On the eve of a bombshell report by The Washington Post that a secret CIA assessment found Russia was trying to help Donald Trump win the presidential election and that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell worked to cover it up by threatening President Obama, Fox News conveniently avoided the cover up part and trotted out Trumpster Mike Huckabee to make President Obama the villain.
If Huckabee had an ounce of true patriotism and true faith in Trump, I’d think he’d be aghast at the finding and instantly demand a Congressional investigation into the situation. But the fact that he quickly made it about Obama should make you all the more suspicious about the relationship between Trump, his campaign and Russia.
HUCKABEE: Let’s assume for a moment that Russia did, in fact, hack into it. I think it says more about our lack of sophisticated cyber-defenses than it does the fact that Russia would try to hack into every American system it can. Do you think for a minute that if they could get into all of Donald Trump and his campaign emails that they wouldn’t have done it? Of course they would have.
[…] With all due respect, this notion that Russia wanted Donald Trump to win is nonsense. The last person they want in the Oval Office is Donald Trump. For eight years, they’ve pretty much done whatever they wanted to. They wanted to invade Crimea, they did it. They wanted to go in and partner with Syria, set up shop there, they did it. They want to fly fighter jets 30 feet over the heads of an American destroyer in international waters, they did it. I don’t think they’re gonna do that stuff under Donald Trump ‘cause he’s bringing in a whole new kind of approach that says America isn’t gonna sit back and take it in the teeth.
Well, who knows what Donald Trump will or won’t do with regard to Russia – or anything else, for that matter? But assuming Huckabee is right about Vladimir Putin having it super cushy because of super squishy Obama, then you have to ask why it is that Russia wanted Trump elected. Because despite Huckabee’s claim and Trump’s ludicrous attempt to smack it down, it’s pretty darned clear that Russia was working to get The Donald into the White House.
As Time reported, “several of Trump’s businesses outside of Russia are entangled with Russian financiers inside Putin’s circle,” and several of Trump’s top advisers – including national security adviser Michael Flynn – have “extensive financial and business ties to Russian financiers.” There’s also Trump’s long record of praise and admiration for Putin plus Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns. They all add up to serious questions about what he knew and when he knew it.
It’s to be expected that Fox News would be doing its darnedest to deflect and spin and do whatever else it has to do to protect Trump. That will undoubtedly include more and worse demonization of Obama and anyone who might be threatening Trump’s legitimacy, not to mention his loyalty to America.
Host Sandra Smith did her part by trying to make the story about Hillary Clinton supporters as sore losers. Her question to the other guest, Democrat Julie Roginsky, was, “It does seem, Julie, that Clinton supporters are adamant about blaming Russia for Hillary Clinton’s loss.”
Roginsky, as Smith later explained, was a Russian refugee and she has a graduate degree in Russian studies. But, apparently, her loyalty to Fox kept her from raising the issue of the cover up and questions about Trump’s involvement. Nor did she call out the blatant effort to deflect from those serious questions by swiping at Democrats.
Roginsky did call for a national intelligence estimate that should be partly declassified. She also rebutted Huckabee with several of Trump’s pro-Russian positions, such as suggesting he’d be OK with Crimea being part of Russia and signaling that he wants to weaken NATO, “That, to me, strikes me as somebody that Vladimir Putin’s pretty comfortable with,” Roginsky said.
Huckabee called that nonsense. He insisted that Trump was only “frustrated” that the U.S. has paid more than its supposed fair share to NATO. He also insisted that Trump would be tough on the Russians.
But he also deflected back to attacking Democrats.
HUCKABEE: It seems the Democrats are more embarrassed that the Russians hacked the system, which is a major concern and I do think that that’s a bipartisan concern, but why aren’t they just as worried about what those hacks revealed?
That was too much for Smith whom I believe is not a Trumpkin. She pointed out that Republicans want to investigate this but Trump doesn’t. She didn't say anything about McConnell. Nor did she question why Trump would not want an investigation. Instead, she asked, “Is that setting up for a clash within the Republican Party?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Huckabee predictably said.
Despite Fox’s best efforts, I doubt this issue is going to go away easily.
Watch it below, from the December 9, 2016 The Kelly File, along with an explanation about the hacking by The Washington Post while you pop the popcorn.
I think Smith’s friendliness toward Trump is an act, probably what she considers the Fox version of being “fair.” When I watch her carefully, I do not think she actually likes him.
Just a guess but I’m sticking with it until proven wrong!
This may be true in the limited sense she’s so vapid and dim she has no real thoughts of her own about anything, but in the absence, the teleprompter speaks for her, and any response to a Trump story that doesn’t have this bimbo smiling and nodding and grasping at non-existent straws like a trained clown is certainly the exception for this shill, and not the rule.
But what do you expect from a GOPTV™ propaganda factory gushing to the point of orgasm about Trump’s victory lap to feed his narcissism over his election victory that routinely used to have fits of tantrums over Obama’s alleged “victory laps”? Or what about it being un-American to criticize a “wartime president” when it was Bush but nothing but patriotism to savagely smear Obama as an ISIS hugger as he battles them?
What’s so disturbing is the power or the Fox News propaganda factory. It’s not just the most watched and trusted cable news network – correct me if I’m wrong – but it has higher ratings than any cable channel including sports powerhouse ESPN. I’d argue this election was won by Fox.