Fox News anchor Shepard Smith blasted Kellyanne Conway’s problems with the truth today. He started by saying, “We really don’t quote [her] much any more because – well, history.” Then he made an exception because of her ridiculous attempt to validate Donald Trump’s claim of being wiretapped by President Obama.
Smith opened his show by saying the following:
SMITH: A House committee setting a deadline today for President Trump to hand over evidence to support his claim that President Obama tapped his phone. So far, there’s absolutely nothing. But his senior advisor, Kellyanne Conway, whom we really don’t quote much any more because – well, history – is noting that phones aren’t the only way people spy on people. For instance, what about televisions? And then she said… your microwave.
But there was more.
Later, Smith said Kelly’s “previous words have been – well, up for debate.” He then played a clip of her defending Trump by saying that there are many ways to spy on people. She cited as an example, “microwaves that turn into cameras.”
SMITH: Microwaves that turn into cameras a fact of modern life? Microwaves do not turn into cameras. Fox News can now confirm microwaves heat food, cameras take pictures.
Ouch!
Watch it below, from the March 13, 2017 Shepard Smith Reporting.
I do believe Smith means what he says but I do not believe he has gone rogue. As David Lindsay hinted, I believe Smith is a hedge by Fox that also includes Chris Wallace and to some extent Bret Baier. Even reporter John Roberts has acted un-Fox-like in the press briefings. If Smith were truly going rogue, I believe we would have seen one example, not day after day.
My other theory, which could easily co-exist with the first, is that Smith et al. represent the younger Murdoch views and are a nod to them from Daddy-O.
A must witness news story today is NPR “Morning Edition” interviewing a researcher who took a deep dive into social media analyzing 10s of millions of tweets. The amazing result is how a Brietbart disinformation campaign drove the right. Graphed Brietbart propaganda is the Jupiter to Fox News (and other conservative sites) moon. The researcher documented Brietbart pro-Trump propaganda causing splits in the right-wing media like Fox News and Red State dividing the pro- and anti-Trump supporters. He even sees Brietbart driving the rest of the media with obsessions over Hillary’s email and charity while Trump got dominant coverage on the issues, particularly immigration and jobs – driven, obviously, by Der Furor’s outrageous statements.
Gang, we’re in a dangerous age where technology is effectively spreading lies, disinformation, and propaganda more successfully than any time in human history. Goebbels is rolling in his grave jealous of Briebart’s ability to spread neofascism to America’s dominant Republican party via useful idiots like Fox News.