This morning in the Anthony Scaramucci edition of Fox & Friends ongoing series: “Fact checking is for other people,” the TV arm of Team Trump promoted Scaramucci’s ridiculously false claim that someone had broken the law by “leaking” his public disclosure form to Politico.
In case you went to bed early last night, Scaramucci seemingly attacked colleague Reince Priebus on Twitter for leaking financial information. The tweet has since been deleted but here’s a screenshot, via Business Insider:
Scaramucci later tweeted he had meant no such thing:
Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all Sr Adm officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45 pic.twitter.com/AB0reseuX1
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) July 27, 2017
But as Politico reported, Scaramucci’s disclosures were not leaked but were “filed in the course of his employment with the Export-Import Bank” and “are publicly available on request.”
Yet if a Trump loyalist says the sky is green, it’s Fox & Friends’ job to persuade its viewers that it could be so.
Media Matters caught the Curvy Couch exchange this morning (emphases are mine). Check out how each host carefully parsed words to make it seem as though Scaramucci had spoken the truth, repeatedly saying his finances had been “leaked,” and without noting that the information is publicly available.
STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Yesterday we had [White House Communications Director] Anthony Scaramucci on this program. He was talking about -- a little bit about how the administration was happy that apparently [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions is going to start going after some leakers. And then several hours after that, online, some of Mr. Scaramucci's personal financial information -- we knew he was a rich guy and he made a lot of money in the last year or so. And suddenly -- I think it was Politico came out and had his financial disclosure stuff, which had not been released to the public. So somebody was leaking on him.
AINSELY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): So he was on the receiving end of the leak.
DOOCY: Yes.
BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): So it was supposed to be at the end of the month that this was supposed to come out, he was supposed to have a background check, and if you wanted to go get a Freedom of Information request, act request, you can go find out if you need to know what Anthony Scaramucci was worth or making. Instead, this decides to come out, in order to, I guess, muddy the waters. And he says, “No problem. I have an offense for this.” He says this in last night in a tweet. “In light of the leak of my financial disclosure information, which is a felony, I will be contacting the FBI and the Justice Department” -- Senator Sessions, expect a call -- “#Swamp @Reince45.” So many people wonder does he think that [White House Chief of Staff] Reince Priebus leaked it?
AINSELY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): Is the leaker? Well many people are asking that. So, then he tweets out, “Wrong! Tweet was public notice to leakers that all senior administration officials are helping to end illegal leaks. @Reince45.” And he said that he is talking to the communications department throughout the White House with different communications people and making sure they’re on top of it as well. He said whoever is leaking this is going to get fired.
Afterward, Politico demanded a retraction:
Hey @foxandfriends - please retract/correct this. His disclosure was not leaked, this is false, more here: https://t.co/Uqfo2f4qCc https://t.co/s8mrlrCpzx
— Brad Dayspring (@BDayspring) July 27, 2017
My source for @Scaramucci financials was Ex-Im Bank. Period. https://t.co/seNUtnwQoz
— Lorraine (@Woellert) July 27, 2017
They only kinda, sorta got one, though Politico claimed to be satisfied:
Update: Scaramucci's financial disclosure is public. F&F did not say @politico committed a felony. We were citing his tweets.
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) July 27, 2017
However, Fox’s claim that nobody said a felony had been committed and “We were citing his tweets” is disingenuous. In the first place, the hosts' comments were clearly meant to suggest a crime had occurred. Also, Kilmeade quoted from Scaramucci’s accusatory Tweet without challenge and thus gave it the stamp of credibility.
In other words, Fox & Friends all but stated that fact checking is not in the show's job description.
Watch it below, from the July 27, 2017 Fox & Friends, via Media Matters.
By the way, Ryan Lizza has a must-read piece in The New Yorker about his conversation with Scaramucci on the subject of the disclosures. Let's just say, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who will bring order and stability to the White House.
Of course, Scaramucci’s profanity fueled rant is his latest acting out of his Priebus leak paranoia. Last night I saw the reporter Mooch unleashed his rage against interviewed and he said Priebus was not the leaker. It’s an uncomfortable fact “F&F” overlooked this morning. Similarly, the Trump sycophants overlooked Mooch’s obvious lie he had digital fingerprints from the FBI identifying the leakers.
Even funnier, ‘liberal’ [and registered Republican] Geraldo showed up to essentially pretend he’s Mooch’s brother by another mother and confess he wish he had the Mooch’s job of polishing Trump’s boots with his tongue. [Vomit!]
While an amusing satire of an actual news program, I can take “F&F’s” humor in smalll doses only.
Think about it. The name itself (“I’m just a poor boy, from a poor family, Scaramouche, Scaramouche”) straight out of Bohemian Rhapsody… the face – a clear homage to that historic Italian mask as used by ‘Anonymous’… the ridiculously provocative statements he’s made in his first few days.
Then there are the old tweets he has been busy deleting: “Trump to endorse Gingrich, smart with no judgement”, “We (the USA) has 5% of the world’s population but 50% of the world’s guns”, “I am not a partisan. For Gay Marriage, against the death penalty, and Pro Choice. I am for social inclusion, fiscal responsibility”, “It is a fight within Islam, overwhelming majority see Islam as a religion of peace, want to live in multiracial/ethnic/faith democracies”, “You can take steps to combat climate change without crippling the economy. The fact many people still believe CC is a hoax is disheartening”.
I rest my case. The man may turn out to be a true American hero.