The Wrap is reporting that Fox "News" Channel is the only network refusing to carry Thursday's January 6 hearing, and instead air their regular prime time coverage and air the hearing proceedings when they deem it's "warranted.”
Fox said the one primetime show that will be preempted is “Gutfeld!,” as legal analyst Shannon Bream is joining a two-hour reaction special that starts at 11 p.m. ET.
Bret Baier, who hosts the signature news hour on Special Report, has been relegated to hosting their coverage on their Fox Business network. How embarrassing.
Trump has asked his minions to do everything they can to distract from the hearings, and it appears House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik will lead the way.
As Salon reports, "The news comes amid a CNN report that Trump is asking his allies in Congress to vigorously defend him in the proceedings. The outlet cited a "broad range" of plans to protect the former president's public image, even while most Republicans have sought to avoid talking about the insurrection."
My friend Colby Hall writes, "This isn’t the behavior of a news network. While it’s true that all cable networks put a big emphasis on ratings, covering important news is still (thankfully) seen as a vital responsibility. In this instance, Fox News has largely ignored that responsibility, operating more like a partisan blog that covers whatever news gets the most traffic, responsibility be damned."
Before Trump, and after Roger Ailes died, Fox News briefly tried to act more like a supposed news network during major events and hearings. They would use those attempts and media critics like Howard Kurtz (when he worked for CNN and the Washington Post) to come out to defend Ailes' baby and claim they are "fair and balanced."
However, these days they've totally adopted the OANN / Newsmax model of hyper right-wing extremism, dressed up with more bells and whistles.
Fox is a highly partisan right-wing outlet, so they must do their best not to broadcast what Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein call, "the biggest criminal conspiracy in the history of this country."
Donald Trump not only sought to destroy the electoral system through false claims of voter fraud and unprecedented public intimidation of state election officials, but he also then attempted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power to his duly elected successor, for the first time in American history.
January 6 dwarfs Nixon's crimes against democracy. And we're about to hear details of the failed coup in primetime, with video and witnesses. But not on Fox.
Fox News has become maybe the biggest GOP election apparatus on the planet -- and for their model to succeed, they must keep as many of their viewers as possible in the dark.
It's not news. It's corrosive. It's hateful. It's white nationalism at its worst.
It's right-wing fascist propaganda. Never forget.
