We know why Fox News began attacking Sen. Kamala Harris after her breakout performance in the Democratic debate last night, but why on earth does Democrat Jessica Tarlov think that enabling the propaganda is helpful to Joe Biden or whatever her cause is – beyond getting more Fox hits?
Just so you know (as I said in the comments section of last night’s open thread), I have concerns about all the Democratic candidates and none has captured my endorsement. Also, while I found Biden’s comments about working with segregationists disturbing on many levels, Harris’ obviously pre-arranged attack on him in last night's debate – after admonishing everyone else not to engage in a food fight – turned me off and actually made me more sympathetic to him. But there’s not a chance I’d put any of that in my talking points to Fox News.
Democrat Tarlov is a paid Fox contributor with a long history of acting as though she buys the BS, that she’s there for an honest discussion. But you'd think with the re-election of Trump at stake, she might wake up to how she's being cast in a political propaganda theater.
Tarlov began by calling Harris the “clear winner” of her debate and the “Julián Castro of Night Two” meaning somebody who needed to “up their game” and did so. Then Tarlov set about doing Fox’s handiwork by tearing into Harris:
It’s one thing to have started the conversation about saying, “It deeply hurt me when you seemed to have coddled segregationists” and he said, “That’s not what I was doing.”
But then to lay into the conversation about busing, which was clearly planted, there was social media immediately right after to back that up, a picture of her as a young girl, completely adorable, and no doubt as a Democrat, as an American, the idea of opposing busing is not a great thing and that’s something that he has had to answer for.
But it seemed premeditated, it seemed opportunistic, and she is going after the demographic that Joe Biden has right now on his side. That’s older voters and African American voters, especially African American women. And these are people who have known Joe Biden for decades, they trust him. They say, “Would Barack Obama have picked a crypto-racist as his VP?”I mean, she kept saying, “I don’t think that you’re a racist but –
At that moment, cohost Melissa Francis interrupted to say excitedly, “That’s so interesting!”
That should have been Tarlov’s clue about what Fox was up to. But while Tarlov was not willing to go so far as to say that Harris damaged her cause, that did not prevent another round of attacks.
Once again, Tarlov was interrupted, this time by Dagen McDowell who “asked” whether Harris came across as “the strongest competitor against Donald Trump.” McDowell answered her own question: “The answer is no.”
After a brief detour of sneering about candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell, McDowell returned to Harris: “She personalized the attacks, which means you can’t refute them because you can’t say that’s not true. It’s very effective. It doesn’t really mean anything in terms of substance."
Tarlov praised Biden's handling of Harris' "personal attack" and that his face remained impassive.
“His face isn’t moving at all. That’s a different subject,” Francis snarked.
Faulkner gave her stamp of approval: “This is so nuanced compared to what I’m hearing today from other people in your party!”
Tarlov went on to defend Biden’s record on civil rights.
I don’t care whether Tarlov is backing Biden, Harris or anyone else. Given the seriousness of this election, there’s no good reason for any Democrat or liberal to do Fox’s bidding by attacking any presidential candidate, especially one with a good chance of being on the 2020 ticket.
If Tarlov didn’t know how she was being used by Fox, she need look no further than how Fox showcased her comments on the show's webpage.
The video Fox posted online was part of a much longer discussion about last night’s debate. But Fox edited it down to highlight Tarlov’s part.
Published with permission of NewsHounds.us
