Fox Nation vs. Reality: Mitt Romney’s Chinese Jeep Myth Revisited

When Fox News grabs hold of a blatant and self-serving lie, they just won’t let go no matter the cost to their credibility (assuming they had any). The latest of example of this destructive tenacity is a story on Fox Nation that unbelievably declares that “Romney Was Right: Chrysler CEO Announces Plans to Build More Jeeps in China.”

Fox Nation

Umm, no, Romney was not right. In fact he was so outrageously, horrendously, desperately wrong that his craven assertions about Jeep manufacturing were awarded “Lie of the Year” for 2012 by Politifact:

“Even though Jeep’s parent company gave a quick and clear denial, Mitt Romney repeated it and his campaign turned it into a TV ad. And they stood by the claim, even as the media and the public expressed collective outrage against something so obviously false.”

Of course, the Romney campaign had explicitly castoff any respect for truth when they introduced their Etch-a-Sketch strategy and declared that facts had “jumped the shark.” But for the Fox Nationalists to reach back to last year’s most notorious falsehood and feature it on their news feed is an act of the purest chutzpah.

The Washington Examiner article to which Fox Nation linked provided no new information relating to Chrysler’s Jeep production plans. Chrysler has always maintained that there would be jeep facilities in China and elsewhere for foreign consumption, but that the U.S. would be the “backbone of the brand,” and that American jobs would not be transferred to other countries. That is still the case and was merely reiterated in the recent news from Chrysler.

Nevertheless, Fox is dishonestly advancing a lie that was soundly debunked long ago, and with a smug, ersatz satisfaction that they were proven right, even though they were not. The only explanation for this departure from reality is that Fox is attempting to set new records for pathetic idiocy. Luckily for them, their editors are already the reigning record holders.

[Update 1/19/13] Talk about tenacious… Not four days since the Fox Nationalists posted this nonsense, they have repeated the falsehood with another posting headlined “Politifact’s ‘Lie Of The Year’ Is Actually True.” This time they sourced their sloppy pseudo-journalism to the Weekly Standard. But it is no less a lie now than it was the first time they proffered it.

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6 thoughts on “Fox Nation vs. Reality: Mitt Romney’s Chinese Jeep Myth Revisited

  1. If one can keep insisting that past lies are indeed fact then you set up a scenario that Romney was right which lends itself to conspiracy theory to the how and why Obama “stole the election”.
    This plays well with the average Fox viewer who may not be all that interested in the reality of a given situation but is motivated by the belief that progressive or liberal cabal is threatening their way of life.

  2. I wonder how they are going to spin the fact that Chrysler is doing so well that the company is keeping the parent company, Fiat, afloat by using some of their plants in Europe.

  3. Do I understand the “FACTS” that Fiat is going to build Jeeps in China and Italy? So fact is these are American workers jobs in China and Italy! Oh, I get it, these are American workers who are going to be working in China and Italy! Right! Oh Yeah, right. Chrysler is doing soo well that “Fiat” is just going to use their European plants “In Europe” to build JEEPS! Sound to me like Mitt knew more about the auto industry than Obama knows about where jobs are located. Typical Democrate double speak!!

    • FACTS: The number of American jobs building Jeeps that are going to other countries is zero. Is that too hard for you to comprehend?

      There have always been foreign auto plants, but Romney’s lie was that jobs presently in the US would be shipped offshore. That’s not true. So Romney (and you) are woefully ignorant about this.

  4. I don’t see what the big deal is on this. Jeeps were produced in China the entire time George W. Bush was in office. In fact, they were produced there for nearly 3 decades for the Chinese. As they will be again.

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