Today, after we learned anti-ISIS envoy Brett McGurk has resigned in protest of Donald Trump’s Russian- and Turkish-approved decision to precipitously withdraw troops from Syria, FoxNews.com did not mince any words.
The actual article that the FoxNews.com top headline links to is more nuanced and less damning. But coming on the heels of Brian Kilmeade’s blistering comments to Sarah Huckabee Sanders yesterday about the troop withdrawal, this seems like further validation of my thesis that someone high up in the Fox leadership (probably Rupert Murdoch) is sending Trump a message.
It’s not as though all of Trump’s Fox lickspittles have turned on him. A much smaller box on the homepage shows support for the withdrawal but the size ratio speaks volumes.
Also significant is the fact that there was no discussion of either Mattis’ Thursday resignation or the Syria decision (other than a brief report) on the Hannity show that night. Tucker Carlson made briefly supportive remarks about Syria. Laura Ingraham, on the other hand held an approving discussion.
Shepard Smith delivered this scathing summation that all but declared Trump working against American interests:
SMITH: It’s hard really, to believe what’s happened. In the face of counsel not to do so by everyone in his administration and everyone in the Pentagon, the president gets off a phone call with the president of Turkey and does the bidding of Russia and Vladimir Putin thanks him while the defense secretary resigns.
This is not to suggest that Trump has lost Fox News. But it does appear that the cracks in his support, which are nothing new, are widening.
Watch Smith scorch Trump below, from the December 21, 2018 Shepard Smith Reporting.
I take this opportunity to thank all of you for keeping an eye on Fox for me.
And to wish you anything you want anyhow you prefer.
