Fox & Friends hosts developed a serious case of amnesia this morning as they helped Jeb Bush promote his new book about immigration – yet forgot, as Sean Hannity did the night before - that Bush was for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants before he turned against it in his book. They also forgot the pro-pathway results in Fox’s newly-released poll on the subject – even as they hyped other results from the same poll.
Steve Doocy opened the segment by announcing, “A brand new Fox poll out overnight is showing us where Americans stand on immigration reform.” A graphic on the screen trumpeted the news that 69% of the respondents favor completing new border security before changing immigration policies.
But he somehow failed to point out that another question in the poll found that 72% favor “allowing illegal immigrants to remain in the country and eventually qualify for U.S. citizenship, as long as they meet certain requirements like paying back taxes, learning English, and passing a background check.”
That’s a rather curious omission, given that it’s been big news that Bush has backtracked on his support for a pathway to citizenship. Especially when Gretchen Carlson noted in her first question for Bush, “You’ve been talking about (immigration) for a long time.” She later “wondered” whether members of Congress should use his book “as their primer to learning how to get the job done.”
Even worse, Doocy noted that Jeb’s brother, George W. Bush, had proposed a “guest worker program” even as it must have slipped Doocy's mind that W. had also proposed a pathway to citizenship.
Meanwhile, Bush has flip-flopped again. He was also on Morning Joe yesterday (not sure which appearance came first) where he said, “I don’t have a problem” with a pathway to citizenship. He told MSNBC viewers that if a law is crafted “where you can have a path to citizenship where there isn't an incentive for people to come illegally, I'm for it," But on Fox, he had no need to clarify what they didn't bring up in the first place.
At the end of the lapdog interview, which also included chirpy, chummy talk about 2016, Bush said, “It’s cozy here.”
Oh yes, as always.
