Former Attorney General Bill Barr all but declared Donald Trump a traitor and guilty in both the federal criminal cases against him – on Fox News – yet neither Fox co-anchor asked a single question when Barr told them he supports Trump’s re-election.
We reported at least five instances of the former attorney general condemning Trump’s criminal and treasonous behavior on Fox News. On June 11, 2023, shortly after Trump was indicted for stealing and mishandling classified documents, Barr said this about Trump on Fox News Sunday:
“He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets that the country has. They have to be in the custody of the archivist. He had no right to maintain them and retain them. And he kept them in a way at Mar-a-Lago, that anyone who really cares about national security would - their stomach would churn at it.”
On August 17, 2023, Barr blasted Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election and voiced support for the federal government’s indictment over it:
“[I]n my opinion, he did cross the line. It wasn't just rough-and-tumble politics. He crossed the line.
…
"I think the federal government case is good -- I mean, is responsible because it really focuses on the hub of the issue, which is not just the lies and knowing they were lies -- and that's what they allege -- but the fact that he used this device of impaneling impostor electors, swearing that they were the electors.
"But the key point there was, they were in tandem with a plan whereby the vice president would use that as a pretext for nullifying the legal and certified votes. So, it was a calculated and deceitful plan to remain in office by nullifying and negating certified legal votes.”
Yet former Attorney General Barr announced yesterday on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom show that he’s going to vote for the guy he thinks made a criminal assault on our democracy, took top secret documents he had no right to, then mishandled them in a way Barr described as stomach churning.
Some of Barr’s criticisms of Trump were made right there on the same show, but co-anchor Bill Hemmer whitewashed them as “disagreements with the former president.” Hemmer went on to ask whether Barr will support Trump in 2024, now that he's the presumptive nominee. It’s a fair question. But Barr’s answer was shocking.
BARR: Well, I’ve said all along, you know, given two bad choices, I think it’s my duty to pick the person I think would do the least harm to the country and in my mind that’s - I will vote the Republican ticket, I will support the Republican ticket.
I think the real danger to the country, the real danger to democracy, as I say, is the progressive agenda and while Trump – I said Trump may be playing Russian Roulette but continuation of the Biden administration is national suicide in my opinion.
Really? Even putting aside the fact that the former attorney general is supporting a guy he thinks is a threat to our national security and our democracy, how on earth is Biden a bigger threat to democracy? Last I checked, the country has not committed “national suicide” after three years of Biden in the White House.
But on Fox News, over-the-top attacks on Democrats and liberals are par for the course, no matter who says it. Ditto for supporting Donald Trump, no matter what.
Instead of questioning a word of Barr’s stunning proclamation, co-anchor Dana Perino moved on to ask about the January 6th case at the Supreme Court the day before.
You can watch the former attorney general endorse for president a guy he thinks is a lawbreaking threat to the country, without engendering a peep of concern from two Fox “News” co-anchors, below, from the April 17, 2024 America’s Newsroom.
As Joe Walsh has pointed out, until one openly endorses Biden, it is hard for one-time Trumpers to sufficiently free themselves of the moral stench of Trumpism. Worse than that, they end up degrading the reasoned discourse they show they are sometimes capable of (same can be said about news hacks like Perino and Hemmer). For them, no set of what they admit are Trump’s serious wrongdoings disqualifies him in the face of Biden. Legal weasels like Barr and Turley role model ways to evade one’s conscience. Ends justify all means.
As Joe Walsh has pointed out, until one openly endorses Biden, it is hard for one-time Trumpers to sufficiently free themselves of the moral stench of Trumpism. Worse than that, they end up degrading the reasoned discourse they show they are sometimes capable of (same can be said about news hacks like Perino and Hemmer). For them, no set of what they admit are Trump’s serious wrongdoings disqualifies him in the face of Biden. Legal weasels like Barr and Turley role model ways to evade one’s conscience. Ends justify all means.