Fox News is already weaponizing its “invitation” to a debate it surely knows Vice President Kamala Harris will never accept.
On today’s The Story, host Martha MacCallum welcomed Special Report anchor Bret Baier to discuss the proposal. Baier revealed that Donald Trump accepted (of course) but that the Biden campaign has “not accepted yet.”
The not-gonna-happen debate would be held at Virginia State University, a historically black college university and the first such HBCU to host a debate. As if the location would make up for years of attacking Blacks, championing vigilante killers of Black Lives Matter protesters and promoting white supremacy, all on the Fox News airwaves. Not to mention attacks on Vice President Harris, herself.
That’s not counting the fact that last year Fox News forked over $787.5 million after promoting MAGA “election fraud” lies about the 2020 presidential election, lies that the network’s top personnel knew were not true.
And Fox is planning to do it again if President Joe Biden wins a close victory in November. On Wednesday, Sen. Tim Scott boasted on Fox News that he’d be different from Trump VP Mike Pence because “I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that President Trump is the next president.” Host Brian Kilmeade had no follow up.
But let’s be clear: Fox is planning to make political hay of this “request” regardless of Harris’ near-certain refusal. In fact, it started right in this segment:
MACCALLUM: I think a lot of people look at the presentation on the Biden side as, you know, laying down the rules, “this is what we want.” And I guess, you know, to former President Trump's credit, he was like, “Okay, fine.”
BAIER: I think what we're getting from all of these requests is that the Trump campaign and the former president is saying, “Yes, yes, yes, yes. I would like to debate more. I'd like to have one every month. I'd like to have as many as possible.” And the Biden campaign and President Biden had agreed to two at the beginning, and we'll see if he expands that, but there is a vice presidential debate that will happen. And obviously the Trump campaign has accepted our offer. Hopefully, it's going to be at Virginia State University, an HBCU.
MACCALLUM: And, you know, it would be - obviously there's always a vice presidential debate. And you can't imagine, really, that they wouldn't want the sitting vice president of the United States to go head to head and defend the president's administration and the work that they've done against whoever former President Trump picks, right?
MacCallum went on to suggest that Trump use the occasion to unveil his VP pick.
MACCALLUM: I'm just thinking, as we're talking, about how much former President Trump would probably like to announce it the night of, hopefully, our vice presidential debate and we could just have, like a, you know, silhouette figure and see who walks out!
BAIER: Right exactly.
Their enthusiasm for turning what’s supposed to be a neutral debate into a Trump TV Occasion! is yet another reason the Biden camp will probably never do this.
And, by the way, despite Fox News’ pretense that MacCallum and Baier are distinguished journalists, they have each proven themselves to be willing propagandists – again and again.
You can watch the video FoxNews.com calls, “Fox News requests opportunity to host vice presidential debate” below, from the May 17, 2024 The Story with Martha MacCallum.
