Asks, "If [Obama] Was Worried" About People Thinking He's Muslim, "Wouldn't He Have Kept His Name As Barry And Not Barack?" On the August 30 edition of the show, Kilmeade reacted to news that "24 percent of this country thinks the president is a Muslim" by asking, "If he was worried about that would he have changed -- kept his name as Barry and not Barack?" [Fox & Friends, 8/30/10]
Dobbs: Obama To Start Ruling "By Fiat" Because "This Has Been Too Complicated, This Democracy Thing." On the February 16 edition of the show, guest Lou Dobbs responded to a story about Obama's ability to communicate his message by falsely claiming, "What I find interesting, Steve, is now they're announcing that they're going to do things by executive order, by fiat" because "this has been too complicated, this democracy thing." [Fox & Friends, 2/16/10]
The Year-Long Campaign Against Islam
Kilmeade: "Not All Muslims Are Terrorists, But All Terrorists Are Muslims." On the October 15 edition of the show, Kilmeade defended Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's comments on the October 14 edition of ABC's The View by claiming the show's hosts "were outraged that somebody was saying there's a reason -- there was a certain group of people that attacked us on 9-11. It wasn't just one person. It was one religion. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." Kilmeade later apologized, saying "I'm sorry about that, if I offended or hurt anybody's feelings. But that's it." [Fox & Friends, 10/15/10, 10/18/10]
Peter Johnson Jr.: New York Muslims Should "Give Up Their Rights" In Order To Be "Good Neighbors." Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. stated on the August 20 edition of the show that the issue of the Park51 Islamic center is "about neighbors becoming good neighbors." He added: "Any American can assert a right. Great Americans give up their rights to help those they share nothing else with but a love of this country." On September 3, Johnson repeated that those building the Islamic center should "give up their First Amendment rights." [Fox & Friends, 8/20/10, 9/3/10]
Fox & Friends Allows, Then Whitewashes, Franklin Graham's Incendiary Anti-Islam Rhetoric. Rev. Franklin Graham appeared on the April 22 edition of the show and expressed his desire to convert Muslims, adding that he wants Muslims "to know that they don't have to die in a car bomb; they don't have to die in some kind of holy war to be accepted by God" and that he's speaking "out for people that live under Islam, that are enslaved by Islam." Following his appearance, Carlson reported that the Army had rescinded Graham's invitation to speak at the Pentagon's Day of Prayer, saying that "so many people believe that the Army acquiesced" to Graham's opponents, while Johnson defended Graham's comments, saying, "Vindictiveness has won over redemption, has won over prayer," and asking whether "we have an America-lite now where we are embarrassed by our sons?" [Fox & Friends, 4/22/10, 4/23/10]
Kilmeade Reacts To Bloomberg's Park51 Support With Anti-Muslim Rant. On the August 25 edition of the show, Kilmeade played video of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's statement that "Islam did not attack the World Trade Center, Al Qaeda did. To implicate all of Islam for the actions of a few who twisted a great religion is unfair and un-American." Kilmeade responded:
KILMEADE: That's one way of looking at it, you could say just for a few. Those few have us bogged down really in two wars, one of which, I guess, is concluding. And then we have those few people in Yemen and those few people in Somalia and those few people that blew up in Madrid, and those few people that -- those bus bombings in London. Besides those few, I don't really see the problem. [Fox & Friends, 8/25/10]
Fox & Friends Shows Map Of 9-11 Victims' "Body Parts Found 348 Feet" From Proposed Islamic Center. On the September 10 edition of the show, Kilmeade reacted to a report that Donald Trump had offered to buy the site of the proposed Park51 community center by saying, "Let me just give you a reality check, because the [New York] Post did one -- and got this map, and it's a, to me, it's a very sad map, but a telling map, of the recovered body parts and remains of those who lost their lives on 9-11, almost nine years to the day." Fox & Friends then showed a map of Lower Manhattan with dots to represent recovered remains from the 9-11 attacks, with arrows pointing to them, emanating from the proposed Park51 building site. [Fox & Friends, 9/10/10]
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