Did you hear about former Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko demolishing a key Republican excuse for impeaching Joe Biden – on Fox “News?” If not, that may be because Fox has done its best to bury the revelation.
If you’re like me, and the GOP lies behind the excuses to impeach President Joe Biden make your head spin, here’s a ‘splainer on the significance of what Poroshenko told Fox host Brian Kilmeade last weekend. First of all, Fox and their right-wing buddies have repeatedly and falsely accused then-Vice President Joe Biden of pressuring the corrupt Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin to resign because he was investigating the Burisma gas company, where Hunter Biden sat on the board. In reality, Biden pushed out Shokin because he was corrupt and Biden was carrying out U.S. policy, as part of an international effort.
Last month, Fox gave Shokin nearly three hours to promote this phony accusations against Biden. From The Daily Beast:
Shokin himself fanned the flames of this theory, telling Fox News last month that Poroshenko had fired him at Biden’s insistence “because I was investigating Burisma,” the company paying Hunter Biden, who was appointed to its board of directors in 2014.
Sources ranging from Obama-era administration officials to Ukrainian prosecutors and anti-corruption activists have repeatedly debunked this theory, but it hasn’t stopped Republicans from wielding it as an impetus to kickstart an impeachment inquiry into the Biden family’s alleged corruption.
OK, that's the backstory.
Last weekend, Fox “News” host Brian Kilmeade attempted to follow up with former President Poroshenko. It’s not clear whether someone (probably since fired) failed to properly vet him, i.e. make sure Poroshenko would adhere to Fox/GOP propaganda, or if he deceived the network into thinking he would. But it is clear Kilmeade got an unpleasant surprise when he asked Poroshenko to comment on Shokin’s claims as to why he was fired.
From Media Matters:
POROSHENKO: First of all, this is the completely crazy person [Shokin]. This is something wrong with him. Second, there is no one single word of truth. And third, I hate the idea to make any comments and to make any intervention in the American election.
We have very much enjoyed the bipartisan support. And, please do not use the such person like Shokin to undermine the trust between bipartisan support and Ukraine
As my Crooks and Liars colleague, Heather, noted in her post about this episode, Kilmeade looked like a deer in headlights before the interview ended. She also predicted that Fox would ignore what Poroshenko said. She was totally right about that.
From Media Matters:
Kilmeade had made big news by getting Poroshenko on the record denouncing the conspiracy theory and the person spreading it, drawing coverage from news outlets including The Washington Post. But he and his own network promptly buried it — Poroshenko’s interview has not been mentioned a single time on Fox since it aired, according to a Media Matters review. That silence includes the three-hour morning show Fox & Friends, which features Kilmeade as a co-host and previously spent 20 minutes on his Shokin interview.
Media Matters also notes that Fox spent more than four years pushing the Shokin conspiracy theory. The fact that the network buried Poroshenko’s comments is a strong indication that it can’t disprove them.
If ever there was proof that Fox “News” is a propaganda outfit, not a journalistic outfit, this is it.
While the House Republicans barrel our nation toward a federal government shutdown on October 1, they are showing their priorities by having the first Biden impeachment hearing tomorrow. You can best believe Fox will continue “forgetting” its own Poroshenko interview when the Shokin conspiracy theory come up.
You can watch Kilmeade look like a deer in headlights below, from the September 23, 2023 One Nation, via Crooks and Liars.