White House Spokesman Hogan Gidley delivered such anti-American, Russia-friendly comments about Russia’s interference in our 2016 presidential election – with nods from Fox & Friends cohosts – that Gidley’s remarks were promoted in Russia’s propaganda outlet, RT.
There’s no evidence that White House spokesman Hogan Gidley, Fox News and Russia’s RT colluded on their messaging but it’s certainly clear they were all on the same page.
During Gidley’s chat with Fox & Friends on Saturday, cohost Pete Hegseth opened the discussion on the indictments at about 3:35 into the interview.
HEGSETH: Yesterday, the attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, announced 13 indictments of individuals, three of companies, none of which were American, all of which were Russia, for their attempt to meddle in our elections. No word of collusion. What does this tell you about where the special counsel is and where they’re going?
Translation: Spin it on behalf of the White House so we don’t have to! Also, help us ignore what Fox’s own legal expert told viewers: that there are other aspects of the Russia investigation that may well result in indictments of Trump associates and/or revelations of collusion.
WH Spokesman Gidley More Anti-American Than Anti-Russia
Gidley could have just taken the victory lap being handed him and then made Trump look good – or at least not like a collaborator – by expressing outrage at the meddling and promising action against it. Instead, Gidley was more interested in blaming Democrats and the media. In short, he made them the bigger enemy than Russia.
GIDLEY: Well, several things here. First of all, we have to understand this began in 2014, under then-President Barack Obama’s nose. He didn’t do a thing about it. Long before Donald Trump announced for president, this was going on. Also, it points out clearly that in this process there was no collusion, as you just pointed out. The president said it multiple times. This makes it clear and concise for the American people and proves the president correct. No collusion between Donald Trump, his campaign and Russia. And also, I think this is important too. It did not affect the outcome of the election whatsoever. What the Russians were trying to do, as outlined by Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein, was create chaos in the American election system.
And I’ll just say this: There are two groups that have created chaos more than the Russians and that’s the Democrats and the mainstream media who continue to push this lie on the American people for more than a year and, quite frankly, Americans should be outraged by that.
As he spoke, Hegseth and cohost Griff Jenkins nodded in agreement Cohost Rachel Campos-Duffy murmured her approval.
“Right,” Jenkins said. Then he asked Gidley if Trump is planning sanctions against Russia.
GIDLEY: Look, I’m not gonna get ahead of the president on what he would do on that … He doesn’t telegraph what he’s going to do in those particular instances but all things are on the table … [This is] a serious issue, the president takes it seriously and we’re looking at all options at this point.
Actually, sanctions have been put in place by Congress – and Trump has refused to impose them. Furthermore, after a year in office, he has done nothing to combat Russia’s continued efforts to interfere in our democracy.
Nobody mentioned either of those facts
Instead, Campos-Duffy chirped, “Well, the good news is, Hogan, that if you poll the American people, they were never buying the Russia-collusion story anyway.
Which is not true.
Russia’s RT loved this Fox & Friends segment
Inadvertently or not, this segment spoke volumes to Russia. Its propaganda outlet, RT, covered the discussion, complete with a clip of Gidley (via a Fox News tweet) and one from Trump. RT also amplified the message with its own tweet:
‘Democrats & MSM wreaked far more havoc than Russians’ – White House spokesman https://t.co/nz7jkTHPcv pic.twitter.com/pubxrIkAgX
— RT (@RT_com) February 17, 2018
Watch Hogan, Hegseth, Jenkins and Campos-Duffy favor Russia over America below, from the February 17, 2018 Fox & Friends.
This drawn-out phase of the Trump F**ks America story is clearly coming to an end. Very soon we’ll be into a multitude of conspiracy/treason/obstruction trials. It will be fascinating to watch the outer ripples of the shockwave as Trump’s enablers and collaborators head desperately for the hills. The aftermath of Watergate will seem like a day in the park.