While patriots recoil in horror at presidential nominee Donald Trump urging Russians to hack American computers, Fox News was ready to defend that particular twist on Trump’s idea of making America great again.
At his press conference today, Trump said the following, referring to reports that Russia hacked the DNC and referring to emails Hillary Clinton deleted from her personal server:
TRUMP: By the way, they hacked—they probably have her 33,000 e-mails. I hope they do. They probably have her 33,000 e-mails that she lost and deleted because you’d see some beauties there. So let’s see.
[…[
Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens. That’ll be next. Yes, sir...
As Media Matters noted, media figures called Trump’s comments “mindblowing” and several characterized them as treasonous.
But Fox Newsies have Trump’s back. On his radio show today, Sean Hannity distorted what Trump said and then accused the media of doing the distorting in order to “save Hillary Clinton.” From Media Matters' transcript:
HANNITY: The media has got the whole thing wrong. They’re purposefully distorting this whole thing which is what they do, and I’ll get into more examples in a minute. How is it possible, for them to now at this point, if Donald Trump—if the argument is that Donald Trump just encouraged a foreign entity, an enemy state, but I thought the reset worked, to hack into Hillary Clinton’s email server and find the 33,000 emails that were about yoga, a wedding, a funeral, and conversations with Bill Clinton on email even though he doesn’t email. How is it even possible that he’s requesting that, considering that everybody knows that the server doesn’t exist anymore, that the emails, also too, were deleted? So the argument on the surface is just false and wrong and it’s the media desperately trying to help save Hillary Clinton from the mess she now finds herself in. Now Trump is assuming that the Russian hacking is already done. James Comey has said as much himself repeatedly.
Regardless of whether Trump thinks the hacking has been done already or not, the facts are that there is no evidence Clinton’s private email server has been hacked. The evidence shows that the Russians hacked the DNC emails. Furthermore, what Trump said was an endorsement of Russia’s illegal act: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing.”
So who’s really doing the distorting on behalf of their candidate?
But it wasn’t just Fox firebrands like Hannity. “Objective” anchors Bret Baier and Jon Scott did their part for the GOP team.
Scott called Trump’s remarks “a stroke of genius, in some respects” because now everybody is talking about him and not the Democratic National Convention.
“We’ve seen this throughout the campaign,” Baier said admiringly. Then he just happened to suggest that Trump is more presidential because he has held press conferences while Hillary Clinton has avoided them. “So he is answering every question,” Baier added. Then he also suggested that the media was unfairly seizing on and mischaracterizing one stray remark that was, supposedly, a joke. As if that made the shocking remark OK. And as if Fox would not have repeatedly attacked Hillary Clinton had she made such a “joke.” From Media Matters' transcript, with some light editing:
BAIER: Now, [Trump] went from everything, the hacking investigation to police to Baltimore, dropping the charges against those police officers, to trade and Terry McAuliffe’s answer about TPP to China to Russia to immigration to Anthony Weiner being a sleazeball and a pervert. We went the whole thing. Now what’s going to get the most attention is when he turned to the camera and said, “Russia, if you’re listening, we need to find the 30,000 missing emails.”
Now I think some people are going to take that seriously. He said numerous times throughout this press conference that he had no tie to Russia, he doesn’t even think it was Russia, but if it was, that he has no tie to it, but then, I think, was joking when he looked to the camera and said, “Russia, find these Hillary Clinton emails. The media would like that, or will reward you for it.” I think that’s what probably will get the most attention from this, but all of it will get everybody’s attention.
On Outnumbered, cohost Harris Faulkner appointed herself Trump’s Mama Grizzly as she defended him and accused cohost Democrat Julie Roginsky of being unfairly biased. From Media Matters' transcript, with my emphases:
ROGINSKY: Wait a second, we just had the Republican nominee in a very treasonous act, ask a foreign power to hack an American political opponent.
CARLSON: What? I didn’t—No I thought he was saying we want the emails back.
ROGINSKY: No, no he said—let me quote again,” if you’re reading, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails.” How are they going to find them, Tucker?
CARLSON: No, I think what he was saying was they already stole them. They have them. Can you return them to us.
FAULKNER: That is how everybody is understands it, Julie. You’re the only one who thinks –
[CROSSTALK]
ROGINSKY: That is not how anybody outside this table understands it.
[…]
(T)his is a man who has been sucking up to Vladmir Putin, who just wants to abrogate our alliance with NATO unless they pay up some sort of bounty, who said that he wouldn’t defend Latvia if Russia—
FAULKNER: And you’ve got evidence of this, or is that your opinion?
ROGINSKY: No, that’s actually what he said, I could read you quotes on it. But the reality is this is Vladmir Putin’s favorite candidate. Putin is in the Kremlin right now ecstatic and I’m sorry –
FAULKNER: He didn’t tell him to hack us though.
I’m sure there will be more where that came from tonight.
Watch them below from July 27 broadcasts, via Media Matters.
“However, I’ll keep my bed wetting through November because Trump is like the undead in some low-budget horror movie. Seemingly immortal against all odds. Should scare the you-know-what out of any rational adult. ;^) "
Right on Eyes On Fox — and here is the PRINCIPAL reason why:
Like George Dumbya Bush before him, “Der Furor” Trump KNOWS DAMN WELL THE CORPORATE MAINSTREAM MEDIA IS SQUARELY IN HIS CORNER!
Remember Les Moonves’s INFAMOUS words earlier this year when he was STAUNCHLY DEFENDING Trump in the same way his soon-to-kick-the-bucket boss Sumner (“I vote Viacom”) Redstone (chairman and majority stockholder of CBS Corporation and Viacom) defended and endorsed Dumbya Bush back in 2004? :
“Sorry……..it may not be good for America, but it’s damn good for CBS”
You can disagree with me anytime. ;^)
Yep, I was referring to the ‘if you were going to vote today’ thing. If I recall, I heard it reported Trump’s at 57% for the first time.
Nate is less alarmist than I but the threat in my most humble opinion – and everyone has to agree I’m the most humble human being ever [channeling my inner-Trump] – is it tosses out stale data and is looking at only the latest pulse of America. When a candidate is building momentum what people thought last week is far less important than this week.
I’m appalled #RNCinCLE gave Trump any bump. After witnessing #DemsInPhilly I believe their amazing convention by stark contrast can’t help but leapfrog Hillary in the polls. For good, I expect.
However, I’ll keep my bed wetting through November because Trump is like the undead in some low-budget horror movie. Seemingly immortal against all odds. Should scare the you-know-what out of any rational adult. ;^)
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/election-update-trump-gets-convention-bounce-drawing-polls-to-dead-heat/
In “polls only” and “polls plus,” Hillary is still winning, though her lead has narrowed considerably.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/#plus
So why wouldn’t even establishment Republican types like Baier ride the Trump pony? No matter how bizarrely Der Furor behaves. In Trump’s political reality show entertainment is ratings. The Trumpets support him on emotion, not IQ.
The bad news for Fox is they naturally dominated the ratings at #RNCinCLE. They’ve tanked to the bottom of the ratings for #DemsInPhilly. They’re not controlling the dialogue. Just preaching to the choir.
Pray for a huge post convention Hillary bump. 🙌
Trump needs to release his tax returns! Trump needs to release his tax returns! etc. etc.