Fox anchor Harris Faulkner, who never seems to mind Donald Trump’s crude and cruel rhetoric, clutched her pearls because Biden campaign manager and soon-to-be deputy chief of staff Jennifer O’Malley Dillon referred to Republicans as “f***ers.”
In case you missed it, O’Malley Dillon didn't exactly call Republicans the f-word. She said this in a Glamour interview:
The president-elect was able to connect with people over this sense of unity. In the primary, people would mock him, like, “You think you can work with Republicans?” I’m not saying they’re not a bunch of fuckers. Mitch McConnell is terrible. But this sense that you couldn’t wish for that, you couldn’t wish for this bipartisan ideal? He rejected that. From start to finish, he set out with this idea that unity was possible, that together we are stronger, that we, as a country, need healing, and our politics needs that too.
Oh, how could she?
Faulkner’s reaction just happened to mimic the Republicans’. Karen Tumulty has a good take in The Washington Post:
[Sen. Marco] Rubio was joined in his outrage by many other Republicans, who apparently are unaware that among the things that President Trump has achieved in his single term is bringing swearing into the mainstream. On just one day in 2019, this newspaper used the word “bullshit” five times in quoting Trump’s rants about his impeachment. Trump cusses liberally at his rallies, knowing it brings cheers from his devoted supporters. They see it as evidence of his toughness and willingness to call things the way he sees them.
There’s also Trump’s less off-color but more vulgar comments such as his “grab ‘em by the p***y” brag and his “blood coming out of wherever” attack against Faulkner’s then colleague, Megyn Kelly.
Also, Faulkner can’t be so dim as not to have noticed that Democrats, liberals and Blacks are regularly demonized on Fox as worse than f***ers.
But while Faulkner has on occasion pushed back on Trump’s language, she’s also an obvious fan girl. At least, she’s done a good job of playing a fan girl on TV.
In fact, Faulkner’s own right-wing guest described Joe Biden and his administration as America haters, right under her nose this week, without a peep of objection from her.
CHARLIE HURT: It’s this dripping contempt that, that, that Joe Biden and his incoming administration has for so many voters in this country, that’s the problem. It’s not the language that they use.
The other guest, Democrat Mary Ann Marsh, tried to respond. “Look, the contempt…” she began.
But Faulkner cut off Marsh in order to further demonize O'Malley Dillon. “It’s almost like somebody went in the dictionary and moved from ‘D’ to ‘F.’ Like, first it was ‘deplorable’ and now it’s something else,” she sneered, reviving the poutrage over Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" remark in 2016. Then Faulkner said, “We got to move on," even as Marsh continued to try to respond to the attacks.
You can watch the double standard below, from the December 17, 2020 Outnumbered Overtime, via Justin Baragona.
Harris Faulkner on a Biden aide saying the f-word:
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) December 17, 2020
"This is like someone went to the dictionary and moved from “D” to “F.” First deplorable and now something else. We got to move on to this."
Faulkner then steamrolls over Democrat guest who objects to that characterization. pic.twitter.com/UmHaGpTsq8