The Rob Porter scandal continued raging yesterday and into the evening but mum was the word in Fox News prime time. Monday night, one prime time show, The Ingraham Angle, at least touched on the controversy. Last night, all evening shows except Special Report ignored it altogether.
The New York Times summed up yesterday’s developments about alleged wife-beater Porter serving as one of the highest-level White House staffers despite lacking a security clearance:
The White House revised its version of events after testimony on Capitol Hill from the F.B.I. director, Christopher A. Wray, contradicted earlier and shifting claims from the West Wing.
[…]
Mr. Wray’s words strongly suggested that Mr. Porter, who had been given an interim security clearance, was allowed to continue serving in his influential post in the West Wing long after officials had received word of the troublesome accusations.
The Washington Post explains that the timeline matters for two reasons:
The first is that the accusations against Porter apparently contributed to his not receiving permanent clearance to handle classified material. If the White House knew before media reports this month that these accusations meant he wouldn’t receive clearance, it raises questions about his remaining in a position that almost certainly meant handling highly classified documents.
The second is a political one: Did the White House ignore serious allegations against a senior staffer, despite Chief of Staff John F. Kelly’s apparent insistence that he acted quickly upon learning of the scale of the accusations?
All this against a backdrop of Trump’s own despicable response to Porter’s firing and his own history of boasting about committing and multiple accusations of having committed sexual abuse.
As I previously reported, on Monday night, The Ingraham Angle discussed the Porter scandal but as part of an attack on the #MeToo movement. Host Laura Ingraham used the scandal to discredit Trump’s critics – because Bill Clinton! She also revisited the topic in a later panel.
But that was more than she did last night.
Once again, NewsHound Richard provides the screen grabs showing what was covered on The Five, The Story with Martha MacCallum, Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity and The Ingraham Angle. Spoiler: not Porter.
Monday and tonight FOX News 5 PM, 7 PM, 8 PM and 9 PM shows ignore the #RobPorter scandal.
— Richard W. (@IceManNYR) February 14, 2018
This from a network that complains media bias when other news channels do little or no coverage of a story. pic.twitter.com/O59zCPnpWW
What The Ingraham Angle covered last night instead of Porter scandal. (via @IceManNYR pic.twitter.com/x7ZISEPNmq
— NewsHounds (@NewsHounds) February 14, 2018
Yesterday, I noted that Fox’s own Howard Kurtz had criticized the prime time shows for ignoring Porter’s resignation last week. “I think opinion shows can cover this anyway they want but I think to not cover it at all for half a day was a misjudgment that gives sort of ammunition to Fox's critics.”
Well, Howie, Fox keeps on giving its critics that ammunition. I’m looking forward to seeing how you discuss it this week.
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