In the wake of the horrific Las Vegas shooting, Fox News’ Outnumbered cohosts promoted a call for unity as little more than a pretext to ramp up hostilities toward their ever-present targets: liberals, Democrats and Hillary Clinton.
Ironically, shortly before the anti-liberal concern trolling started, Outnumbered hosted a phone interview with retired Las Vegas police officer Randy Sutton. Sutton said the Las Vegas shootings warranted unity and a setting aside of politics:
SUTTON: Now is the time. This event is a time for unity. This event is what we, as the American people, must stand up for each other. We must set aside the petty animosities, the politics and stand up as one America to combat this crime.
Guest Brian Kilmeade agreed. “Right,” he said, off camera.
As the time stamp in the lower left of the screen grab shows, Sutton spoke with Outnumbered at 20 minutes after the hour.
Less than 15 minutes later (the time now on the upper left of the screen in the second video below), Kilmeade was all in on ratcheting up political animosity. His cohosts enthusiastically joined in:
KILMEADE: We are getting emails about Senator Murphy of Connecticut, saying, “Stand up to the NRA,” guns are the problem. Hillary Clinton, similar tweets.
COHOST HARRIS FAULKNER (in her scolding tone): Yeah, it has turned quickly political. Quickly political.
[…]
COHOST KENNEDY: Hillary Clinton has already tweeted several times about the NRA and they’re politicizing this while people are still in surgery and dying! This is still a very fluid situation. And there will be plenty of time to figure out and dissect all of that.
FAULKNER: The rest of time.
KENNEDY: Of course, a political discussion will ensue. But right now, let’s allow people to get out of crisis and make sense of this picture.
[…]
BOOTHE: Too often when things like this happen, there’s this rush to judgment or a rush to partisan politics when there are so many answers that we just don’t have right now and to Kennedy’s point, there are people who are grieving right now, who’ve lost a loved one or don’t know if a loved one is going to survive –
FAULKNER: There are people who are bleeding and fighting for their lives right now.
Got hypocrisy? Less than a month ago, On Fox & Friends, Brian Kilmeade validated Donald Trump’s use of a terror attack in London to promote his Muslim ban. Kilmeade said Trump’s comments “reflect a lot of how people feel on the ground.” Cohost Abby Huntsman added, without objection from Kilmeade, “The president pointed out we need to get nastier.” To Muslims, she meant.
Also, it’s hard to forget the horrible politicization Outnumbered engaged in after the Charlie Hebdo attacks. The group got right to attacking then-President Obama for not saying “Islamic terror” and suggested that something similar would likely happen here because he isn’t pro-police enough.
Well, now something similar has happened here and it has nothing to do with (as far as we know) either Islamic terror or anti-police sentiment.
So, naturally, Fox thinks we all need to just shut up about any causes now. Because Fox’s idea of unity means we all need to think like they do.
Not surprisingly, this "not the time" meme echoed throughout Fox News and among their right-wing brethren today.
By the way, let’s not forget – even though Fox would probably like us to right about now – that just a few months ago, the Republican Congress and Donald Trump rescinded an Obama-era rule aimed at blocking gun sales to certain mentally ill people.
Watch the pernicious hypocrisy above, from the October 2, 2017 Outnumbered.
Originally posted at Newshounds.us
