While the White House and Senate Republicans grapple with today’s bombshell from the woman who has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her, FoxNews.com has wasted no time tackling the job of propagandizing on his behalf.
So far, looking at reports in The Washington Post and Politico, Republicans still seem to be working on their strategy for reckoning with the now-public (and credible) comments from California professor Christine Blasey Ford. In chilling detail, The Post reported today that she thought Kavanaugh might inadvertently kill her when he put his hand over her mouth to stifle her scream. “He was trying to attack me and remove my clothing,” she said. After Kavanaugh’s friend jumped on top of them, Ford was able to escape and lock herself in the bathroom until she fled from the house.
You can tell that Fox is waiting for Republican guidance by the fact that its reporting on the incident has been rather neutral. But FoxNews.com is already at work on behalf of the network’s besties.
The screen grab from the top of the FoxNews.com homepage, immediately before I wrote this, shows that the network is ostensibly reporting “just the facts” of today’s breaking news. But a closer look reveals how Fox avoids the real question facing Republicans: Should Kavanaugh's nomination continue barreling forward, as Politico put it, or should they honor decency and democracy and have a hearing or hearings into Ford’s allegations? On the one hand, Republicans are deadset on installing their nominee before the midterms yet now, on the other, they risk a backlash, especially from women, if they continue ramming the nominee through. If past behavior is any guide, political power will surely trump ethics and decency. I hope I'm wrong.
So while the GOP is figuring it out, FoxNews.com got to work with the network's all-purpose messaging: attack the Democrats.
Right now, the top story showcased is a relatively neutral recap of the latest events. But underneath are several deliberate suggestions that the allegations are a Democratic smear.
First up: “Pirro: To Dems like Feinstein, ‘you’re guilty until proven innocent.’” It links to an article about and video of Pirro's on-air comments last night, before Ford went public with her compelling story today. Underneath, a link to another Pirro attack from last night: “Judge Jeanine: Feinstein’s handling of Kavanaugh letter shows complete disregard for truth and justice.”
Underneath that one is a link to an article, with video, about Republican Sen. John Kennedy’s remarks on Fox News Sunday today, made before The Washington Post article dropped this afternoon. This Fox article opens with, “ John Kennedy called the confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh 'an intergalactic freak show' and said he was embarrassed for Congress by the accusations of sexual misconduct leveled at the Supreme Court nominee.” By the way, to the right of that story, Fox makes its top story about Hurricane Florence about Blacks Behaving Badly.
In the second column, there’s this: “Sarah Pitlyk, Rebecca Taibleson: Brett Kavanaugh is a man of rock-solid character and integrity.” That article, also written before Ford went public, begins: “As the Supreme Court confirmation process for Judge Brett Kavanaugh nears its end, last-minute efforts to block a confirmation vote on his nomination in the Senate have veered from mischaracterizations of his judicial record into direct character assassination.”
However, if the Republicans and/or Donald Trump change their tune, you can bet Fox News will, too.
Meanwhile, watch an interview with John Bussey, associate editor of the Wall Street Journal below, for a glimpse into how Fox handles breaking news before its party bosses issue guidance. Bussey's comments are from the September 16, 2018 America’s News HQ.
It’s possible that Grassley will encourage the Committee members to talk with Kavanaugh on their own before the vote, but I don’t see him holding up the process. Even if several more GOP members ask to examine the allegation, it won’t matter – McConnell and Grassley will remind them that this vote needs to happen immediately. From what I can see, the late reactions from Corker and Flake are more about saving face than they are about actually taking this allegation very seriously.
And in an ominous sign, Susan Collins has already stated that she asked Kavanaugh about this on Friday by calling him, and he just denied that it happened. So unless something else happens to change anyone’s point of view on it, I don’t see the Right Wing allowing anything to stop this from going through.