When Robert De Niro had the gall to “slam” Donald Trump as a “dangerous leader,” those were fightin’ words for Fox News! The network just hates when celebrities weigh in on politics – except when conservative celebrities sound off.
I seriously doubt most people cared what De Niro said about Trump in Dubai, especially among the Fox News set, but Trump’s TV Trolls are not only scouring world news for anyone who might dare to criticize Dear Leader, the network held a debate on this all-important topic.
“Actor Robert De Niro blasting President Trump, attacking his climate change policy,” host Sandra Smith said in her introduction. “Saying the U.S. will eventually cure itself of its, quote, temporary insanity by voting our, quote, dangerous leader out of office.”
Say it isn’t so!
Of course, this was little more than an excuse for the conservative guest, Christ Bedford, of the Daily Caller News Foundation, to launch an attack on anyone not in line with Fox thinking. He sneeringly called it “quaint” in this day of news organizations supposedly sucking up to North Korean dictators (never mind how Trump sucks up to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin) to see “wealthy Hollywood celebrities taking their private jets around the world to complain about people.”
“Did he go too far with these comments?” Smith asked her other guest, Democrat Michael Starr Hopkins. Let’s just point out that Smith did not seem to have a problem when actor Antonio Sabàto, Jr. attacked President Barack Obama for visiting a mosque in Baltimore, saying, “I have a president who I believe is not a true Christian.”
Hopkins is Fox’s kind of Democrat: he's a primary challenger to sitting Democratic Senator Bob Menendez. However, Starr Hopkins was no Fox News dupe. He told Smith, “Donald Trump is a dangerous leader” and compared him to an inspirational Obama today during the unveiling of his presidential portrait. “He talked about the people that are often forgotten, he talked about the unification and equality and things that our country’s built on," Hopkins said. "And if you look in the last couple days, all that’s been in the news when it comes to Donald Trump has been abuse and lying and just things that I think we’re better than.”
Surprisingly, Smith gave a murmur of approval.
But Smith knows her job at Fox and before long, she was full of pro-Trump talking points about the stock market and the economy having “helped elevate” Americans.
She also knew not to lose sight of the Fox importance of hating on Hollywood. “But when you hear a Hollywood actor step in and offer his expertise on something he is not an expert, I guess it’s not unfamiliar to us,” she said.
Presumably, she meant not unfamiliar from the left. But it’s certainly not unfamiliar on Fox coming from the right. I doubt there’s an outspoken conservative actor in Hollywood who has not gotten a friendly platform and been treated like a credible expert. In addition to Sabàto, Dean Cain (who also guest hosted Fox & Friends), Kevin Sorbo, Gianni Russo, Paul Sorvino and, of course, Scott Baio, are just some of the actors we've spotted playing pundits on TV.
Baio called Obama a “Muslim sympathizer” who might want to “totally eliminate the United States” and, after being invited back on the air, advised women who were offended by Trump’s “Grab them by the p***y” remark to “Grow up.”
But Smith now asked Hopkins, “For somebody who does have a lot of people listening to him… is it helpful to have those types of words used [about] our sitting president?”
Hopkins said he would not have used those words but that De Niro was “speaking his truth.” Then Hopkins added, “When you talk about TV stars, celebrities, Donald Trump’s the epitome of the celebrity entertainment industry. He’s a failed reality TV reject.”
Oops, not what the producers had planned on, I’m sure.
“We’re gonna leave it there,” Smith said. And immediately closed the discussion.
Watch Fox's selective outrage below, from the February 12, 2018 America’s Newsroom.
My favourite comment was that ‘These guys were just desperate for their 15 minutes of fame’. Honest Injun – they are THAT stoopid.
Fox News has a constant obsession with celebrity. They want to be loved by celebrities, and just lash out at ALL who won’t love them and their selfish, anti-social ideas. I’m not sure which fake Christian is worse, a money grubbing televangelist, or the fake Fox Christians.
1. Insane
2. narcissistic
3. Ignorant
4. Uppidity
5. Spoiled
6. Bigot
7. Childish
8. Illiterate
9. Self-serving
10. Loveless
Fox “News” Channel
1. Self-serving
2. Racist
3. Sexist
4. Power-hungry
5. Demanding
6. Insane
7. Evil
8. Sneaky
9. Paranoid
10. Perverted
Marinate on that one, your Omens.