Apparently, former President Barack Obama’s criticism of Donald Trump’s “Muslim ban” immigration order was not on Fox News’ timetable for when it’s appropriate for a former president to criticize his successor. So yesterday, the network spent more than five minutes driving that point home to its viewers.

In case you missed it, Obama released a mild statement of criticism of Trump’s order. His spokesman also released a November, 2015 quote of Obama calling it “shameful” to consider admitting Christian refugees from Syria but not Muslims. “That’s not America,” Obama had said. “We don’t have religious tests to our compassion.” His comments were, in part, push back on Trump's defense that blocking people from certain predominantly-Muslim countries was Obama's idea first.

Naturally, Fox could not let those comments from a president way more popular than Trump go unchallenged! But since the Murdoch sons had already taken a stand in favor of immigration, it would have been tricky for Trump TV to defend his immigration order.

So, Fox went after the timing.

On the Your World show yesterday, host Neil Cavuto began the discussion by saying that “the rule of thumb” is that former presidents will say “something critical of their successors but usually not in as few as 10 days. But Barack Obama has done that ... It's gotta break a modern-day record.”

Historian (and undisclosed Republican) Doug Wead told the viewers, “I think you have to go back 84 years, three generations, to Herbert Hoover, to find anything quite like this, this uncivil. It’s pretty remarkable.”

Cavuto added, “Normally, former presidents don’t do this. They wait a while. Eisenhower holds the record for that with John Kennedy, right? I mean, he personally let Kennedy know how he felt about the Bay of Pigs fiasco. But he told him that personally. He didn’t say it publicly. […] Others wait a good number of months. Ford criticizing Carter three months after Carter was in office over a SALT agreement that never materialized. Carter waiting seven months with Ronald Reagan. […] In case of George Bush Jr., nothing for years.

Wead agreed, mentioning a “great generosity” by the other former presidents. He highlighted Richard Nixon first. After losing the presidency to John F. Kennedy, then-former Vice President Nixon reportedly said, “I will never criticize President Kennedy if he wants to play golf. Presidents need that sort of thing.” Wead also praised Bill Clinton for having been “generous” to George H.W. Bush.

Ignoring Trump's bogus attempt to sully Obama, Wead nevertheless accused Obama for spreading “fake news” about the order. “This wasn’t a Muslim ban,” Wead said. In fact, Obama did not say it was, he spoke out against “discrimination” based on religion. Trump has explicitly stated a preference for Christian immigrants.

But instead of pointing that out, Cavuto said, l “So you think he [Obama] should’ve just shut up?”

“He should’ve, for his sake, it would’ve been much more dignified,” Wead said. Then he took another cheap shot at Obama, suggesting that he was just acting out of sour grapes. Wead (who offered no personal knowledge of the subject) opined that the election had hurt Obama’s feelings because it was a rejection of his legacy.

President Obama has promised to speak out whenever he feels “our core values may be at stake.” We can be pretty sure Fox will never consider it a good time and will always find a reason to criticize him for it.

Watch the excuse this time below, from the January 30, 2017 Your World.