If you’ve turned on Fox for even a nanosecond lately, if they weren’t slobbering over the law-breaking Canadian truckers, they were probably celebrating the latest cooked-up scandal involving Hillary Clinton and Russiagate.
It sounds like Mrs. Clinton has had enough. Speaking at the New York Democratic Convention on Thursday, she blasted Fox and other right-wing Trump propagandists – with a little threat thrown in for good measure:
CLINTON: By the way, they've been coming after me again lately, in case you might have noticed. It’s funny: the more trouble Trump gets into, the wilder the charges and conspiracy theories about me seem to get. So now, his accountants have fired him and investigations draw closer to him and right on cue, the noise machine gets turned up, doesn't it?
Fox leads the charge with accusations against me, counting on their audience to fall for it again. And as an aside, they're getting awfully close to actual malice in their attacks. But as I said, don't get distracted. Don't let the extremes of any or either side throw us off course. Focus on the solutions that matter to voters, not the slogans that only matter on Twitter.
“Actual malice,” of course, is the high bar a public figure must clear for a successful defamation suit against a news organization. Fox loved Sarah Palin’s loser lawsuit against the New York Times. The network pundits made it clear they hope she appeals her case to the Supreme Court, in the hope the standard will be lowered – and, presumably, conservatives can take down “liberal media” outlets more easily.
I can’t think of a more poetic justice than Hillary Clinton beating them to the punch and without having to weaken the standard. That is, if Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic don’t get there first.
.@HillaryClinton: "It's funny. The more trouble Trump gets into, the wilder the charges and conspiracy theories about me seem to get. [...] Fox leads the charge with accusations against me, counting on their audience to fall for it again." https://t.co/xshVtmkG2B pic.twitter.com/WxoZ4FWCcF
— The Hill (@thehill) February 18, 2022
