A large group of protesters marched on Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida today. But Fox News, in a report that could have been directed by Trump, himself, decided to position its correspondent in front of some Trump supporters. At the end of the report “objective” anchor Julie Banderas just happened to mention how pleasantly surprised she was to see them.
CBS News said the protest was estimated to include about 3,000 demonstrators. It began with a rally outside Trump Plaza, in West Palm Beach. Afterward, “several hundred” people marched two miles to Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort where he was holding a fundraiser for the Red Cross.
Local reporter Vincent Crivelli tweeted some photos showing the large size of the crowd:
Chants of 'our body, our choice' and 'no hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here.' Are heard among the protestors. pic.twitter.com/Ybn78xddIQ
— Vincent Crivelli (@VincentCrivelli) February 4, 2017
Talk show host Randi Rhodes tweeted video:
#PalmBeach Trump #Protest. #Resist https://t.co/uC7sr2xeZO
— Randi Rhodes (@RandiRhodes) February 5, 2017
But Fox Report decided to showcase the Trump supporters.
Banderas opened the show with the headline news of Trump’s Twitter attacks on a federal judge who stayed his immigration ban. Protesters were still “marching by the thousands in major cities,” she noted. That included the demonstration near Mar-A-Lago. Then she tossed to reporter Garrett Tenney, in Palm Beach.
After providing more details on Trump’s latest Twitter tirade, Tenney concluded by saying, “Tonight, the president and first lady are attending the 60th annual Red Cross gala at Mar-A-Lago. You can see, along the road, outside here, plenty of supporters of the president have shown up to welcome him.”
Tenney did not estimate just how many that “plenty of supporters” might be. But judging from the video, the crowd did not look large.
The fact that Banderas did not ask for Tenney’s assessment of the crowd size makes me even more confident that the number of protesters dwarfed that of the supporters.
But Banderas did mention how glad she was to see them.
BANDERAS: I actually have to say it’s sort of a pleasant surprise to see this because we haven’t really been seeing a lot of supporters out there. And I’ve been wondering, where are they, with all these people who’ve been coming out and protesting? So, there they are in Florida. Good to see them behind you.
TENNEY: Loud and proud.
What kind of a news report includes such a discussion? One that is in the tank for Trump. I would not be surprised if the Trump supporters were just as authentic.
The show did go on to cover the anti-Trump demonstration. But the fact that the show led off by highlighting the supporters spoke volumes about Fox’s real agenda.
Watch it below, from the February 4, 2017 Fox Report Weekend.
If anything, the fervency of the continuing protests is going to propel the Pence White House into acting as quickly as it can to push its goals forward – they’re aware that they may only have until mid-2018 before much of Congress will need to defend their seats against what is looking like a grassroots uprising against them.
I note that legal analysts have pointed out that Trump’s deportation plans go far, far beyond just the undocumented immigrants in the criminal courts and jails today. The EO is broadly worded and likely covers up to 8 million people – the only ones they don’t intend to deport are the people who have expired visas. The EO also allows the Sessions Justice Dept to skip the process of actually putting undocumented immigrants through a court hearing, which means the deportation schedule is going to move a LOT faster than people were thinking it would. This is likely the reason that the DACA program hasn’t been addressed in public yet – they’re waiting for the first wave of raids and deportations to start.
On the ACA front, Pence is waiting for Tom Price to be confirmed and seated at HHS before having the reconciliation repeal bill signed by the Tweeter-in-Chief. The idea is likely to have Price announce his wonderful new health care idea simultaneously with the scrapping of 99% of the ACA, so that the Right can make a convincing lie about having replaced the ACA. (Price’s wonderful idea involves health savings accounts and tax adjustments, including dropping the tax credit given to employers for covering their employees – this will be presented as a way to get government out of the health care business and restoring “freedom” to the system – when in fact the purpose is to kill the ACA and dump the costs onto what’s left of the middle class. When the system collapses and people can’t afford the care, they’ll get the same answer that is always heard from libertarians: IGMFU)
On the Supreme Court front, McConnell is waiting for the Dems to filibuster Gorsuch so he can justify scrapping the filibuster. I’m anticipating that happening within the next two months, but it could come more quickly if McConnell rushes the Gorsuch hearings forward. If I were a Dem at those hearings, I would spend as much time as possible asking Gorsuch about Merrick Garland and the conduct of the GOP Senators in not conducting any hearings for him last year. Gorsuch will still get onto the Court, and the Dems can’t do anything about it, but it would at least provide some entertainment in the middle of the gloom.