The flamingly racist rhetoric of Donald Trump is somehow managing to heat up even further. His remarks supporting the Confederate flag, and the statues of the slavery proponents it represents, cut deeply into the concept of equality for all Americans. And his latest public statements have included thinly veiled bigotry such as his assertion that Joe Biden, if elected, will pursue policies that will bring an end to the white exclusivity of suburbia by prohibiting discrimination in the housing market.
Trump’s reinvigorated boldness in advancing such blatant prejudice is attributable to two primary factors. First, there is his desperation resulting from how poorly he is doing in presidential polling. Biden is steamrolling him in every national poll, as well as in every crucial swing state. and his job approval rating is in the gutter.
Secondly, Trump is buoyed by his State TV Propaganda Network, Fox News, that remains devoted to him and his Republican cult despite his frequent attacks on the network. And Fox has particularly embraced the racist themes that have long been an integral part of Trump’s persona (as recently affirmed by his niece, Mary Trump).
The allegations of racism by Fox News are nothing new. The network was birthed in the bigotry of its founders Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes. But now there are increasing numbers of voices from within that are beginning to leak out to the world. The Daily Beast interviewed some of Fox’s Black staffers who took part in an internal company conference call discussing racial issues in the workplace. And as the Daily Beast described it, “It wasn’t pretty.” According to the Daily Beast, “participants on the call expressed anger and distress about rampant racism at Fox, both on- and off-air.”
“The Daily Beast spoke to more than a dozen Fox News insiders, who all suggested that behind the scenes there is a growing despair among employees about the network’s role in demonizing and spreading fear about Black Americans in particular. One employee was especially angry, saying, ‘They created a cell—they created a white supremacist cell inside the top cable network in America, the one that directly influences the president… This is rank racism excused by Murdoch.'”
And what’s more…
“The network frequently deploys right-leaning Black contributors and guests to give cover to racially insensitive content. ‘That’s something they routinely do—they turn out these people, like Candace Owens, to support these things, and use Black apologists to denigrate other Black men and women and victimize them.'”
The article features examples of overt racism from Fox’s most watched hosts, Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham. A senior writer for Carlson’s program just got axed after his virulently racist comments on the Internet were revealed. Carlson issued a typically Foxian non-apology apology wherein he never even mentioned what the writer had done wrong. But he did attack anyone who took pleasure from the bigot’s departure from the show.
The outrage expressed by these Black Fox Newsers was met generally with either disingenuous platitudes or outright indifference by Fox brass. But the fact that they remain at the network and are able to continue disclosing what they see from inside the bubble is promising. It may even expose more of Trump’s rancid hatred as he continues to appear almost exclusively on the network that serves as his Ministry of Propaganda.
How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.
