This is what passes for pre-debate “analysis” on Fox News.
Today’s MediaBuzz show booked two Trump propagandists to “analyze the coverage” of Tuesday’s presidential debate. So, there was no doubt that bashing the rest of the media and Kamala Harris, while uplifting Donald Trump was the real agenda.
The two guests were correspondent Kevin Corke, a reliable promoter of Fox messaging, and the vicious liar and anti-American fascist, Clay Travis.
Host Howard Kurtz began by playing a clip of Trump saying about ABC, the network hosting the upcoming debate, “They are the most dishonest network, the meanest, the nastiest, but that was what I was presented with.” Kurtz well knows that Trump’s targets are showered with threats (as do Kurtz and Travis, I’m sure) but Kurtz framed the discussion as one about Trump’s “strategy” and the two guests predictably praised it.
Later, Kurtz “asked” Travis whether Trump “is moving toward the center on such issues as abortion and marijuana?” Travis replied that Trump’s supposed moderation on abortion is “super smart” because it could help “limit his losses with women.”
Travis followed up with this whopper: “I actually think, generally speaking, Trump has always been fairly moderate on the abortion-related issue, and it's been hard to pin him down on exactly what he believes on that issue, and I don't think that's a politically bad spot for him to be in.”
It may be hard to pin down Trump on his actual beliefs but his actions speak louder than words. He appointed three anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court, each of whom were instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade. Less than a month ago, he said he had no regrets about that. A new ad by the Harris campaign shows Trump saying, “There has to be some form of punishment” for women getting abortions. Then he’s seen saying, “For 54 years, they were trying to get Roe v. Wade terminated and I did it, and I’m proud to have done it.” The New York Times noted that Trump recently "hinted he might support a Florida ballot measure to expand abortion rights, only to say one day later that he would vote against it.”
Also from The Times: “Mr. Trump has by turns said that he likes the idea of a 15-week federal ban and that he would not sign a national abortion ban. He has also said that he does not support restricting birth control, but has suggested that he might support allowing states to do so.”
In short, Trump has done nothing to show a moderate position on abortion other than to waffle and send mixed signals.
Instead of pointing out Travis’ BS, Kurtz said Trump was displaying “classic general election strategy.” Then he turned to Corke with a question that all but begged for an attack on Harris: “Any doubt in your mind that Kamala Harris who’s also moving toward the middle, is trying to separate herself from Joe Biden on tax increases, on the border? And the question then is, is that going to - how much is she going to be held accountable for the record of what everyone now calls the Harris-Biden administration?” As you probably guessed, Corke started "raising questions" about Harris.
You can watch Fox whitewash Trump’s anti-abortion behavior below, from the September 8, 2024 MediaBuzz.
Clay Travis’ one claim to fame is that he was asked to go on Brooke Baldwin’s CNN show in 2017 to discuss ESPN and Jemele Hill’s appropriate condemnation of Little Trump’s antics at the time. Travis used that moment on CNN, in front of a female host, to opine that he only believes in “the First Amendment and boobs”. He’d been hoping to get away with that one, since he’d tried it out on his own radio show in the past. When Baldwin realized what he was doing, she immediately cut his mic and threw him off the air. He’s never been allowed back on CNN again, and he likely never will be. Past that, he’s never apologized.
Travis seems to think this kind of behavior is acceptable. When in fact it is not. He likely picked this up from Limbaugh, who prided himself on doing and saying the most vicious things he could, such as attacking Michael J. Fox for having Parkinson’s, or Sandra Fluke for standing up for women’s rights, or President Obama for having the temerity to be elected, or generally just using the most vicious epithets he could get away with it.
Corke and Kurtz pretend they are objective reporters. They are cowards who accept whopping paychecks and then try to hide their praise for Trump.
