Day: 5/3/2018

Staunchly Pro-Trump Fox News Host Calls Him Out on His Lies: Mr. President, That’s Your Stink

Posted by on May 3, 2018 at 8:05 pm. 2 Comments :

It seems like every week is one that can arguably be described as Donald Trump’s worst week ever. And that surely applies to this week wherein the President had his lawyer go on Fox News and tell Sean Hannity that he reimbursed his personal attorney for the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. And his pals at the National Enquirer went after Michael Cohen. And reports reveal the Cohen’s phone calls have been monitored by the Feds.

Fox News, Neil Cavuto, Stormy Daniels

Add to these setbacks a surprisingly critical monologue from Fox News host Neil Cavuto (video below). Cavuto has been one of the most reliable Trump supporters on the network. However, something must have clicked because this segment is bitingly harsh as he firmly renounces a cornucopia of Trump’s lies. The lecture addressed directly to Trump begins with Cavuto saying that:

“President Trump is fond of calling out the media on “fake” news. But is he the one giving them very real ammunition? Maybe not intentionally. I’ll even give you the benefit of the doubt, Mr. President, and say maybe not deliberately. But consistently. Way too consistently. So let me be clear Mr. President, how can you claim to be draining the swamp if you’re the one that keeps muddying the waters?”

Then Cavuto rattled off a series of Trump’s most recent and flagrant lies. He cites the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels; his denial of knowledge about MIchael Cohen’s activities on his behalf; his specious claims that there were no campaign finance violations. In each instance Cavuto noted that Trump stuck to his false claims until they could no longer be denied or his own party comrades debunked them.

Cavuto went on to itemize Trump’s catalog of obvious untruths such as claiming that the Russians didn’t interfere with the 2016 elections, and his subsequent denial that he ever made that claim; that his tax plan was the biggest ever; that those tax cuts would cost him a fortune; that his job approval numbers were better than his predecessors; that media reports that senior staffers (Secretary of State, Chief-of-Staff, economic advisor, political strategist, etc) were about to be fired were fake. Cavuto even brought up Trump’s denials that his lawyers (Dowd, Cobb) would be leaving, and that he denied ever considering firing Robert Mueller.

And even after that barrage of friendly fire Cavuto wasn’t done. He called Trump out for falsely saying that he signed more bills than any other president. And that he raised the national debt by over a trillion dollars despite claiming that he reduced it. And that there was massive voter fraud in New Hampshire and Virginia, and millions of illegal voters nationwide. And that his alleged electoral college landslide eclipsed those before him.

It was a brutal damning of Trump’s notorious dishonesty and aversion to the truth. Although Cavuto tried to to insert softening agents every now and then such as “Now I’m not saying you’re a liar,” and “None of this makes me a Never Trumper,” and “None of this makes you evil,” and “None of this makes what you say fake.” Why the heck not? Actually, all of that makes him a liar and what he says fake. But Cavuto can only go so far. And for him this is light years. He closed with an especially pungent censure of the President that would surely sting if his handlers ever let him hear it:

“Your base might not care, but you should. I guess you’re too busy draining the swamp to stop and smell the stink you’re creating. That’s your doing. That’s your stink. Mr. President, that’s your swamp.”

You have to wonder what happened in the editorial suites at Fox News that allowed this diatribe to make it onto the air. Perhaps there are people in the executive ranks who see the writing on the wall (which Trump will never build) and don’t want to get sunk along with the President when Mueller’s probe is completed. Fox News may be trying to hedge their bets a little in case the raid of Cohen’s offices turned up incriminating evidence. Whatever the reason, it appears that Trump might not be able to always depend on Fox News to cover his backside. Of course, this may be an anomaly, so it’s too soon to draw any conclusions. Stay tuned.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Other Things Giuliani Told Hannity that are as Bad or Worse than Stormy’s Hush Money

Posted by on May 3, 2018 at 9:59 am. 5 Comments :

Wednesday was another chaotic day in the epically unraveling administration of Donald Trump. His newly unwrapped lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, went on Fox News and told Sean Hannity that Trump lied about not knowing anything about the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels by his personal attorney, Michael Cohen. That revelation has roiled the Trump White House and the media. But that isn’t all that Giuliani spilled in the hour long interview.

