Fox & Friends teamed up with the New York Post to help smear Donald Trump’s legal foe, NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, as a cokehead, even though there is no evidence beyond some tweets from a comedian currently campaigning for Schneiderman’s rival.
As Mediaite’s Evan McMurry explained:
(The Post’s) Page Six has a named(!) source alleging New York Attorney General and Trump nemesis Eric Schneiderman once did coke in the mid-2000s. (Not linking to the story, you can find it.)
The source, a “Democratic activist and comic” who makes the allegation in “the manuscript of a book he hopes to have published,” presented no evidence for the claim.
The Village Voice further noted that the Post “fails to mention” that said activist’s “present political activity involves campaigning for Schneiderman’s opponent.” The Voice also reported that while Schneiderman has admitted to using pot and cocaine in the past, he insists that was at least 30 years ago and never while holding public office.
But during Fox & Friends’ weekly chat with Donald Trump – whose birther baloney is not considered any blemish on his integrity – Steve Doocy presented the Post story as credible and fed it to Trump as an opening to attack Schneiderman. Doocy said Schneiderman “apparently was doing coke while he was a state senator and he has said he’s done drugs in the past but never when he was an elected official.”
Trump called Schneiderman “one of the worst attorney generals, really the worst attorney general in the country” and said, without offering any evidence that Schneiderman “may be doing (drugs) now.”
I’m sure Trump’s baseless accusation had nothing to do with the fact that Schneiderman is pursuing a $40 million fraud case against Trump University. Or that a judge ruled last week in that case that Trump is personally liable for operating Trump University without a license (fine to be determined later).
Nor did Trump’s Fox Friends bring up such unpleasant news, even if the network’s motto is “we report, you decide.” Instead, Doocy said obliquely about Schneiderman, “who you know very well.”
No, it was Trump who brought up the suit. With all the same credibility he brought to his Hawaii birth certification investigation, Trump claimed, “They wanted to settle so bad, I could have settled so easily. Instead, I’m winning the case easily. His case has now been totally gutted.”
Well, not quite. While some parts of the lawsuit have been thrown out, The New York Daily News reported, that “the central issue of whether Trump University defrauded its customers” remains in place and will be decided at trial.
Not that any of Trump’s Fox Friends pointed that out, either. They seemed to be too engrossed in Trump’s diatribe against Schneiderman. “Now they’re saying he took coke and as far as I’m concerned, he probably still does,” Trump accused. Nobody challenged the accusation.
Instead, co-host Brian Kilmeade deliberately prompted Trump to promote the falsehood of his “victory” by asking, “Did you beat him (Schneiderman)?”
“Yeah, I beat him badly,” Trump boasted. “And then most of his case is gutted.” Trump reiterated his claim that Schneiderman wanted “so badly” to settle.
“But you stuck to your principles!” co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle gushed. “You stuck to your principles, which is the right thing to do!” She called the lawsuit an “abuse of power.” Let’s not forget this is the same Kimberly Guilfoyle who admires the presidential stylings of Vladimir Putin.
“Guilfoyle would have done your case pro bono,” Kilmeade added, as she smiled broadly and nodded.
Lies? Falsehoods? Baseless accusations? Possible fraud? It’s all good on Fox, so long as you’re a Republican going after a Democrat.
Watch it below.