Fox News, Sean Hannity, Rudy Giuliani

Sean Hannity hosted Giuliani for the entire program, mostly without commercial interruption. That’s an indication of how important this was to Hannity and Fox News. That they would forgo significant revenue in order to hold their audience enrapt in the unhinged stylings of Giuliani is further evidence that the network is literally state-TV and an arm of the Trump PR machine.

In addition to the shocking confessions about the hush money payoff, Giuliani delved into matters related to Trump’s unsavory connections to Russia and the collusion that he is so tightly associated with. What follows are some of the non-Stormy babblings of Giuliani that should receive some attention when the more salacious disclosures of porn star payments subside:

Giuliani: “[Trump] fired Comey because Comey would not, among other things, say that he was not a target of the investigation. […] So he fired him and he said ‘I’m free of this guy'”

Giuliani just provide the latest confession of Trump’s obstruction of justice. Firing Comey because he refused to clear the President, and declaring freedom from the pending investigations could not be a clearer admission of guilt.

Giuliani: “Lester Holt asked him why he did it. He said ‘I did because I felt that I had to explain to the American people that their president was not a target of the investigation.'”

That’s not even close to what Trump told Holt. Actually, he told Holt that he did it because “I said to myself, I said ‘you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won’.”

Giuliani: “Comey should be prosecuted for leaking confidential FBI information. When he leaked his report intended to develop a special prosecutor for the President of the United States.”

Of course, Giuliani doesn’t bother to cite what law was broken here, because there wasn’t any.

Giuliani: “Comey is a pathological liar.”

This is typical Trumpian projection. It’s the President who is known for his compulsive lying. Comey may have used some poor judgment in the run up to the election, but it has yet to be shown that he lied.

Giuliani: “I have the indignity of unfortunately having hired [Comey] for his first big job, and I’m embarrassed that I hired him.”

This is about the only act of repentence you’ll ever see from Giuliani or Trump.

Giuliani: “I believe they [Sessions and Rosenstein] should, in the interest of justice, end this investigation. There’s been too much government misconduct. The crimes now have all been committed by the government and their agents.”

Naturally Giuliani would like the investigation to end by the waving of a magic wand. He certainly doesn’t have the legal capability of ending it or succeeding. But he does like to make baseless accusations of crimes.

Giuliani: “I’m sorry Hillary. I know your very disappointed that you didn’t win. But you’re a criminal. Equal justice would mean that you should go to jail.”

Both Trump and Giuliani like to recklessly throw around baseless accusations of guilt. That is irresponsible and unprecedented behavior for a president or his representatives.

Hannity: “He said that [Hillary] Clinton deeply respects the rule of law. Comey said that.”
Giuliani: “Wow. Then this is a very perverted man.”

For heaven’s sake, Rudy. What the heck are you talking about?

Giuliani: “The President of the United States didn’t do anything wrong. We are lucky that we have a president who can focus. In a way it almost hurts him.”

For heaven’s sake, Rudy. What the heck are you … Um, I used this one already. But it still fits.

Giuliani: “Ivanka Trump? I think I would get on my charger and go right into their office with a lancet if they request Ivanka. If they do do Ivanka, which I doubt they will. The whole country will turn out. They’re going after his daughter?”
Hannity: “What his son-in-law [Jared Kushner]? They’re going after him.”
Giuliani: “Jared is a fine man. You know that. But men are, you know, disposable. But a fine woman like Ivanka? Come on.”

Men are disposable? Does that include Trump? And the day when you mount a charger and ride into battle might indeed get the whole country to turn out. Just for the laughs.

Hannity: “This was supposed to be about the Trump campaign, Russia collusion.”
Giuliani: “Gone.”
Hannity: “Gone. Never happened.”
Giuliani: “He’s been cleared of that.”

Cleared? Seriously, what planet are these guys broadcasting from?

Giuliani: “Russia collusion is total fake news. Unfortunately it has become the basis of the investigation. And Mueller owes us a report saying it means nothing, it didn’t happen.”

Relax Rudy. You’ll get your report from Mueller. Although it may not contain exactly the sort of vindication you’re hoping for.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

For those of you with strong stomachs, here is the video of the whole interview: